Iggy Pop: rock.
Have you ever noticed that a small creature, like a mouse or a mole, when faced with danger, they just stop? I've had big, long periods in my life when I was a lot like that. I just froze. It was not fun, but it was what I thought I had to do. And that's how I lived, pretty much, at one time. I have a hot memory, but I know I've forgotten many things, too, just squashed things in favor of survival. The only thing missing from my life right now is what I've got, and it's peace. I have more than I ever had ... and not as much as I would like.
He (Bowie) resurrected me. Our friendship made it possible for me to save myself from professional and maybe even personal annihilation. So many people felt curiosity about what I was doing, but only he really had something in common with me, he was the only person who really liked what I was doing, with whom I could share what I was doing. And also the only one who was really willing to help me when I was in trouble. He really did me good.
Iggy Pop
If you read the post on your phone and the button “Read in English” doesn’t work, scroll down the page: the English version is after the Italian one.
Alla fine degli anni ’60, mentre il rock psichedelico domina le classifiche, James Newell Osterberg Jr., alias Iggy Pop, fonda The Stooges. La band, nata a Detroit, si fa subito notare per la sua brutale semplicità e l’energia viscerale. Il debutto omonimo del 1969, prodotto da John Cale (dei Velvet Underground), porta con sé un sound grezzo, spoglio, abrasivo: proto-punk nella sua forma embrionale. Il secondo disco, “Fun House” (1970), porta tutto all’estremo: un’esplosione di free jazz, urla animalesche e distorsioni garage, mentre il terzo, “Raw Power” (1973), prodotto (e remixato) da David Bowie, è una bomba a orologeria che anticipa il punk di lì a pochi anni. Ma il pubblico non è pronto. Gli Stooges sono troppo sporchi, troppo folli, troppo avanti. E qui inizia l’interessante carriera solista di Iggy Pop…
Si racconta di un musicista perché ti apre dei ricordi. Ad esempio il sottoscritto ha ballato allo sfinimento “The Passenger” in una discoteca che andava per la maggiore dalle parti in cui vivo e che si chiamava “Corallo”. Così ogni volta che parte quel riff mi ritrovo su una macchina del tempo dove viaggio indietro nel tempo. Anni dopo in quei di Firenze mi sono goduto anche una sua performance dal vivo, con quel suo agitarsi, contorcersi, urlare che ne ha fatto un animale da palco. Riprendiamo il filo nella storia dell’iguana e con la fine degli Stooges nel 1974, comincia per Iggy un periodo oscuro. Prigioniero delle dipendenze, perso in un vortice di droga e autolesionismo, diventa quasi un relitto vivente. L’amico David Bowie, anche lui in un momento difficile gli dà una mano, lo aiuta a disintossicarsi e lo porta con sé a Berlino, allontanandolo dalle tentazioni di Los Angeles. Per Bowie saranno gli anni di tre capolavori: “Low”, “Heroes” e “Lodger”, ma anche per l’Iguana è il momento di un ritorno alla grande.
Tra il 1976 e il 1977, Bowie non è solo un amico, ma anche un mentore, produttore, coautore e compagno di visione. Nascono in quegli anni gli album che anche tutt’ora sono per me i suoi migliori: “The Idiot” e “Lust for Life”. Questi dischi non solo rilanciano Iggy Pop come artista solista, ma sono pietre miliari del rock moderno.
The Idiot è il primo album solista di Iggy Pop. Nonostante il nome in copertina sia il suo, si tratta quasi di un disco a quattro mani con David Bowie, che lo produce, scrive (quasi tutti i brani) e suona tastiere, chitarre e sintetizzatori.
L’album prende il nome dal romanzo di Dostoevskij e riflette una profonda trasformazione artistica: Iggy si lascia alle spalle l’animalità grezza degli Stooges per abbracciare una forma più intellettuale, disillusa e urbana. Berlino — dove viene registrato — è una presenza costante: grigia, fredda, segnata dalla guerra e dal muro, fa da sfondo emotivo all'intero disco. molti lo considerano il primo disco post-punk della storia, fondamento di band come Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode e Bauhaus.
