Happy Birthday James Williamson!

Celebrating James Williamson's birthday with a recording of Iggy Pop's "Tight Pants" – an early version of "Shake Appeal"

Watch John Petkovic join Dinosaur Jr. for a rip through T.V. Eye in Cleveland

Singer John Petkovic (Death Of Samantha, Cobra Verde) reunited with his Sweet Apple pal J Mascis to reprise a Stooges fave. 

Happy Birthday James Williamson!

Cheers to guitarist and silicon valley exec James Williamson. Check out his interview with collaborator Deniz Tek. 

UIC kicks out the jams on new FM Hill album out Friday

UIC's long-awaited new studio album FM Hill captures the group at their raw rockin' best.

Growing up during the 70s in the rural South Western Ontario town of Exeter, there wasn't much in the way of legal entertainment. Bored teens had to get their kicks where they could find them. For Fred Robinson and fellow UIC founding member Murray Heywood, that meant piling into Fred's '68 Chevelle Malibu 6-banger – outfitted with a tree-shaking Craig Powerplay stereo 8-track – and heading west on Highway 83 and then north on the Babylon Line to a place they called "FM hill."

Underneath the stars on FM hill, just about a mile from the Hay Swamp home of the mysterious Green Lady, the higher elevation meant that on a clear night they could pick up near by Detroit radio stations blasting The Stooges, The MC5 and Alice Cooper. The rush that Fred and his younger brother Dave Robinson had hearing that explosive Motor City music for the first time is what they were after on their long overdue new album, FM Hill. 

Of course, with anytime a band  returns to the studio after a lengthy hiatus, there are naturally going to be questions, number one being, "have they still got it?" Anyone who saw UIC's opening spots for L.A. punk legends X in 2017, and that amped-up show with a horn section celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kick Out The Jams with The MC5's Wayne Kramer at the Danforth Music Hall in 2018, should have reason to be optimistic. See for yourself – here's a clip from UIC's performance of the title track from FM Hill below. 

At every step along the way back to full-throttle action, UIC has met or exceeded expectations. Just as now, many UIC fans back in early 2016 were wondering what kind of shape the band would be in when they first reconvened for a one-off tribute concert in Oshawa honouring the late Star Records owner, Mike Shulga. By then, 21 years had passed since UIC played their final show at Lee's Palace. And although the members had continued to perform and record in different capacities over the ensuing years – Ted Triebnor and drummer Murray "Hounddog" Heywood in Positively Stompin' and the others became The Chickens –  there were some still wondering whether they would be the same full-tilt rock 'n' roll party band they remembered. 

With rhythm guitarist Ted Triebnor living in Saskatchewan and unable to rehearse, Dave Dysart from their old Og Music labelmates Supreme Bagg Team was deputized and proved to be a worthy replacement. Dysart also lent his production skills to the task of remixing the cassette-quality tape that UIC recorded in 1988 with former Blue Rodeo keyboardist Bob Wiseman into what became the unanticipated 2016 delight of The Wiseman Sessions album. 

Even though Oshawa had been a UIC stronghold, headlining the Mike Star Tribute at the jam-packed Royal Canadian Legion on April 2, 2016 wouldn't be a cakewalk. UIC would have to follow a rousing set from Peter Zaremba's Rock Delegation featuring The Fleshtones' Keith Streng and the Purple Toads' Rob Sweeney and member of his band Crummy Stuff. But any lingering doubts about the current state of UIC were quickly quashed when the group's rubber-legged frontman Dave Robinson came strutting onto stage and hyperactively bounced his way through songs from their 1986 debut album Our Garage (Fringe Product) much like he did 30 years earlier. A few more gems from their whumpin' 1988 classic Live / Like Ninety (Og Music) left the well-lubed crowd hollering for more which they kindly obliged by roaring through The Stooges' "No Fun" and The Ramones' "Rockaway Beach." 

