Iggy Pop, his BBC radio show, The Four Seasons and Lust For Life

I can’t claim to know him but I certainly remember
briefly catching the irrepressible Iggy Stooge (as

Iggy and The Stooges circa 1972. Iggy’s bottom right.

he was known then) record a
track for The Stooges’ now cult album, “Raw Power”, at the CBS Studios in
London in late 1972.

Iggy had
just relocated from the USA to London and his notoriety had gone before him.
Here was this wild white boy who slashed himself on stage with broken bottles,
dived off stage into audiences (before audiences knew anything about catching
stage divers) and usually finished gigs dripping in blood.

“Raw
Power” by “Iggy and The Stooges” was the first Stooges album to include Iggy in
the billing and is now considered one of the earliest influences on punk. Iggy
was totally under the influence in those days (who wasn’t?) and consequently
stuffed up much of the album’s mix. CBS wouldn’t release Iggy’s version so Iggy’s management brought in David Bowie to remix “Raw Power” into its current
form.

Iggy Stooge, later Pop, (left) and David Bowie back in the day

At the time, Bowie was also involved with another
CBS band, Mott the Hoople, Bowie having written and produced the now iconic “All The Young
Dudes” – album and single. One of the highlights of this period was when Bowie
appeared on stage with Mott the Hoople, and then introduced Iggy Stooge and Lou
Reed to join them in a rousing rendition of “All The Young Dudes” and Lou
Reed’s “Sweet Jane”. Where this was I’ve no recollection (even though I was
there) except to remember it being at a seaside resort on England’s south coast
in striking distance of London. Such were the excesses of the times, I
travelled down to the gig with a gaggle of music journalists in a chauffeured
limousine furnished with ice-buckets of champagne, wine and beer, back-up
crates of same plus the usual other substances rock writers liked to partake
in. Funnily enough, some of these journalists are now respectable media figures
today, working for national British newspapers and broadcasters.

It goes without saying that I followed Iggy’s
career from then on and was naturally delighted, decades later, when Iggy Pop
(as he became) hit the charts with “Lust For Life”. And I still listen to Iggy
to this day. And I don’t mean I only listen to his music. I also listen to the
music that influenced Iggy and turns him on through his radio show on the BBC. It’s every Sunday at 4pm (UK time) on BBC Radio 6 Music. 

Guide to Iggy Pop’s radio show episodes: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03yblbx/episodes/guide

Listen
to Iggy Pop’s radio highlights here: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/playlister/presenters/p011zc4w

Listening to Iggy on the radio, you realise just
how wide his influences are, and how broad his taste is; which brings me to the
point of this ramble. About five years ago, I went to see the stage musical,
“Jersey Boys”, in London, about the life of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
I’d always enjoyed their music and became reacquainted with the magnificent
songs they put out in the 1960s.

One of these Four Seasons songs, Marianne, from
1967, has a riff that I’m convinced Iggy and David

The Four Seasons with singer  Frankie Valli second right.

Bowie ‘borrowed’ when they
wrote and produced “Lust For Life” ten years later. See what you think. Here’s
Lust for Life by the Igster:

Lust
for Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJDPAmMVriI

Now, here’s Marianne by The Four Seasons.

Marianne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-bAF_vI3DM

Now I’m not passing judgement. As you’ll agree,
similarities in songs happen all the time. It just makes you realise, though,
what a truly underrated and inspirational group The Four Seasons were and are.
There they were pumping out garage rock riffs back in the mid-60s and no-one,
that I know of anyway, has ever picked up on it. All power to the Seasons. No wonder
Jersey Boys is still running and showing all over the world.