1947年4月21日，在美国密歇根州底特律市的一个小镇上，“朋克之父”――Iggy Pop（伊基．波普）出生了，他的父亲是一名英国移民，母亲则是一个本地人。在The Doors乐队的影响下，Iggy与来自Chosen Few乐队的Ron Asheton共同成立了名为Psychedelic Stooges的乐队。Iggy做新乐队的吉他手和主唱，Asheton出任贝斯手，不久后Asheton的兄弟Scott成为了乐队的鼓手。1967年的万圣节期间，Psychedelic Stooges乐队推出了他们首张专辑。70年代末期兴起的朋克浪潮吸引了Iggy Pop，1977年，Bowie和The Stooges来到柏林录制了专辑《The Idiot》以及《Lust For Life》，而Bowie则出任乐队的键盘手。其中歌曲“Nightclubbing”、 “The Passenger”以及“China Girl”被誉为The Stooges 的柏林三部曲。70年代末期Iggy与Arista唱片签约，与Glen Matlock以及Ivan Kral乐队合作发行了系列专辑。1982Iggy离开摇滚乐坛，开始着手编写自传。在离开的这段时间内，Iggy也戒除了毒瘾而且结婚了。1985年 Iggy出山，与Steve Jones乐队合作发行了一系列专辑。尽管Iggy Pop以及The Stooges已经老去，但我们永远不能忘记他们对现在以至将来摇滚乐的深远影响。
朋克的摧毁在作用于外部世的同时，同样也在心灵深处进着，Stooges和Iggy Pop开拓了形式后的朋克精神，这是一支相当心灵化的朋克乐队。当你面对一个颤抖着的、具强大震撼力的灵魂时，你能做些么呢? ――跟随着它一起颤抖吧，是最好的感受方式了。Stooges的音乐中弥散着一种摄人心魄的失重的坠落感(尤其体现在伟大的杰作《Fun House》中)，你所需要做的就闭上眼睛，任凭心灵被lggy Pop发自灵魂深处的声音牵引着一起下坠。
一座铁索桥架在两壁悬崖间，他跪在桥上，一块块地用双拆着木板，脸上是神经质般纯洁笑客――这是Iggy Pop给予人的那令人恐惧、指向地狱的坠落感。然而，在享受Stooges的恐惧、堕落的同时，我们所感受到的不只是自虐、受虐的痛苦，痛苦的背面是压抑后被释放的自由的快感，这正是Stooges的伟大之处――在压抑中发泄，在绝望中获得解放，在痛苦感受快乐，这些矛盾的揉合体形成Stooges音乐复杂、丰富的个性，并展现了一个勇敢面对矛盾冲突，进入其中以求得到解答(甚至不惜以牺牲自己为代价)的灵魂，这是Iggy Pop无畏的伟大，是沼泽中求生存，悬崖边求学援，压抑中求释放的勇敢――人一旦屈服于命运便失去了真正造就人的东西，也不能再称为"人"，因为人不能没有精神。
在感受Stooges的音乐时，我们总是无法摆脱一种窒息与释放相交错而成的炽烈、强大的生命力，强大得令人畏惧，这种危机与生命的复合形成了 Stooges音乐中无休止的挣扎--如果不想被流沙淹没，只能不停地奔跑，摇滚／生命一刻也未停止过这种挣扎，这种挣扎是痛苦的，但却能给人快感和幸福。
如果生命是为了屈服，不如从死亡中解放；如果生存是为了斗争／革命，那么当你投身其中时，便已经理解生存的含义，并与使命融为一体了。生存便是为了摧毁，而摧毁就是解放，但或许真正的解放只有在来生中才能找到――人若想要不妥协，恐怕只有放弃肉体，才能保全精神。Stooges的音乐是极其震撼力的，那种痛苦地受虐／自虐性的快感使人不由自主地把自己整个地交给颤栗。乐队1969年的专辑《Fun House》绝对是一部伟大的作品，其中最突出的是大量的萨克斯风，以连续跳跃，不断变化的表达方式体现了摇摇欲坠的危险感――痛苦、恐惧，却很快乐。 Iggy Pop像个站在悬崖边上向激流里的岩石张望的舞蹈者，在快感进发的吼叫声中，Iggy Pop将自己奉献给痛苦和死亡，在这死神的舞蹈中，Iggy Pop竟用充满自虐感的声音喊出了“I feel alright，I feel alright，Feel alright……”，这是精神的一种伟大的挣扎。
Stooges音乐中的跳跃感像是一团火，Iggy Pop似乎在烈焰中舞蹈，撕扯看自己，带着纯洁、撕裂、快慰的微笑――这是临近死亡的体验，是享受痛苦的欢乐。在《Fun House》结尾，你可以听到Iggy Pop绝对自虐性的，带看微笑的呻吟，就如神经质一般的纯洁、真实。 感受Stooges的音乐与Iggy Pop的体验是十分痛苦的――如果你真正理解它，而非头脑简单地把它仅仅当作重金属，或无聊的渲泄，或是站在旁边去做什么"欣赏者"的话，溶入Iggy Pop式的生命释放，你将对灵魂的涵义有一次更为彻底的理解和再创造，这种心灵的再生是极为可贵的，人的一生之中又能有几次这样的再生?
在Iggy Pop充满自我折磨的快感的吼声中，我们找到了弥散着摧毁欲的朋克源头。