Lust for Life è l'altra faccia della medaglia. Se “The Idiot” è ombroso e introverso, questo è energico, vitale, pieno di rock & roll e disperazione redenta. David Bowie è ancora al timone, ma stavolta Iggy ha più voce in capitolo: scrive più testi, canta con più decisione, e l’album viene registrato in modo più diretto e “live”, in pochi giorni e con una band eccezionale (incluso il batterista Hunt Sales e il chitarrista Carlos Alomar). Lust for Life è più classico, ma tutt’altro che banale. È un album rock che guarda agli anni ’50 e ’60 ma con una carica moderna e intensa. L’energia è travolgente, ma non euforica: c’è sempre un sottotesto tragico, consapevole della fragilità umana. Lust for Life è il disco che ha salvato la carriera di Iggy Pop. È ancora oggi il suo lavoro più iconico e accessibile, nonché un punto di riferimento per tutta la generazione post-punk e alternative rock. Il suo spirito ruggente continua a vivere in artisti come Nick Cave, Jack White, e Josh Homme, per fare qualche nome.
Senza Iggy Pop non ci sarebbe stato il punk come lo conosciamo, l’Iguana ha influenzato i Sex Pistols, i Ramones, ma anche i Nirvana (Kurt Cobain venerava “Raw Power”) e i Queens of the Stone Age, con cui Iggy ha poi collaborato. Nel 2016, a quasi 70 anni, pubblica infatti “Post Pop Depression”, prodotto proprio da Josh Homme (QOTSA), un disco crepuscolare e potente, acclamato dalla critica. Non una nostalgica rievocazione del passato, ma una rilettura lucida della propria leggenda. Oggi Iggy Pop è il simbolo di un modo di fare musica che rifiuta compromessi, vive di rischio, del corpo esposto, della verità nuda, come l’hanno dipinta Courbet prima e Munch poi. La sua voce cavernosa, i suoi spasmi sul palco, il suo volto scolpito dal tempo raccontano una storia che va oltre la musica: quella di un uomo che ha bruciato tutto e si è ricostruito, più volte, con una sincerità rara e brutale. Dai club fumosi di Detroit alle gallerie d’arte contemporanea, è diventato una figura trasversale, amata tanto dai punk quanto dagli intellettuali. Basti qui accennare alla sua collaborazione con musicisti legati all’elettronica come Alva Noto. CLICCATE QUI per un viaggio soggettivo nella musica di Iggy, dagli anni 70 ad oggi.
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Iggy Pop: rock.
Have you ever noticed that a small creature, like a mouse or a mole, when faced with danger, they just stop? I've had big, long periods in my life when I was a lot like that. I just froze. It was not fun, but it was what I thought I had to do. And that's how I lived, pretty much, at one time. I have a hot memory, but I know I've forgotten many things, too, just squashed things in favor of survival. The only thing missing from my life right now is what I've got, and it's peace. I have more than I ever had ... and not as much as I would like.
He (Bowie) resurrected me. Our friendship made it possible for me to save myself from professional and maybe even personal annihilation. So many people felt curiosity about what I was doing, but only he really had something in common with me, he was the only person who really liked what I was doing, with whom I could share what I was doing. And also the only one who was really willing to help me when I was in trouble. He really did me good.
Iggy Pop
At the end of the 1960s, while psychedelic rock ruled the charts, James Newell Osterberg Jr., a.k.a. Iggy Pop, founded The Stooges. Born in Detroit, the band immediately stood out for its brutal simplicity and visceral energy. Their self-titled debut in 1969, produced by John Cale (of the Velvet Underground), brought forth a raw, stripped-down, abrasive sound—proto-punk in its embryonic form. Their second album, Fun House (1970), pushed everything to the extreme: an explosion of free jazz, primal screams, and garage distortion. The third, Raw Power (1973), produced (and remixed) by David Bowie, was a ticking time bomb that anticipated punk by a few years. But the public wasn’t ready. The Stooges were too filthy, too wild, too far ahead. And that’s where Iggy Pop’s fascinating solo career begins...
