Legendary punk pioneers The Stooges are set to work with former guitarist James Williamson once again.
The Stooges emerged from the underbelly of Detroit, fired up by a love of rock ‘n’ roll pyrotechnics. Led by singer Iggy Pop the band’s onstage behaviour was chaotic at best, putting them in sharp contrast to the mannered singer / songwriters of the day.
However the band’s line up was continually changing. After the release of their album ‘Fun House’ The Stooges were dropped by their label Elektra and found themselves in dire straights.
David Bowie was to be their knight in shining armour. Inviting the band to record in England, The Stooges recruited a new guitar player in the form of James Williamson. Recording their third album ‘Raw Power’ together, the band’s explosive energy was to be a major influence on emerging punk groups.
Not that The Stooges saw any of this. Disintegrating in 1974, Iggy Pop went on to enjoy a solo career while James Williamson began a lucrative career in Silicon Valley.
Iggy Pop reformed The Stooges back in 2004, playing a huge amount of shows around the world. Using Mike Watt as their new bass player the band showed the world just why they deserve their seminal reputation.
However the group were rocked by the death of guitarist Ron Asheton earlier this year. Speaking afterwards, Iggy Pop paid tribute to his friend but refused to call it quits with The Stooges – arguing that the ‘Raw Power’ period was effectively a separate line up.
Now it seems that Iggy And The Stooges are set to re-unite for a series of tour dates. The band will perform ‘Raw Power’ in London later this year as part of ATP’s ‘Don’t Look Back’ series.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine recently James Williamson confirmed his involvement. I was about to take an early retirement from my job in Silicon Valley, so I figured, ‘What the hell, let’s do it.'”
Williamson also mooted the possibility of recording new tracks. The ‘Raw Power’ group recorded more than one album, of course, with bootlegs continually emerging from the stockpile of material put down in those London sessions.
