Holy sh*t! Iggy and the Stooges are reuniting for an extensive world tour, which will prominently feature material from their 1973 classic Raw Power and large quantities of peanut butter.
Although no dates have yet to be announced, Iggy Pop and company will most likely play the festival circuit, with a few smaller venues scheduled between gigs.
The recently deceased Ron Asheton will be replaced by guitarist James Williamson.
Keeping in line with this weeks’ theme of petty squabbles, Iggy Pop has gotten in on the action with his own lambasting of fellow musicians Fred Durst and Billy Corgan.
Pop posted a YouTube video to promote the release of his latest effort Preliminaires, a jazz infused album that he said was inspired by his growing disdain for, “idiot thugs with guitars who are banging out crappy music.”
When asked to elaborate on the comment, Pop told British tabloid The Sun that he was referring to several overrated acts that haven’t been relevant for nearly a decade.
“Anyone from Smashing Pumpkins to—what’s the one with Fred Durst,” he asked. “There are a million billion of them, and people think they’re gods, man.”
In other Pop related news, the aging punker doled out his secrets to proper songwriting in perhaps the laziest interview ever conducted.
“Well, I have to confess. Good lyrics take 15 minutes or less. Any longer, it’s probably sh*tty,” he told Paste Magazine. “Up to that point where you can have a good 15 minutes can take a good deal of thought and then, after you fine tune, each song takes 15 minutes most of the time.”
Well, that certainly explains “ATM” and the rest of The Weirdness come to think of it.
Stooges guitarist and founding member, Ron Asheton, died on January 6 from an apparent heart attack.
Police found Asheton dead on a living-room sofa in his Ann Arbor, Michigan home, where officials said his decomposing body remained unnoticed for several days.
An official cause of death has not been released, but initial reports indicate a coronary failure of some kind took place.
Asheton’s use of overdrive (distortion) is considered by many to be a seminal moment in the burgeoning punk movement
“He developed such a unique sound and approach to his instrument and writing that I don’t think that everybody got it at first, but over the years other generations caught on,” Iggy Pop said of his friend in a recent radio interview. “I think a lot of good musicians were influenced by what Ron pioneered.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.
Now please enjoy the menacing industrial crunch of “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, Asheton’s most enduring legacy.