ring the psychedelic haze of the late 60s, the grimy, noisy and relentlessly bleak rock & roll of the Stooges was conspicuously out of time. Like the Velvet Underground, the Stooges revealed the underside of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, showing all of the grime beneath the myth. The Stooges, however, werent nearly as cerebral as the Velvets. Taking their cue from the over-amplified pounding of British blues, the primal raunch of American garage rock, and the psychedelic rock (as well as the audience-baiting) of the Doors, the Stooges were raw, immediate, and vulgar. Iggy Pop became notorious for performing smeared in blood or peanut butter and diving into the audience. Ron and Scott Asheton formed a ridiculously primitive rhythm section, pounding out chords with no finesse — in essence, the Stooges were the first rock & roll band completely stripped of the swinging beat that epitomized R&B and early rock & roll. During the late 60s and early 70s, the group was an underground sensation, yet the band was too weird, too dangerous to break into the mainstream. Following three albums, the Stooges disbanded, but the groups legacy grew over the next two decades, as legions of underground bands used their sludgy grind as a foundation for a variety of indie rock styles, and as Iggy Pop became a pop culture icon.
After playing in several local bands in Ann Arbor, MI, including the blues band the Prime Movers and the Iguanas, Iggy Pop (born James Osterberg) formed the Stooges in 1967 after witnessing a Doors concert in Chicago. Adopting the name Iggy Stooge, he rounded up brothers Ron and Scott Asheton (guitar and drums, respectively) and bassist Dave Alexander, and the group debuted at a Halloween concert at the University of Michigan student union in 1967. For the next year, the group played the Midwest relentlessly, earning a reputation for their wild, primitive performances, which were largely reviled. In particular, Iggy gained attention for his bizarre on-stage behavior. Performing shirtless, he would smear steaks and peanut butter on his body, cut himself with glass, and dive into the audience. The Stooges were infamous, not famous — while they had a rabidly devoted core audience, even more people detested their shock tactics. Nevertheless, the group lucked into a major-label record contract in 1968 when an Elektra talent scout went to Detroit to see the MC5 and wound up signing their opening act, the Stooges, as well.
