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In honor of Steve Mackay, The Guardian has put together a list of what it considers to be 10 of the best songs by The Stooges. Do you agree with their list? Here is an excerpt about “1970”:

The riff gets stuck like a scratched record, the Stooges retracing its three notes endlessly, like cavemen caught in a loop, Iggy barking “I feel all right!” again and again, and over the top the newest introduction to the group – saxophonist Steve Mackay, who sadly died this week, and who’d joined the group two days before the sessions for Fun House began – bleated and raged and blew, infesting the song’s priapic stomp with seething free-jazz skronk. It’s debauchery pushed to a psychosis some way beyond excess, beyond enervation, beyond exhaustion. Indeed, if you find yourself repeating the phrase “I feel all right” this many times, with such strangled passion, over a rusticated, circular riff caught in an ever-decaying orbit, then the chances are you don’t feel very all right.

Photo by Ed Caraeff, Getty Images

Happy Birthday, Steve! Our thoughts and prayers are with you not only on this special day. There’s a lot of jammin’ to do!

Our fundraiser for Steve is still ongoing: http://www.gofundme.com/stevemackay. Thank you for your well wishes.

As you have probably heard, Steve Mackay needs us. He is still in hospital. Apart from your thoughts and prayers, we invite you to join this fundraiser: http://www.gofundme.com/stevemackay. Thank you for your love and support for Steve.

As many of you know today would’ve been Scott Asheton’s birthday! Happy Birthday Scott, you are greatly missed by so many!

The Stooges‘ debut album from 1969 didn’t even crack the Top 100 on Billboard‘s album chart, so it wasn’t like too many people were waiting for the follow-up. Which was just fine. Without expectations all that high, the band was free to explore almost any path it wanted to on Fun House.

…The result is one of the most primal and unhinged albums ever made. Saxophone player Steve Mackay, a temporary addition to the band who also came from the Stooges’ hometown of Detroit, blurts his way through songs in an acid-damaged take on free-jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman’s improvised soloing, pushing Fun House into a sort of avant-jazz proto-punk garage scuzz-rock genre all its own. …It’s also brilliant, a pre-punk milestone years ahead of the movement it unwittingly helped inspire.

Read more at Ultimate Classic Rock.

#iggypop #happybirthday

First anniversary of Scott’s passing. You are sadly missed, Rock Action.

Are we happy or are we happy? Iggy Pop will be performing at All Tomorrow’s Parties Iceland, to be held in Ásbrú, Keflavík in Iceland between July 2 and July 4. Iggy’s specific performance time is to be announced. Visit ATPFestival.com for more information and to buy tickets!

ATP Iceland 2015 Lineup (So Far):
Iggy Pop, Drive Like Jehu, Belle and Sebastian, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Run The Jewels, Mudhoney, Kiasmos, HAM, Ought, Clipping, The Bug, Loop, Xylouris White, Deafheaven, Iceage, Chelsea Wolfe, The Field, White Hills, Ghostigital, Vision Fortune, Younghusband, Tall Firs, Grimm Grimm

Iggy Pop will be a special guest with the Foo Fighters in concert at Wembley Stadium in London on June 19 and 20. Tickets available now at Ticketmaster UK.

Listen to James Williamson’s new interview on NPR’s World Cafe, and hear two songs from Re-Licked and a Stooges classic that were played during the episode.

WILLIAMSON’S NEW SOLO ALBUM “RE-LICKED” OUT THIS WEDNESDAY ON VINYL, CD & DIGITAL!

RE-LICKED TRACK LISTING W/ RESPECTIVE VOCALISTS
01. Head On The Curve (w/ Jello Biafra)
02. Open Up And Bleed (w/ Carolyn Wonderland)
03. Scene Of The Crime (w/ Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream)
04. She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills (w/ Ariel Pink)
05. Til The End Of The Night (w/ Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Weather)
06. I Gotta Right (w/ Lisa Kekaula from The BellRays)
07. Pinpoint Eyes (w/ Joe Cardamone from The Icarus Line)
08. Wild Love (w/ Mark Lanegan & Alison Mosshart)
09. Rubber Leg (w/ Ron Young from Little Caesar)
10. I’m Sick Of You (w/ Mario Cuomo from The Orwells)
Bonus Tracks:
11. Gimme Some Skin (w/ Caroline Wonderland)
12. C*ck In My Pocket (w/ Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters)
13. Heavy Liquid (w/ Lisa Kekaula)
14. Wet My Bed (w/ The Richmond Sluts)
15. C**k In My Pocket (w/ Gary Floyd from The Dicks)
16. Rubber Leg (w/ J.G. Thirlwell aka Clint Ruin, Foetus)

HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE ALREADY SAYING ABOUT RE-LICKED:

“An avalanche of raw riffs… and Williamson playing white-knuckled leads like he absolutely refuses to let the Stooges’ music go gentle into that good night.” – PREMIER GUITAR

“Unsurprisingly brilliant.” – NME

“‘I Gotta Right,’ the second single from Re-Licked, is a manic, guitar-blazing rocker featuring belter Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays.” – USA TODAY

“James Williamson’s aggressive guitar style may be the most influential in punk.” – NPR’s WORLD CAFE

“… hard-charging, fast-paced punk” – EXCLAIM!

“… a karmic correction” – Author/journalist HARVEY KUBERNIK

“James Williamson is on a mission. Revitalized after a reunion with The Stooges and further stoked by interest in his career he has been working hard on keeping The Stooges beating heart alive. Iggy may be having a break from this thing called rock and roll but James is having none of it. The results… a new album of re-recorded songs from the catalogue of Iggy Pop and James Williamson. Songs that never made it into the studio, some known from live shows, some not. Re-Licked is kicking itself out of the garage with an intent to seek and destroy all naysayers, and along for the ride are some very special guest stars.” – ARTROCKER

“… gruff and propulsive” – CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

“Properly recorded and no longer mired in sub-bootleg mire, the songs do indeed shine through.” – BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS

“James Williamson closes the loop of The Stooges’ past legend in the best possible way.” – ROCK ON MAGAZINE / SPAIN

“Thankfully, there isn’t a single note on Re-Licked that was phoned in. Every person involved in this momentous release clearly grasped the importance of the work being presented…. gearing up to be the Album of the Year.” – music critic JOEL GAUSTON

“…the ‘Great Lost Stooges’ album of 1974.” – OUT MAGAZINE

“Re-Licked has enough energy, fine playing and (deep breath) convincing vocals to present as something unique in the canon of Stooge-inspired music. Get it.” – I-94 BAR

FOR MORE INFO ON JAMES WILLIAMSON:
http://straightjameswilliamson.com

Iggy Pop delivered the annual John Peel Lecture for BBC Radio 6 Music on the topic, “Free Music in a Capitalist Society.” Listen again or watch the whole lecture on BBC Four, October 19, including a Q&A session featuring Jarvis Cocker, Pete Wylie and members of New Order.

The full transcript is available here.