We talk about musicians because they open doors to memory. For instance, I myself danced to exhaustion to The Passenger in a club that was all the rage where I lived, called “Corallo.” So every time that riff starts, I find myself traveling in a time machine, going back to those years. Later, in Florence, I got to enjoy one of his live performances, with all that writhing, howling, and thrashing that turned him into a true stage animal.
Let’s pick up the thread of Iggy’s story. With the end of The Stooges in 1974, he entered a dark period. Trapped in addiction, lost in a whirlwind of drugs and self-destruction, he became a near-living wreck. His friend David Bowie, also going through a rough time, lent him a hand, helped him get clean, and brought him to Berlin, far from the temptations of Los Angeles. For Bowie, this would be the era of three masterpieces: Low, “Heroes”, and Lodger. But for the Iguana, it was also the moment of a major comeback.
Between 1976 and 1977, Bowie wasn’t just a friend—he was a mentor, producer, co-writer, and creative partner. During those years, they created the albums that I still consider his best: “The Idiot” and “Lust for Life.” These records didn’t just revive Iggy Pop’s solo career—they became milestones of modern rock.
The Idiot was Iggy’s first solo album. Even though his name is on the cover, it’s practically a collaboration with David Bowie, who produced it, wrote most of the songs, and played keyboards, guitars, and synths.
Named after Dostoevsky’s novel, the album marks a profound artistic transformation. Iggy shed the raw animalism of The Stooges to embrace a more intellectual, disenchanted, urban persona. Berlin—where the album was recorded—looms over the entire record: gray, cold, war-scarred, and divided by the Wall, it provides the emotional backdrop. Many consider The Idiot the first true post-punk album, laying the groundwork for bands like Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and Bauhaus.
Lust for Life is the flip side of the coin. While The Idiot is shadowy and introspective, this one is energetic, vibrant, full of rock & roll and redemptive despair. David Bowie is still at the helm, but this time Iggy has more of a say—writing more lyrics, singing more assertively. The album was recorded quickly, almost live, with an exceptional band (including drummer Hunt Sales and guitarist Carlos Alomar).
Lust for Life is more classic in form but far from ordinary. It’s a rock album that nods to the '50s and '60s but with a modern, intense charge. The energy is overwhelming but never euphoric—there’s always an undercurrent of tragedy, a clear-eyed awareness of human fragility. It’s the record that saved Iggy Pop’s career, still his most iconic and accessible work, and a landmark for the post-punk and alternative generations. Its feral spirit continues to live on in artists like Nick Cave, Jack White, and Josh Homme.
Without Iggy Pop, punk as we know it wouldn’t exist. The Iguana influenced Sex Pistols, Ramones, and even Nirvana (Kurt Cobain worshipped Raw Power), not to mention Queens of the Stone Age, with whom Iggy would later collaborate. In 2016, at nearly 70 years old, he released Post Pop Depression, produced by Josh Homme—a powerful, twilight record hailed by critics. Not a nostalgic rehash, but a lucid re-reading of his own legend.
Today, Iggy Pop stands as a symbol of uncompromising music, a life of risk, of exposed flesh and raw truth—as once depicted by Courbet or Munch. His cavernous voice, his contorted body on stage, his time-carved face all tell a story that goes beyond music: the story of a man who burned everything down and rebuilt himself, again and again, with rare and brutal honesty.
From the smoky clubs of Detroit to contemporary art galleries, he has become a cross-generational figure—loved by punks and intellectuals alike. One need only mention his collaborations with electronic artists like Alva Noto.
CLICK HERE for a subjective journey through Iggy’s music, from the 1970s to today.
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