Produced by John Cale, the Stooges primitive eponymous debut was released in 1969, and while it generated some attention in the underground press, it barely sold any copies. As the band prepared to record their second album, every member sank deeper into substance abuse, and their excess eventually surfaced in their concerts, not only through Iggys antics, but also in the fact that the band could barely keep a simple, two-chord riff afloat. Fun House, an atonal barrage of avant-noise, appeared in 1970 and, if it was even noticed, it earned generally negative reviews and sold even fewer copies than the debut. Following the release of Fun House, the Stooges essentially disintegrated, as Iggy sank into heroin addiction. At first, he did try to keep the Stooges afloat. Dave Alexander left the band and after a spell in which Zeke Zettner and then James Recca took his place, Ron Asheton moved to bass as James Williamson joined as guitarist, but this incarnation wasnt able to land a record deal, despite recording a handful of demos. For the next two years, the band was in limbo as Iggy weaned himself off heroin and worked various odd jobs. Early in 1972, Pop happened to run into David Bowie, then at the height of his Ziggy Stardust popularity. Bowie made it his mission to resuscitate Iggy & the Stooges, as the band was now billed. With Bowies help, the Stooges landed a management deal and a contract with Columbia, and he took control of the production of the groups third album, Raw Power. Released in 1973 to surprisingly strong reviews, Raw Power had a weird, thin mix due to various technical problems. Although this would be the cause of much controversy later on — many Stooges purists blamed Bowie for the brittle mix — its razor-thin sound helped kick-start the punk revolution. At the time, however, Raw Power flopped, essentially bringing the Stooges career to a halt, with the bands disastrous final gig captured on the live album Metallic K.O.
In 1976, Bowie once again came to Iggys rescue, helping him establish himself as a solo act by producing the albums The Idiot and Lust for Life and playing keyboards in Iggys road band. In time, Iggy established an international following as one of rocks great renegades, but the other Stooges didnt fare quite as well. Dave Alexander died of pneumonia in 1975, aggravated by an inflamed pancreas. James Williamson returned to Iggys circle as a songwriter and producer on the albums New Values (1979) and Soldier (1980), but in the 1980s he dropped out of music and began a successful career in electronics. Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton launched a band called the New Order (no relation to the successful British group), but it didnt fare well and soon split up. In 1981, Ron Asheton was recruited to join New Race, a short-lived side project formed by Radio Birdman guitarist Deniz Tek which also featured MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson and Radio Birdman alumni Rob Younger and Warwick Gilbert. However, the group (as intended) split after a single Australian tour and album. After returning to Michigan, Ron gigged periodically with Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival, acted in a handful of low-budget films, and in 1998 he recorded with the ad hoc band Wylde Ratttz, featuring Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Mark Arm from Mudhoney, and Mike Watt, ex-Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Wylde Ratttzs cover of TV Eye appeared on the soundtrack of the film Velvet Goldmine, but the groups album remains unreleased. Following the Stooges breakup, Scott Asheton played with a few local groups in Detroit before joining Sonics Rendezvous Band in 1974, with Fred Sonic Smith of the MC5, Scott Morgan of the Rationals, and Gary Rasmussen of the Up; the band earned a potent reputation as a live act, but record labels were wary and the group slowly faded out by the end of the decade.
In 2002, Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton joined J Mascis + the Fog for a tour in which they performed a handful of Stooges classics from the groups first two albums. The shows were enthusiastically received, especially in Europe, and word got back to Iggy Pop, who had been talking with Ron Asheton on and off for several years about a possible Stooges reunion. In 2003, Iggy was recording the album Skull Ring, which featured contributions from a number of noteworthy bands, and he decided to add the Stooges to the roster; the Asheton brothers backed Iggy on four cuts (with Ron handling both guitar and bass), and on April 27, 2003, the Stooges played their first concert in 30 years at Californias Coachella festival, with Mike Watt sitting in for the late Dave Alexander. The reunited Stooges began hitting the road on a semi-regular basis for the next three years, playing major festivals in Europe and the United States, and in the fall of 2006 the group entered Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago, IL, with engineer Steve Albini to record The Weirdness, an album culled from 22 new songs written by Pop and the Ashetons. The Weirdness was released in March 2007, followed by a major world tour.