As impressive as the UIC performance was, the half-joking jabs of "play something new" from greying fans who'd followed the group from the start had hit home. After the 30th anniversary performance of Our Garage in Toronto and the 2017 release party for The Wiseman Sessions, they knew it was time to stop looking backwards. That fall, as the band returned to their rehearsal space to work on new material, bassist Dan "Hack" Preszcator suddenly fell ill. While Dan took time off to recover, El Speedo bassist Andy Hauber was asked to fill in on a temporary basis. Sadly, Dan passed away from an auto-immune disorder on March 29, 2018. Knowing how much Dan wanted UIC to record again, the surviving members were now even more determined to see the FM Hill album through to completion.        

In June 2019, the UIC crew assembled at Canterbury Music in Toronto with a fresh set of tunes and a few from the past that were never fully realized. While the songs of FM Hill still feel like classic UIC, there's a new sense of self-assuredness to the performances that only comes with playing together for decades. Canuck rock legend Ian Blurton (Public Animal, C'Mon, Cursed, etc) who'd seen UIC firing on all cylinders at their peak was wisely brought in for the mixdown before the tracks were sent off to Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel for proper mastering.

The album opens with the crankin' lead single "Superstar"(listen below) followed by the mighty riff from "Mystery Train" which sounds more than a bit like the one Kurt Cobain used for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." But as UIC fans know, a live version of "Mystery Train" appeared on their Live / Like Ninety, recorded at Lee's Palace in November 1988 and released in early 1989 – a year before Kurt came up with "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nirvana  didn't perform the song in public until April 17th, 1991 and it was recorded in the studio in May of that year. Hmmm...

The "Mystery Train" story for UIC began sometime in 1988 when Fred Robinson was approached by Richard Carstens, then singer/guitarist of Toronto rock 'n' roll trio The Wammee, with a tape of a song he'd written and demoed acoustically which he thought was right for UIC. Sadly, Carstens passed away in 2014 at the age of 53 but Robinson well remembers the day Richard dropped by with a cassette in hand.

"Back in 1987/88 we had a band house in Toronto at 13 Grenadier," remembers Robinson. "Lonnie James was living there and was playing with The Wammie. Richard (Carstens) was also with Wammie and would stop over on occasion. He presented a cassette with an acoustic version of this song and asked if we would take a crack at learning it. We loved the song and rocked it up with a key change and restructuring. Richard wrote many great songs." Watch a clip of The Wammee playing "Mystery Train" right here. 

The new studio version of "Mystery Train" sounds like nothing other than primo UIC with a sound and structure more in line with The Haunted's Montreal garage classic "1-2-5" than anything to come out of Seattle. Loyal UIC supporters will be relieved to know that the group have remained true to their rock 'n' roll roots on FM Hill. 

There are no cheesy orchestral strings added, no choral backing vocals, no syrupy synth washes, no programmed drums, no guest rappers, no plaintive piano ballads – no baloney. And although they've each become better musicians in the years between studio sessions, their musical maturity hasn't gotten in the way of the go-for-broke attitude with which they still approach every tune. And really, you shouldn't expect anything less from dudes who took their marching orders from The Stooges, The MC5, The Ramones, Teenage Head and Radio Birdman. Yeah hup!

Like UIC at their top-dollar best on stage, the fat-free 10 track album is a straight up ripper from start to finish. In fact, FM Hill is probably the closest they've ever come to capturing that sweaty UIC small club experience in a studio setting. You'll hear it when FM Hill is released digitally on UIC's own Like Ninety Records via Warner Music Canada on Friday (October 23) followed by a vinyl release Friday, October 30 wherever rock 'n' roll records are still sold. 

UIC hosts a release partty for FM Hill at Toronto's venerable Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday, November 21 at 8:30 pm – get tickets right here. In the meantime, watch UIC perform "Mystery Train" at The Horseshoe back in 2017 followed by "Superstar" off the new album below. 

Guitar slingers Deniz Tek & James Williamson reunite for Two To One

Two To One boasts all new songs from Stooges' guitarist James Williamson and Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek. 

Here's the scoop from Deniz Tek...

James Williamson and I have completed work on a new LP, Two To One. The album is on Cleopatra Records, and will be out Sept 18th. 

Two To One contains all new original songs of guitar-based high energy rock and roll. The basic tracks were recorded in San Francisco in December, with the vocals, overdubs and mix finished in February just as the pandemic hit. Michael Urbano plays drums, and Michael Scanland is on bass. James and myself play guitar, and I sing.

