Random Bloody and Vomit-Filled Behind-The-Scenes Stories Of Iggy Pop, The Godfather Of Punk (19 items)

• 

  (#4) A Residency At Ungano's In New York City Saw Iggy Vomiting On The Audience 

  In 1970, The Stooges had a four-day residency at New York City's famed Ungano club, during which the band displayed some of its most outlandish behavior. Recalls Scott Kempner, guitarist for proto punk band The Dictators, who went to a few of these shows: "Iggy put life and limb into every show. I saw him bloody every single show."

  Steve Harris, former VP of Elektra records, The Stooges' label (and not to be confused with Iron Maiden's bass player of the same name), recalls: "Iggy took his [junk] out and put it on the speaker. It was just vibrating around. He was very well endowed."

  At one show, Iggy spotted superstar model Geri Miller in the audience. He engaged her in the show in a very bizarre way. A year later, while The Stooges were playing at Electric Circus show in NYC, Miller, recalling Iggy's vomiting, egged him on saying, "Let's see you puke." He proceeded to vomit all over Miller.
• 

  (#5) He And His Fellow Stooges Decorated The Walls Of Their Detroit Home In An Odd Way

  In 1969-70, Iggy Pop lived with his band in a Detroit-area home dubbed "Fun House." If that name looks familiar, it's because The Stooges' seminal 1970 album, replete with wailing guitars, screeching saxophones, and extended punk jams, was named after the pad. This house wasn't just where the band wrote and recorded some of their tracks; it was where they loaded up on H. 

  The members of the Stooges had some concerning habits during this period, one of which involved pushing used syringes of body fluids all over the walls and ceilings of their home. As outlined in the book Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars On Drugs, the band would use H, then squirt the fluid collected in their syringes around the house. 
• 

  (#13) He Got Overzealous With A Watermelon And Gave Someone A Concussion

  According to Paul Trynka's biography Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed, Iggy once gave a woman a concussion with a watermelon. It was a hot day at St. Clair Lake, on the border of Michigan and Canada, where The Stooges were performing at an Ice Arena. The band was eating watermelon backstage.

  When showtime arrived, the band took the stage before Iggy, striking the opening chord to "Raw Power." Iggy got a little too excited and stormed from the backstage area with a whole watermelon in his hands. He hurled it into the audience, where it landed on, and allegedly concussed, a woman. It was a harsh introduction for life in the band for guitarist and keyboardist Scott Thurston, who played his first show with The Stooges that day. 
• 

  (#10) A Loyal Stooges Fan Always Provided Iggy With Coke In NYC, And The Band Once Shared With Miles Davis

  The Stooges played frequent gigs in New York City in their heyday of the late '60s and early '70s, during which time the band made many friends and picked up a small legion of devoted fans, while hobknobbing with some of their musical heroes. One such fan always made sure the band had coke while in NYC. 

  As guitarist Ron Asheton remembers: "Every time we played New York, this guy would come by our show and give The Stooges a little bottle of coke, totally of his own volition. So we're sitting backstage with Miles Davis, and this guy finally arrives and just throws down a big old pile. Imagine that great scene - Miles Davis' head right next to all the heads of the Stooges going 'SNNNORRRRT!'"
• 

  (#15) He Lathered Himself Up With Peanut Butter During A Festival Performance In 1970

  Iggy Pop is quite the showman. During The Stooges' 1970 set at Cincinnati Pop Festival, Pop was on his A-game. When he leapt into the crowd, an audience member handed him a jar of peanut butter.

  He proceeded to throw it at the audience, then collapse and smear it all over his body while screaming. 
• 

  (#6) He Sliced Himself To Ribbons At A Show In 1973

  While promoting the release of their third and final (at least for 34 years, until the band reunited) record, Raw Power, in 1973, The Stooges played four nights at Max's Kansas City, a club in New York City. This venue was widely known for being frequented by Andy Warhol and other prominent figures in the New York art scene. One of the performances ended with Iggy Pop spurting blood across the audience.

  Nitebob, who worked at the club at the time and is interviewed in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk, recalls: "Iggy was trying to walk on the tables. Max's had tables all the way up at the front, the stage was too small, and sometimes Iggy would go walking on the tables... I was working the stage that night, and Iggy fell off a table..."

  The table was loaded with glasses, which shattered as Iggy landed on them. Nitebob explains: "He was 20 minutes into the set and I asked him if he wanted to stop the show, because he was cut pretty bad. He had a pretty good gusher going. But he wanted to finish the show, so he went on playing. I was blown away... Alice Cooper wanted him to go to the hospital."

  During the performance, Iggy danced and writhed as normal, spraying all over the audience. Crew tried to seal his wounds with gaffer tape, but failed. The next day, he saw a doctor, and got stiches.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking