Iggy Pop, Taking Weeks To Pick Up The Pieces of Your Brain, What's In a Name, and More!

Well, here's this week's only (literally) shot with the blog. I'm tellin' ya, these 6 day work weeks are getting old. Starting this month, I'm going to feature a new little tidbit to the blog called, "Did You Know?" It's going to contain quirky & interesting footnotes about the music we feature here at 360 Degrees. It came to mind yesterday as I was finishing up my income taxes. The title of "Did You Know" hit me as I was searching for help tips on the governments new stimulus credit, which is so confusing. Don't ask...

With the recent introduction of Iggy Pop & the Stooges into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, I was glancing through some interesting tidbits about the band, especially way back when they started in the 60's. I also came across an old Rolling Stone piece dating back to 1970 when the Stooges were putting the finishing touches (if you could call it that) on their 2nd album "Funhouse" which was soon to be released. Apparently, the Stooges were so different from many of the other bands (which was true) from that era, that Rolling Stone deemed it worthy to give them additional press (or perhaps it was an advanced warning).

The blurb written by Charlie Burton states, "The album finds the band drifting into longer & longer jams. The Stooges have added sax player Steve MacKay who helps the group realize the jazz style freakouts that echo their new fascination with John Coltrane. If you long to have your mind blown open so wide that it will take weeks for you to pick up the little bitty pieces, then by all means, buy this album." Wow...

Speaking of oddities, I would love to find this video... back in 1980 Gary Numan released The Touring Principle, the first full-length commercially available video. Talk about being ahead of the curve...

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to some tunes by The Pretenders. I still like Chrissie Hynde after all these years. Anyways, I'm also remembering that it was on this day back in 1983, that Pete Farndon, the original bass player for the band, was found dead from a heroin overdose. This was the 2nd death in less than a year of one of the original band members. The other being James Honeyman-Scott back in June of 1982 of a cocaine overdose. Word had it that Farndon was the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon - who coincidently also was battling heroin abuse and left the Clash because he was unable to cope with it - at the time of Pete's death.

Here's this weeks "Did You Know":
- Back in 1973, Declan McManus went solo... who?? Before his 1st gig, he changes his last name to Costello, his grandmothers maiden surname. His future record label Stiff Records, 3 years later, would come up with the idea of changing his 1st name to Elvis.

That's it for now - keep listening!
Peace out,
Dave