In 1972, The Stooges were on life support. Dropped by Elektra after Fun House flopped, they returned home to Detroit to lick their wounds. There, a new version of the band took shape, with James Williamson, second guitarist since 1970, replacing Ron Asheton at Iggy’s right hand. Invited to London by David Bowie and his MainMan management, Iggy seized the chance to rejuvenate The Stooges. Written while roaming West London’s leafy streets, Raw Power became a blueprint for the city’s punk explosion a few years later. On the 50th anniversary of its release, the album remains a masterpiece of slashing guitars and savage, misanthropic blues.
“I realised that there was almost no-one in the world who wanted to save The Stooges,” Iggy tells Uncut. “I knew that there were a few malcontented, strange people out there who were actually going to like this, but there was no apparatus to gather them up. I knew our management didn’t want it, I knew that radio didn’t understand it and I knew that most people wouldn’t get it. On top of that, we were all one step away from becoming junkies and the ones that weren’t junkies were completely out of touch with reality. I knew what was going to happen.”
Williamson followed Iggy, then later Ron and Scott Asheton crossed the Atlantic – lured to the UK by the promise of gigs that never materialised – with Ron demoted to bass duties. This reconfigured lineup became Iggy And The Stooges. “I had decided the people from MainMan were our best shot to do something,” Iggy tells us. “At least they would respect art. They did. They put us up in London very well. We didn’t
