You were beautiful. You were the Godfather of punk. Fans adored you and Bowie wanted to be you.
“I wanna be your dog,” you sang in a critique of a foul world. Or was it raging masochism?
“I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky”
was something else you sang.
You worked out and had the most fabulous body in the Rock biz. Then your skin got saggy and in your see-thru pants you looked like the freshly exhumed corpse of a teenage bodybuilder who’d been dead for a week, or so said Charles Shaar Murray when he’d picked his jaw up off the floor.
Suddenly you are beautiful again. The skin is tight. A modern miracle, possibly by surgical means — who can tell?
And now you are pimping Swiftcover insurance in a $25 million advertising campaign. “Get a life. Get life assurance”, they make you say. Give me back my dreams is what I think.
“I wanna be your dog.” And now you are.
Hail and farewell, Ron Asheton, Iggy's guitarist from the earliest days, who probably saw the advert and promptly died of shock.
"...it became more horrible and twisted than you could ever imagine, the air thick with treachery and vileness. By midnight the whole place was a vicious ball of fangs."
- Raoul Duke.
Hat tip: Danny Baker for the Hunter S Thompson quote via CSM
FURTHER READING:
Article on the history of The Stooges
Hat tip: Stanley Milgram
UPDATE: Ha! It emerges that Swiftcover doesn't insure musicians and is now being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Delicious
culture
13 comments:
I imagine that in the stock market crash, people of a certain age's pensions are looking shaky. Hence a quick requirement for an infusion of cash...
A guitarist friend of mine has an excellent (I think) blog on Ron vs Iggy / history of the Stooges here:
http://www.diskant.net/blog/2009/01/06/ron-asheton/
That is such a great article, Stanley, I'm going to link to it in the article.
Thanks very much. it's a side of Iggy I wasn't familiar with. Very sad.
BTW, the gig pic is amazing quality.
Almost Witty, yes, I know there are financial imperatives but it's a disappointment never-the -less. Who's next? We've had Lydon and that butter ad. And Dylan did lingerie.
I hope Pete Townshend never EVER succumbs like this.
Ron Asheton lived about 5 miles from me. A real working class hometown boy. And he played smoking guitar. Iggy selling insurance? Yeah, that's Iggy. Disappointing. Almost as disappointing as London Calling used for Jaguar ads or the artistes of Wilco selling their songs to Volvo. A lot of folks think that people become prostitutes because of hard times. I guess that proposition doesn't account for rock stars....
This post should put you over to win the Bloggie Award.
Oh no, not Iggy. There has to be some way you can pimp yourself with a little dignity.
Or maybe that's why I like McLaren, because he was always a mercenary bastard and never pretended to have any integrity. You don't expect it from Iggy, and that's what makes it sad.
"the freshly exhumed corpse of a teenage bodybuilder who’d been dead for a week"
he sounds like some sort of music journalist!
I am pretty non plussed really. It always surprises me when people assume because they like an artist/musician that they have integrity/a nice personality.
I always think people are people. Sure, when I meet someone who inspires me artistically it is a bonus if they turn out to be OK.
I like Bob Dylan's music and his shambling live stuff but I am fairly sure he is a right wanker.
The governing trait of "famous musicians" seems to be that it hasn't done most of them any good and has actually kept most of them in some sort of childhood fantasy land. Obviously this has also done a few of them an immense amount of good in that they can say some pretty timely stuff politically/socially/culturally some times but publicity distorts and amplifys people who are just people with good and bad points.
I suppose ladies underwear has more kudos than insurance.
This post made me think about what I would endorse if I absolutely positively had to endorse something. I came to the conclusion of Netflix. I would most likely peddle Netflix. Because it is one of the greatest thing ever.
What would you endorse Madam? Something completely commercial that you could not live comfortably without.
Green & Blacks 85 percent chocolate, Mrs M.
And Creme de la Mer to get rid of the subsequent spots. Oh for a Clarins sponsorship
(Thanks, Renegade, for those warm word. 'Fonly ...)
Dave, I take your point about our expectations of "slebs" to be manifestations of the better part of us. But if someone gains fame by presenting themselves as rebels who reject societies crappier values, then they shouldn't be surprised when we hold them to it. It's not like he was Elton John.
Maybe he's old and skint and done his bit and this is his payday. And maybe we only download his music for free nowadays. But still, seeing him utter those words in his trademark naked torso ... Makes you wanna cry.
Mmmmm...Green & Black's is making me crave Andes Chocolate Mints. Those things are delicious.
Yeah have you seen that Frost/Nixon thing? It is very good. There is a scene where some hot blooded young journalist who has made it his lifes work to properly nail Nixon is finally introduced to the man in the flesh and meekly shakes his hand with a not quite reality look in his eye. It is really well done.
The funnel of publicity we see people through does really funny things which I have seen captured very well in the essence in scenes in Celeb Big Brothers
If you see Iggy you have to promise me you will pounce on his neck screaming! I will hold him down!
His songs have all ready been in two commercials in the U.S. here..I erm, I'm not up in arms about it as you all are. I still love his 70s stooges and solo stuff...heh heh..heh.please don't kill me.
Post a Comment