Since we just finished with nationwide elections on Tuesday, we at 360 Degrees, have "elected" to add a new feature here on the blog called "Artist of the Week". I toyed with the concept of doing it more frequently than that, but I feel that if I did, it would lack substance and accuracy. So, after some brief music news, we'll get to our 1st feature.
Since R.E.M. released the info that they're new album called Collapse Into Now is pretty much done & will be out within the next few months, more interesting tidbits seem to be streaming out. The latest news is, according to Mike Mills, there is a more "expansive" sound than on 2008's Accelerate (whose lyrics were fairly political and inspired by such) and will feature some special guests - including Eddie Vedder and Patti Smith.
Love him or hate him, Marilyn Manson's new release (his 8th) is in the works & this time the band is going punk. Twiggy Ramirez, aka Jeordie White, who was Manson's longtime guitarist, and rejoined the band in 2008, after a 7 year hiatus, spoke about their upcoming release while backstage at a benefit gig for Dimebag Darrell in Los Angeles. "It's kind of like a little more of a punk rock Mechanical Animals", which was released back in 1998. Ramirez added that the album was "almost done" and would probably be out at some point next year.
A friend of mine asked me a few months ago, "Whatever happened to Evanscence?" Well, it seems we now have some answers. My friend was right to ask that particular question - Evanscence's last release was in 2006. Apparently, since that time, the band had been plagued by in-fighting and lineup changes, with - get this - original members John LeCompy, Rocky Gray, and Ben Moody all leaving... that's 60% of the band, people. However, lead singer Amy Lee is getting back on track with a new lineup (only drummer Will Hunt stayed on) and is set to release an album later this fall, (date is unknown at this time), with U2 and Rolling Stones producer Steve Lillywhite at the helm.
Lastly, before we check out the Artist of the Week section, let's check out some cool alternative & punk history -
- During this week back in 1974, Chrissie Hynde just left Ohio band Jack Rabbit & took a short trip to Tuscon Arizona to see a friend with the hopes of forming another band, but was mortified that "everyone there listened to country & western music". After a week of that living hell, (her words) she flew to Paris to accept the offer to sing in a group called The Frenchies. The name of the band sucked, but they did open for The Flaming Groovies.
- This week back in 1976, The Dammed released their first 7" single a mere 5 months after their live debut at the Nashville. It is produced by Nick Lowe on Stiff Records. It features "New Rose" with a cover of the Beatles song "Help" as the B-side. The group wanted the single released on or very close to Halloween, but distribution problems hold things up for a week. Amazingly, Stiff sells over 5,000 copies through mail order in a short time, then label United Artists decides to take on distribution efforts.
After I had the concept of "Artist of the Week" planted in my head, I struggled with the idea of who to feature. I finally came to the conclusion to do a bit on Iggy Pop. It was actually a toss-up between him and the Velvet Underground, since they were both true influences & innovators. I flipped a coin & Iggy won. Now there's crucial decision making in action!
Iggy was not only an innovator, but he was also very authentic. He has influenced countless bands, musicians, and rock music itself. Ironically, he struggled with the idea of being a singer or "front-man" for a band, because as he put it once, "Even though I liked the idea and loved to sing, I sucked at it. I mean I REALLY sucked". This was one reason why he first played drums for different high school bands and eventually playing bass for The Prime Movers. No singing, just rhythm section.
It wasn't until he moved to Chicago in 1967 where two things happened. The first, was where he was at a friends party and heard the Velvet Underground's debut album. At first he really didn't care for it, but then got excited by the mere fact that Lou Reed, in Iggy's opinion, couldn't sing! This gave him hope. The second was seeing rock acts like The Doors, MC5, and The Sonics. From the lack of musical talent of the VU, to the stage antics of Jim Morrison and the MC5, Iggy formed the Stooges.
One year after they're live debut, they signed with Elektra Records & released their debut album which was ironically produced by John Cale of the Velvet's. Unfortunately, the bands first few albums sold poorly, even with constant touring & Iggy's wild stage antics. He was the first performer in rock history to what's now called stage diving, or diving off stage, into the audience, and have the audience pass the person around using their hands that are over their heads. Sound familiar? Another term for this is called moshing... only 25+ years earlier!
Through out the 70's and 80's, David Bowie would be totally instrumental to Iggy's career by keeping it as well as Iggy afloat. Iggy's drug problems have been well documented and it wasn't until the 1985 release "Blah, Blah, Blah" and "Brick By Brick" in 1990, that he finally enjoyed success in record sales as well as on the rock charts. From that point forward, Iggy was able to rid himself of his drug habits and has continued on a successful path in both music and movies, including entrance into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in early 2010.
We'll wrap things up some interesting bits of Iggy trivia;
- Iggy has appeared on TV shows ranging from the Dinah Shore Variety Hour in the late 70's to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- His talents have been used in video games. From the DJ on 97.7 Liberty Rock Radio in Grand Theft Auto IV as well as appearing as a character in the video game Lego Rock Band to sing his song The Passenger and also lent his voice for the in game tutorial.
- Apparently, Iggy called Moe Howard (Moe of the Three Stooges fame) back in the late 60's to see if it was alright to call his band "The Stooges," to which Howard responded by merely saying "I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they're not the Three Stooges!" and hung up the phone!
Until next time, keep listening.
Peace out,
Dave
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