The Stooges (Iggy Pop): self-titled [ELEKTRA]

Why you'll love it

This Rhino Vinyl 180g pressing is cut from the original analog masters, with the Elektra jacket replicated in detail. Rolling Stone ranks it among the 500 greatest albums of all time and puts "1969" at No. 35 on its list of the 100 greatest guitar songs.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Cut from the original analog masters
• Original Elektra jacket replicated
• Stereo mix

About the album

The Stooges turned up at The Hit Factory in New York with seven songs and the cheerful assumption that this was plenty. Elektra boss Jac Holzman asked if that was everything; Ron Asheton said there was more, and Holzman gave them five days. The band wrote "We Will Fall," "Real Cool Time" and "Not Right" on the spot, Iggy revived "Ann," his first song for the group, and John Cale of the Velvet Underground produced.

Ron Asheton's guitar is the engine: the riff in "I Wanna Be Your Dog," with Cale plunking a single piano note through it, is one of the most borrowed in rock, and "1969" and "No Fun" are teenage boredom set to a stomp. Dave Alexander's bass and Scott Asheton's drums keep everything brutally simple, "We Will Fall" is a ten-minute drone built on a chant Alexander brought in, and "Little Doll" rides a Bo Diddley beat. Iggy and Holzman did the final mix themselves.

Punk owes the record an enormous debt; the Sex Pistols covered "No Fun" and plenty of late-'70s bands learned their trade from it. Elektra gave the band five days to find some more material, and they came back with a new genre, which is decent value for a working week.

Also at Kops: more The Stooges on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Elektra / Rhino (cat# R1 74051), a reissue of the 1969 album.