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Iggy Pop Turns 60, Still Rocking On

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sun Apr 22, 2007 at 11:15:00 AM EST
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Iggy Pop turned 60 yesterday, and he's still as energetic in his concerts as always.

The eerily athletic "Godfather of Punk" stripped down to a tight pair of blue jeans and dived off the stage into the arms of his adoring fans during a concert in San Francisco with his reunited band the Stooges.

Pop no longer carves up his chest with a steak knife, rolls around in cut glass, smears himself in peanut butter, or follows a drug regimen that makes Keith Richards look like a choirboy. But the Michigan trailer-park kid otherwise outruns rockers one-third his age.

I'm looking forward to reading the new biography about him, Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed.

Trynka leaves no detail, graphic or otherwise, untold in this hard-to-put-down biography that traces Pop's early years in Ann Arbor and captures the debauchery and drug use that led to his and the band's downfall. But it also tells the very human story of Osterberg and his struggle with his manic Iggy Pop alter ego.

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During his research, Trynka spent several months in Ann Arbor talking to people who knew Iggy in the early days and, ultimately to Pop himself. That, and several pages of pictures, many of them taken in Ann Arbor, add a "you are there'' feel to this book, which gives new meaning to the term "struggling artist.'' This is a must-read if you want to know how the whole Stooges phenomenon began, and how it all turned out - so far.

Happy birthday, Iggy.

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    Iggy Pop Turns 60, Still Rocking On | 1 comment (1 topical)

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    From Ziggy Stardust & TSFM (none / 0) (#1)
    by Che's Lounge on Sun Apr 22, 2007 at 04:11:15 PM EST
    "..The boy in the bright blue jeans
    jumped up on the stage
    Lady Stardust sang songs of
    darkness and disgrace..."

    I think that's Iggy in a lot of ways.

    It's just great to know another survivor still rocks on.

    The reputation of the rock star is an entertainment equivalent of a government contract. This is going to be easy. I don't follow the trades and stopped Rolling Stone a few years ago. It seems to me the rockers who are still recording after 40 years in the business have survived by modifying their lives in many ways. This is not to say they do not have such self destructive habits as cigarettes and alcohol. But I would theorize that many have survived by moderating the hardcore stuff, like heroine and cocaine, and staying away from meth and crack (also becaus they can afford to avoid cheap highs like that). I do know that, appearances aside, Keith Richards is a voracious reader, and Ronnie Wood is a prolific painter. Jagger works out like a madman to be able to prance and strut for three hours each show. Lennon had cleaned up considerably before he was shot. And Stevies Ray Vaughn, after some serious medical problems, dried out and produced some fantastic music before he was killed in a helicopter crash.

    Iggy Pop Turns 60, Still Rocking On | 1 comment (1 topical)

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