Watch a video filmed in the studio (below). Pre-order Two To One right here. 

Protomartyr vs. The Stooges

Former Tyvek merch man Joe Casey (right) and pals have a go at The Stooges' Down On The Street. 

RIP Scott "Rock Action" Asheton, 1949–2014

Along with the Stooges, Scott Asheton will be remembered for his work in Sonic's Rendezvous Band.

Alejandro Escovedo & Peter Buck salute the Stooges

Alejandro Escovedo, Peter  Buck, Scott McCaughey and Susan Voelz wanna be your dog.

Jim Jarmusch details plans for Stooges film

No, acclaimed auteur Jim Jarmusch isn't planning on making a Three Stooges movie  – however entertaining it may be seeing Tom Waits, John Lurie and Bill Murray doing some slapstick comedy together in the roles of Shemp, Larry and Moe – it's a documentary about the confrontational Ann Arbor rock 'n' roll band The Stooges. In addition to some rare vintage performance clips, Jarmusch has apparently already filmed eight hours with Iggy Pop talking about all things Stooges going back to his childhood in a Ypsilanti trailer park as the filmmaker noted during an interview at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, New York which he co-curated.

Jim Jarmusch spills on his Stooges film

Stooges sweatin' to the oldies in T.O.

On Saturday night, a wiry Iggy Pop and the remains of the Stooges turned Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square into a giant mosh pit with songs from Raw Power and Kill City. Here are the first three songs from their set but be forewarned, the  combination of shaky cam images and the sound of Iggy struggling to hit the high notes on Search & Destroy may cause severe headaches.


Raw Power @ Yonge-Dundas Square June 19, 2010



Kill City 



Search & Destroy

T.V. eye on Iggy Pop

In case you haven't heard, Iggy Pop and the reconstituted Stooges with guitarist James Williamson, bassist Mike Watt and drummer Scott Asheton will be headlining a free concert at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto on Saturday (June 19) at 9:30 pm joined by the Ravonettes (8 pm), Wavves (7 pm), Surfer Blood (6 pm) and a bunch of other bands who are just happy to be on the same bill.
Although Iggy's performances are legendary, some of his most entertaining moments happened far away from the stage in television studios. Here are just a few of Iggy's many memorable TV appearances over the past three decades:




Iggy Pop spars with Peter Gzowski 1977


Iggy Pop & David Bowie school Dinah Shore 1977



Iggy Pop talks career aspirations with Tony Wilson 1977


Iggy Pop tries out his Jerry Lewis in drag routine in France 1977


Iggy Pop battles Tom Snyder 1980


Iggy Pop reveals secret passion for household chores 1986


Iggy Pop discusses making The Idiot 2009


Iggy Pop reminisces with Jools Holland  2010

The Stooges: Raw Power take three

How do you improve on a classic album? Judging by the re-release of The Stooges' Raw Power out this week, Bruce Dickinson of Sony Legacy now seems to think that it's best to leave things the way they were as much as possible. And maybe adding a couple session outtakes and an unreleased live recording from the period as added purchase incentive for the people who already bought Sony's two previous issues might not be such a bad idea.
Although David Bowie's initial slap-dash mix of Raw Power has been a constant sore spot amongst Stooges fans over the years, Iggy Pop's crack at remixing the album in 1997 – which was meant to be the last word on the subject – only led to more debate. While some people liked Iggy's redlining approach to his warts 'n' all revision, many others, including the Stooges late co-founder Ron Asheton, weren't impressed.
"Basically, all that Iggy did was take all the smoothness and all the effects off James [Williamson]'s guitar," Asheton noted, "so his leads sound really abrupt and stilty and almost clumsy, and he just put back every single grunt, groan, and word he ever said on the whole fuckin' soundtrack. He just totally restored everything that was cut out of him in the first mix, and I thought, Damn, I really did like the old mix better."
So the new two CD Legacy Edition of Raw Power restores the original Bowie mix to the 8-song 34-minute punk rock blueprint but thanks in part to engineer Mark Wilder, the newly remastered version sounds significantly cleaner and brighter than the much maligned 1989 model.

