David had said something in Melody Maker about his favorite songs, and he said he liked the Stooges, which is something not a lot of people would admit at the time. It was late one night, and Danny went to MaxвЂ™s Kansas City. I was staying at Danny FieldsвЂ™ little funky-ass loft. Iggy reminisced to Rolling Stone in 2016: While Iggy would later focus on BowieвЂ™s role in kickstarting his solo career (вЂњHe resurrected meвЂќ Iggy told the New York Times in 2016), the rock legend had first stepped into IggyвЂ™s career when the Stooges broke up. On top of all that, the band was in complete disarray from addiction.Д®nter David Bowie. Their debut had been disappointing, but Fun House received scathing reviews Roy Hollingworth of Melody Maker called the album вЂњthe worst album IвЂ™ve heard this yearвЂќ. They released their self-titled, debut album in 1969, followed by Fun House the year after. The Stooges began playing around the Detroit area, where they gained a reputation for their exciting (and shocking) stage show, and they were picked up by Elektra in 1968. We had gone to New York a couple of months before that just to check out the scene, and we had never been to a place like New YorkвЂ¦ we went down around Eighth Street there where all the young tourists hang out, and we met these girls from New Jersey, from Princeton, they had a band called the Untouchable, and weвЂ™re like, вЂњOh, youвЂ™ve got a band, sure, ha ha ha,вЂќ and they said вЂњWell, come to our house and see us play.вЂќ And we didnвЂ™t have anywhere to crash, and they played for us, and they completely rocked, and we were really ashamed.вЂќ

And the other thing was we went to New York. There were two things that made us do it one was seeing that show (the Doors), we saw that show and I just thought, well, this is so brazen, there is no excuse for us not to do it anymore. And we did not have the balls to get out and do it. Iggy cites two musical experiences as truly inspiring the band вЂ“ seeing the Doors perform live at the University of Michigan and seeing the Untouchables (an all-girls band from New Jersey) вЂ“ telling Bust magazine in 1995: The Stooges initially formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967. While neither the song nor the album sold particularly well at their release, their sound became one of the most important influences for the punk movement, which would emerge later in the decade. Recording in England, they released their highly influential third album, Raw Power (1973), which included the single вЂњSearch and DestroyвЂќ. Much to everyoneвЂ™s surprise, the band reformed in 1972, orchestrated by none other than David Bowie. You might not like it, but you canвЂ™t escape it.вЂќ In December 1970, David Marsh similarly wrote in ZigZag that Iggy Pop should prepare for вЂњthe adulation and acclaim I and a number of others find inevitably in store for him.вЂќ And yet by 1971, after the disappointing reception of Fun House (1970) and with most of the band addicted to heroin, Elektra dropped the Stooges, and the band broke up. Lenny Kaye prophesied in Fusion: вЂњIf 1967 was the year of the Beatles and вЂGet TogetherвЂ™, if 1968 was the year of the Band and BeggarвЂ™s Banquet, then 1969 may well be the year of the Stooges.

In 1969, The Stooges seemed to be ready to take on the world.

Iggy pop and the stooges