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“God bless Phil Everly. The Everlys were the real deal when it comes to American music. I saw them in the 60s at the 20 Grand in Detroit, and they seriously rocked the huge house, with just two Gibson Jumbos, and their voices. And man, did these guys have cool haircuts. I bought ‘Songs our Daddy Taught Us’ on download recently and there’s a whole life lesson in there. It’s brothers like the Everlys, that make the music scene of today worth bothering with. I am in their debt like so many others, for they have enriched my life.”

– Iggy

Iggy Pop gets us in the festive mood as he reads this Christmas story at BBC.co.uk.

Iggy Pop gets his Bing Crosby on with this straight from the heart, only a little wiggy, deep-voiced rendition of “White Christmas.” It’s from Psych-Out Christmas, a laudable new LP from the Cleopatra label where an international crew of lysergically-aware acts share their interpretations of those old Chrimbo faves.

Read more at MOJO. Psych-Out Christmas is available for purchase at Amazon, iTunes and the Cleopatra Records website.

Protests “Senseless Killing of These Majestic Animals for Sport”

Michigan native Iggy Pop, a music legend and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has endorsed the Keep Michigan Wolves Protected campaign to stop the trophy hunting of wolves and restore the right of Michigan voters to have a say over wildlife policy. Michigan’s first wolf hunt in decades begins tomorrow.

In a letter to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, dated Nov. 12, 2013, Pop writes: “As a Michigan native and someone who has cared about animals, both wild and domestic, for as long as I can remember, I was dismayed…that a bill you signed last May (S.B. 288/P.A. 21) gave Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission the authority to decide which animals can be hunted…which resulted in the first authorized wolf hunt since wolves underwent state protection in 1965.”

“To further compound the issue Mlive.com just unveiled several investigative reports that reveal the state used ‘half-truths’ and ‘falsehoods’ to support authorizing a hunting season on wolves in Michigan. The reports make clear that the decision to approve wolf hunting was based on fraudulent information and not sound science,” said Pop.

“I am asking all of my fans in Michigan to sign up and help gather signatures to reverse this decision and protect the wolf from future hunts,” Pop continues. “The senseless killing of these majestic animals for sport is a disappointment to the people of Michigan and a stain on its Government.” He called on Gov. Snyder to “do the right thing by staying the hunt and allowing the people’s voice to be heard” on the issue.

The endorsement by Iggy Pop, who was born in Muskegon and grew up in Ypsilanti, follows an investigation by Mlive.com revealing that lawmakers used details of a wolf sighting outside an Upper Peninsula daycare that never occurred; the Department of Natural Resources’ furbearer specialist lied in a radio interview about wolves threatening people outside their homes; the U.P. farmer who reported more than 60 percent of wolf-livestock incidents over the past three years baited wolves using deer and cattle carcasses in violation of state law; and the Natural Resources Commission asked for public input about the wolf hunt and then deleted or ignored more than 10,000 email comments on the subject.

Pop’s endorsement joins a long list of people and organizations that oppose the Michigan wolf hunt.

Last March, Keep Michigan Wolves Protected – a coalition of animal welfare groups, conservationists, veterinarians, business owners, faith leaders and Native American tribes – submitted more than 255,000 signatures of Michigan residents allowing voters to decide in the November 2014 election if the wolf should be designated as a game animal. Before the people even had an opportunity to vote on the issue, legislators and the governor hastily approved a second law (P.A. 21) allowing the unelected, political appointees of the Natural Resources Commission to designate the wolf and other protected animals as game species, which would no longer be subject to the voter referendum process.

Click here to view Iggy Pop’s letter to Gov. Snyder.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected launched a second petition drive in August to overturn P.A. 21. Persons interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about the issue can visit KeepWolvesProtected.com.

BBC Radio 6 Music will be truly rocking the holidays this year with Iggy Pop presenting two programs -– the first on Christmas Day (1-3pm local time), the second on New Year’s Day (1-3pm local time).

Iggy Pop’s Radio Show will offer 6 Music listeners an exclusive insight into the mind of one of the most influential rock stars of the last 40 years. In the first show he’ll explore the theme of Rockin’ Rebels, and Heartbreak and Heartaches in the second.

“To come up with the tunes that fit the concept of each show, I’ve had to dig back to things that I haven’t heard in a long, long time, but that still carry memories of joy and compulsion. I thought I better check these old numbers to see if they still made the grade for me. They still do,” he said. “I was a little worried that the listening might feel ragged for the kind of people who can’t embrace Duane Eddy and, say, The Last Poets in the same hour with Doc Watson. Well, that’s too damn bad. I’ve listened to all this music for the shows and it all flows for me. I hope to reach out and touch you.”

Read more at BBC.co.uk.

Happy Birthday to our one and only, James Williamson!!! Please post your birthday wishes below and on the Iggy and the Stooges Facebook page!

PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM IGGY ON LOU REED’S PASSING:
I loved Lou. I admired Lou very much. He was a very genuine person. He was always decent to me. His talent was so wonderful in my life and it gave me great pleasure and guidance. I am sure that his was a worthwhile life, and one he would have enjoyed had it continued longer. He and his wife Laurie were such a good couple.
Iggy

Iggy Pop in Wonderland! Iggy will play the voice of the famous smoking Caterpillar in ABC’s new series, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, based on the original Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland children’s novel. The new series finds Alice in a mental institution after no one believes her stories, and returning to Wonderland to find a lost love. The show will premiere on Thursday, October 10 at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC. Watch the trailer:

It’s a rare treat to see quality film footage from the late-’70s New York punk scene. But lucky for us, two women put in the work and captured some of the all-time greatest rock acts in their prime. Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong recorded more than 300 hours of footage at CBGB, Mudd Clubb, and Danceteria, of performances by Iggy Pop, the Cramps, the Go-Go’s, and many more. Most of the tapes somehow sat untouched in a closet until New York University restored them for the Nightclubbing archive.

The Nightclubbing archive features “82 bands videotaped at 115 performances, 27-plus interviews, photographs, video art, video DJ Reels, and ephemera.” It’s all part of NYU’s Downtown Collection, which documents the SoHo and Lower East Side arts scene from the ’70s to early ’90s. Check out Iggy Pop performing the Sinatra standard “One for My Baby” in 1979 at Hurrah’s in the video below and visit the Nightclubbing archive when it opens on October 17.

Read more at SPIN.com.

Dear Iggy and The Stooges Fans,
It’s been a blast to play for so many of you this year! Thank you all and each one of you for yet another great concert season. Stay safe and don’t stop rockin’ out.

James Williamson participated in an afternoon talk at the C2SV Technology Conference and Music Festival on September 28, before the Stooges’ show later that night in St. James Park, where fans packed the lawn to rock out to the godfathers of punk.

“In the ’70s, we were terrible entertainers,” he said. “Not only had our albums not sold, but we had ADD. We didn’t want to play the same songs all the time, so we’d play new songs. So nobody ever knew what they were hearing. It was always like the first time. The shows were still interesting, but people didn’t know what to expect.”

These days he sees crowds hundreds of thousands strong, 20-somethings in the front row, singing along verbatim.

“It’s wild,” he remarked. “Who would have thought it?”

Read more at Metroactive.com.