Raw Power promotional EPK


The big selling point here is really the second disc entitled Georgia Peaches which along with two throwaway studio jams includes an interesting hour-long soundboard recording of a never-officially-released-but-widely-bootlegged Atlanta show at Richards from October 1973. Since a year had passed since the Raw Power recording sessions, Stooges piano-player Bob Sheff had been replaced by Scott Thurston and the set list now included newer songs Head On, Heavy Liquid, Cock In My Pocket and Open Up And Bleed in addition to Raw Power, Search And Destroy, Gimme Danger and I Need Somebody from the album. If you can get your head around the recording's weird balance which for some reason has Thurston way up in the mix (as if Joe Neil set up to tape a jazz piano quintet by mistake), it's an intriguing document of valiant effort in the face of a less than welcoming crowd.
As a performer, Iggy thrives on confrontation. The challenge of winning over a hostile audience is what brings out the best/worst in him. That's precisely what makes the chaotic Michigan Palace show, released as the Metallic KO album, such a compelling listen. It's also part of the reason why Iggy has lost his edge. For the last three decades, the vast majority of people going to see Iggy perform, like the hired musicians joining him in the studio, have been lining up to kiss his ass rather than kick it. The threat of danger is gone and sadly, the excitement went with it. Consequently, he's been relegated to recreating set routines for adoring audiences and he appears quite content to continue with the Stooges repertory charade which comes to Yonge-Dundas Square on June 19.  
Along with the Legacy Edition, Sony is also rolling out a Deluxe Edition on April 27. The extra-special seven-inch square slipcase set will append the two discs in the Legacy Edition with an extra CD of Rarities, Outtakes and Alternates as well as The Making of Raw Power 30-minute documentary DVD, a 48-page softcover book with an essay by Henry Rollins and some Mick Rock photographs, five 5"x7" prints and a reproduction of the Japanese picture sleeve vinyl single of Raw Power b/w Search and Destroy. You can order it in advance of the street date here. Here's a sneak peak at what you get...




RAW POWER: LEGACY EDITION by IGGY AND THE STOOGES
Disc One: RAW POWER (recorded September-October 1972, originally issued February 1973) 1. Search And Destroy
2. Gimme Danger
3. Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell
4. Penetration
5. Raw Power
6. I Need Somebody
7. Shake Appeal
8. Death Trip.
Disc Two: "Georgia Peaches" (Live At Richards, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1973, all tracks previously unreleased)
1. Introduction
2. Raw Power
3. Head On
4. Gimme Danger
5. Search And Destroy
6. I Need Somebody
7. Heavy Liquid
8. Cock In My Pocket
9. Open Up And Bleed
Bonus tracks:
10. Doojiman (previously unreleased outtake from Raw Power sessions, 1972)
11. Head On (previously unreleased CBS Studio rehearsal performance, New York City, 1973).

RAW POWER: DELUXE EDITION by IGGY AND THE STOOGES
Disc One: RAW POWER
Disc Two: "Georgia Peaches" (Live At Richards, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1973)
Disc Three: Rarities, Outtakes, & Alternates from the Raw Power Era Selections:
1. I'm Hungry (outtake from Raw Power sessions)
2. I Got A Right (outtake from an early aborted Raw Power session)
3. I'm Sick Of You (outtake from an early aborted Raw Power session)
4. Hey, Peter (outtake from Raw Power sessions)
5. Shake Appeal (alternate mix version from recently discovered alternate mix reels, "The Embassy Reels")
6. Death Trip (alternate mix version from recently discovered alternate mix reels, "The Embassy Reels")
7. Gimme Danger (alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes)
8. Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (alternate mix from the 1996 Iggy "violent" remixes).
All tracks previously unreleased except tracks 3, 7, and 8.
Disc Four: DVD - The Making Of Raw Power, produced and directed by Morgan Neville (featuring interviews with Iggy Pop, James Williamson, Scott Asheton, Mike Watt, Johnny Marr, and Henry Rollins; plus performance footage from James Williamson's first reunion concert with Iggy and the Stooges, at Festival Planeta Terra, São Paulo, Brazil, November 2009).
Bonus reproduction Japanese 7-inch 45 rpm single: Raw Power b/w Search And Destroy.

 
LINKS
iggyandthestoogesmusic.com
legacyrecordings.com
facebook.com/legacyrecordings