“Hiya dogface!” Iggy Pop’s infamous salutation to Molly Meldrum on a 1979 episode of Countdown was as startling and bizarre as some of his musical forays. The Stooges frontman, David Bowie collaborator and leathery rock’n’roll survivor has had an influential and deliciously varied career since first stepping onto a Detroit stage 50 years ago. To celebrate his 70th birthday on April 21, here are some of the stranger musical places you’ll find the artist formerly known as James Osterberg.
1. THE BPA – HE’S FRANK
What happens when a former member of The Housemartins (and millionaire big beat DJ) collaborates with a Detroit punk demigod on a cover of a little known UK new wave tune? This. Fatboy Slim’s 2009 project under The Brighton Port Authority (The BPA) pseudonym led to a number of bizarre collaborations, with this cover of The Monochrome Set’s 1979 single with Iggy Pop being one of the more intriguing. Strangely enough, the video isn’t the only weird time Iggy has been reduced to puppet form – check out this crazy Swiftcover ad from the UK for more Motor City marionette action.
2. JET & IGGY POP – THE WILD ONE
Considering the similarities between the pounding beat of Jet’s debut, world-conquering single Are You Gonna Be My Girl? and Lust For Life, some might suggest the Sydney boys owe their Lake Como mansions to Mr Pop. When the two acts finally collaborated on the 2008 cover of Johnny O’Keefe’s The Wild One, the results were decidedly flat, peaking at 66 in the Aussie singles chart. Best to stick with the Rage theme for your JO’K Iggyisms.
3. MOGWAI – PUNK ROCK
Like your Detroit punk gods thoughtful, humorously self-aggrandising and passionate in conversation? Like your Scottish music to be an incredible wealth of post-rock riches that peak and trough like crashing waves off the Isle Of Skye? An Iggy Pop sample from a 1977 interview with CBS TV program 90 Minutes was effectively used on Mogwai’s Punk Rock, the opening call to arms on 1999’s Come On Die Young. Captured the week before the release of The Idiot, the full 1977 interview with Iggy Pop from 90 Minutes is available to watch here.
4. KYLIE MINOGUE FEATURING IGGY POP – CHRISTMAS WRAPPING
Perhaps only Snoop Dogg can rival Iggy Pop for keeping his credibility intact despite notching up an array of absurd guest appearances, but The Stooges hero does little more than offer a few drawling interjections on Kylie’s cover of The Waitresses’ 1981 tune "Christmas Wrapping". As an alternative, check out his off-kilter version of White Christmas.
5. AT THE DRIVE-IN – ENFILADE
For every strangely bouncy moment of musical confectionery in his catalogue, Pop has a sinister cameo to counter any suggestions he’s gone soft. Enfilade proves Pop remains as dangerous as a psychopath with a switchblade, with Mr Osterberg voicing the kidnapper who begins his ransom demand with the creepy “Hello mother leopard”.
6. KE$HA FEATURING IGGY POP – DIRTY LOVE
Despite being young enough to be his granddaughter, Ke$ha roped in Iggy Pop for a 2013 for Dirty Love, a track where she suggested she just wants “your fucking filthy love”. Containing a throwback to Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love (an songwriter Pop also covered with Deborah Harry on 1990’s Well, Did You Evah! AIDS charity single), it’s a vibrant glam pop stomper.
7. IGGY POP – MONSTER MEN
Space monsters, haunted houses, French-Canadian animation and punk veterans? What a combo! Released as a limited single in 1997, Iggy Pop’s theme tune for Space Goofs was a quirky addition to his canon at a time when his studio albums were on a commercial slide. When Pop calls out ‘And the French girls sing’ over the loose-limbed bassline, it’s an obvious lyrical reference to his Bowie associate/rival Lou Reed and his 1972 hit Walk On The Wild Side.
8. CAT POWER – NOTHIN’ BUT TIME
Cat Power’s 2012 album Sun was filled with hypnotic, shamanic moments, but best of all was the closing tune where Iggy Pop dropped in. Nothin’ But Time, a beautiful open letter of guidance to a teen girl includes Iggy Pop adding a benevolent, grandfatherly timbre.
9. DEATH IN VEGAS – AISHA
If there was ever a conspiracy theory Iggy Pop’s ‘70s survival was down to a pact with the underworld, the bloodcurdling, inhuman howl he lets out at the end of Aisha certainly sounds like audio proof of demonic possession. The video clip feels like a Lucio Fulci exploitation horror flick from the ‘70s, but it’s Pop’s ominous sermon about homicidal thoughts which truly captivate.
10. DANGER MOUSE & SPARKLEHORSE FEATURING IGGY POP – PAIN
While not quite as dark and sinister as his appearance on Aisha, Pop’s work with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse on their 2010 Dark Night Of The Soul album still prickles with menace. Careering along like a getaway car on a stormy highway, Pop sounds haunted and wired. On an album that featured fellow guest weirdos David Lynch, The Flaming Lips and Black Francis, Pop gives them all a run for their money. To add to the dark atmosphere, the album was released a few months after the suicide of Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous.
11. PEACHES & IGGY POP – KICK IT
Canadian art rock star Peaches is a perfect foil for Iggy on this neo-biographical interplay. In a delicious turning of the tables, it’s Pop who sounds disturbed by Peaches’ “kinky shit” on this scuzzy Triple J favourite from 2004. Simple and effective, it’s like The Stooges reborn as tell-it-how-it-is feminist punks.
12. SLASH FEATURING IGGY POP – WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE
The closing track from Slash’s self-titled 2010 album, We’re All Gonna Die features the perfect opening lines to prove Iggy Pop still has a certain way with the succinct numbskull lyric: “Gee, I really like your tits. I'll say anything that fits.” After kicking off his Stooges career with the Cro-Magnonly simple “It’s 1969 okay, all across the USA”, it seems that this punk legend’s never gonna grow up, even as he blows out his 70 candles. Happy birthday, Iggy!
13. IDA MARIA FEATURING IGGY POP – OH MY GOD
For a minute there, Ida Maria was a Norwegian breath of fresh air on the indie pop scene. With her physical performance style, penchant for disrobing and love of rock hedonism it wasn’t hard to make the connection back to Pop, but label wrangles and mental illness curtailed her career before she could back up her 2008 debut Fortress Round My Heart. This particular version of her Oh My God single featuring the Stooges frontman remains an oddity; released a year after the original single, it isn’t on the Australian version of her album, YouTube or even Spotify.
Unfortunately it seems you can no longer watch or hear the clip from Australia, so this one's for our overseas readers - WATCH HERE
- SM
