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1970: THE COMPLETE FUN HOUSE SESSIONS
The Stooges
(Elektra / Rhino Handmade)
If there ever was a band voted Least Likely to Succeed, it was The Stooges.
Back in the peace-and-love '60s, these four pimply punks from Ann Arbor, Mich., were nothing like the tie-dyed, rockin' teenage combos of the day. The Stooges weren't pretty. They weren't smart. They weren't sophisticated. And talented? Judging by the amateurish blooze-rawk sludge of their first album, they could barely play. Like the act whose name they shared, they were a laughingstock.
But The Stooges had a secret weapon: A magnetic mutant of a singer named Jim Osterberg, who went by the handle Iggy Pop. Pop was a doofus savant plugged straight into a power plant on another planet. Onstage, he wore a dog collar, smeared peanut butter on his body, rolled in broken glass, dove into the crowd and generally freaked the hell out of the dope-smoking hippies. Somewhere along the way, he also helped invent punk rock, thus earning The Stooges a spot in music history -- a smelly, obscure little corner but still a place of their own. They called it Stoogeland. And the Fun House was its HQ.
Released in 1970, Fun House was one of the most hated albums of its day -- a nihilistic, atonal blast of teen frustration driven by primal drums, two-chord guitar grinds and feral howling. For The Stooges, it was also commercial suicide. Years later, when the world caught up, everybody realized they were the original punk band and Fun House was their twisted opus. By then, naturally, it was too late. The Stooges were long gone from the scene of the crime.
Luckily, the evidence -- 13 reels of eight-track tape -- was still in the vaults. And thanks to some musical detective work, we have 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, a limited-edition, seven-CD box of every tune, every take, every lyric and every bum note that went into this cult classic.
By the numbers alone, 1970 is one massive undertaking. The original Fun House was 36 minutes long with seven tunes -- rockers Down on the Street, Loose, T.V. Eye, 1970, Fun House, the dirgey ballad Dirt and the free-jazz freak-out L.A. Blues. The box has 142 tracks -- 109 songs and 33 bits of studio chatter. There are 16 full and partial takes of 1970, 32 of Loose, 15 of T.V. Eye, 12 of Dirt, 17 of Down on the Street, seven of Fun House and two of L.A. Blues, along with a few blues-jam warmups and a never-released tune called Lost in the Future. All told, it's seven hours of unbridled, unreleased Stooges.
Who wants to sit through that? Well, we do. So will any Stooges fanatic. But what's remarkable about 1970 is even if you don't genuflect at the altar of Iggy, you won't be bored. Presented in the order they were laid down live in the studio, these tracks present a narrative all their own, forming a revealing behind-the-scenes documentary of the band. The biggest revelation? These guys can play. Despite their rep as slacker hackers, Iggy, guitarist Ron Asheton, his drummer brother Scott, and bassist Dave Alexander weren't fooling around. As they bash through take after take, you can hear them tightening up, muscling the songs into shape, doggedly inching closer to the perfect groove. Granted, they're no virtuosos. But rudimentary doesn't mean untalented. Asheton offers up 100 solos and seldom flubs. The rhythm section remains just as rock-solid on Take 25 as they were on Take 1. Iggy's wigged-out intensity never wavers, even as he fiddles with lyrics -- for better (Loose's original lines have him "flying on a red hot weenie") and for worse (1970's initial chorus, "all night in a world that's lame," beats the final version of "all night till it blows away").
And there's no shortage of cool studio moments caught on tape, including Iggy reciting a poem about Stoogeland; a wrasslin' roadie who raps about "Da Stooches;" Iggy quipping on Take 22 of Loose that "we should just put out a single," to which the producer retorts, "How about an album with 22 takes of Loose?" And, finally, there's all the original artwork, augmented by pictures of the actual tape boxes and comprehensive, anecdote-filled liner notes.
All this doesn't come cheap. Available only online at www.rhinohandmade.com, this sucker will set you back more than $200 after exchange, tax, duty and such. But it's money well spent. Unlike the bloated hits collections that constitute most box sets, 1970 is a true historic document that keeps you coming back for more.
Hear that sound? It's The Stooges having the last laugh.
Track Listing
DISC ONE [Approximately 74:25 Total Time]
1. Fun House [TAPE GLITCH FRAGMENT] 0:22
2. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:39
3. 1970 [INCOMPLETE] 1:51
4. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:20
5. 1970 TAKE 1 7:04
6. 1970 TAKE 2 3:08
7. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:30
8. 1970 TAKE 3 7:35
9. 1970 TAKE 4 6:02
10. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:14
11. Loose [DEMO] 1:14
12. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:06
13. 1970 TAKE 5 5:48
14. Loose TAKE 1 [FALSE START] [Labeled As I'M LOOSE] 1:37
15. Loose TAKE 2 3:41
16. Down On The Street TAKE 1 2:05
17. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:12
18. Loose TAKE 3 3:45
19. Down On The Street TAKE 2 [FALSE START] 3:31
20. Down On The Street TAKE 3 [FALSE START] 0:21
21. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:34
22. See That Cat [T V Eye] 5:15
23. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:11
24. 1970 TAKE 1 6:27
25. Fun House TAKE 1 10:03
26. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:09
27. Lost In The Future [FALSE START] 0:27
28. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:08
29. Lost In The Future [FALSE START] 1:10
DISC TWO [Approximately 75:20 Total Time]
1. Lost In The Future TAKE 1 5:42
2. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:11
3. Lost In The Future TAKE 2 [FALSE START] 1:22
4. Lost In The Future TAKE 3 4:35
5. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:15
6. Loose TAKE 1 3:38
7. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:19
8. 1970 TAKE 1 6:18
9. Loose TAKE 2 3:41
10. Loose TAKE 3 [FALSE START] 0:26
11. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:32
12. Loose TAKE 4 3:38
13. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:14
14. Loose TAKE 5 3:39
15. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:08
16. Loose TAKE 6 3:43
17. Loose TAKE 7 [FALSE START] 1:10
18. Loose TAKE 9 3:41
19. Loose TAKE 11 3:41
20. Loose TAKE 12 3:42
21. Loose TAKE 13 3:47
22. Loose TAKE 14 3:42
23. Loose TAKE 15 3:42
24. Slide [Slidin' The Blues] 4:35
25. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:12
26. Loose TAKE 16 3:44
27. Loose TAKE 17 [FALSE START] 0:27
28. Loose TAKE 18 [FALSE START] 1:00
29. Loose TAKE 19 3:38
DISC THREE [Approximately 79:25 Total Time]
1. Loose TAKE 20 3:42
2. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:20
3. Loose TAKE 21 [FALSE START] 3:15
4. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:44
5. Loose TAKE 22 3:40
6. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:14
7. Loose TAKE 23 3:42
8. Loose TAKE 24 3:44
9. Loose TAKE 25 [FALSE START] 3:14
10. Loose TAKE 26 [FALSE START] 1:59
11. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:13
12. Loose TAKE 27 3:38
13. Loose TAKE 28 3:34
14. Down On The Street TAKE 1 3:57
15. Down On The Street TAKE 2 4:11
16. Down On The Street TAKE 3 4:08
17. Down On The Street TAKE 4 4:15
18. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:07
19. Down On The Street TAKE 5 4:14
20. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:19
21. Down On The Street TAKE 6 4:23
22. Down On The Street TAKE 7 [FALSE START] 0:21
23. Down On The Street TAKE 8 4:16
24. Down On The Street TAKE 9 [FALSE START] 0:25
25. Down On The Street TAKE 10 4:25
26. Down On The Street TAKE 11 [FALSE START] 0:41
27. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:27
28. Down On The Street TAKE 12 [FALSE START] 1:23
29. Down On The Street TAKE 13 4:01
30. Down On The Street TAKE 14 [FALSE START] 2:11
31. Down On The Street TAKE 15 3:42
DISC FOUR [Approximately 79:00 Total Time]
1. T V Eye TAKE 1 5:21
2. T V Eye TAKE 2 [FALSE START] 4:29
3. Slide [Slidin' The Blues] 1:00
4. T V Eye TAKE 3 5:29
5. T V Eye TAKE 4 [FALSE START] 0:33
6. T V Eye TAKE 5 5:55
7. T V Eye TAKE 6 5:43
8. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:26
9. T V Eye TAKE 7 5:21
10. T V Eye TAKE 8 5:21
11. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:17
12. T V Eye TAKE 9 4:17
13. T V Eye TAKE 10 [FALSE START] 0:12
14. T V Eye TAKE 11 4:16
15. T V Eye TAKE 12 4:46
16. T V Eye TAKE 13 4:17
17. T V Eye TAKE 14 4:40
18. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:17
19. 1970 TAKE 1 5:28
20. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:13
21. 1970 TAKE 2 5:19
22. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:10
23. 1970 TAKE 3 5:09
DISC FIVE [Approximately 79:30 Total Time]
1. 1970 TAKE 4 5:44
2. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:23
3. 1970 TAKE 5 5:24
4. 1970 TAKE 6 [FALSE START] 1:00
5. 1970 TAKE 7 5:44
6. 1970 TAKE 8 5:15
7. Fun House TAKE 1 [FALSE START] 3:09
8. Fun House TAKE 2 10:15
9. Fun House TAKE 3 11:19
10. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:39
11. Fun House TAKE 4 8:21
12. Fun House TAKE 5 7:45
13. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:38
14. Dirt TAKE 1 7:29
15. Dirt TAKE 2 7:04
DISC SIX [Approximately 79:15 Total Time]
1. Dirt TAKE 3 7:03
2. STUDIO DIALOGUE 0:29
3. Dirt TAKE 4 7:06
4. Dirt TAKE 5 6:38
5. Dirt TAKE 6 6:37
6. Dirt TAKE 7 [FALSE START] 0:44
7. Dirt TAKE 8 6:51
8. Dirt TAKE 9 6:55
9. Dirt TAKE 10 7:07
10. Dirt TAKE 11 [FALSE START] 0:07
11. Dirt TAKE 12 7:00 7:02
12. Freak [Later Titled L A Blues] TAKE 1 17:24
13. Freak [Later Titled L A Blues] TAKE 2 4:55
DISC SEVEN [Approximately 6:00 Total Time]
1. Down On The Street [MONO SINGLE EDIT] 2:42
2. I Feel Alright (1970) [MONO SINGLE EDIT] 3:18