The first progressive rock band (and they had a great bass player)

[DreadRaver]

Originally Posted by arielk

Incidentally, I've never heard the Stooges;

Ummm...How about Iggy Pop !?!?

The Stooges were a commercial flop in the late '60s, a "Psychedelic Rock" band (Now regarded as THE prototypical Punk band,) whose raw emotive style clashed greatly with the slick, hippy-folk that dominated pop music at the end of that decade. However, those who did hear them were often inspired to start bands, and it was because of the Stooges that we have The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Nirvana, and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie, having seen The Stooges, was so taken with the power of Iggy's performance that he assimilated Iggy's persona to create Ziggy Stardust.)

The Stooges Fun House takes a place on many "greatest" lists of Rock and Roll, (you know, Rolling Stones Greatest 100, etc.) and is cited as a favorite by the likes of Henry Rollins, Kurt Cobain, Jack White, Nick Cave, and musician/engineer Steve Albini.

Originally Posted by arielk

was Fun House poorly produced, according to y'all?

Not at all! Sorry, didn't mean to imply that Gallucci did anything other than a stellar job at producing that record (my favorite Stooges album and one of my top 5 albums of all time!)

Iggy was, (and still is,) known for being quite the prickly-puss!

At that time Don Gallucci was a staff producer for Elektra Records, assigned to work with The Stooges (probably seen as drawing the short straw.) Because of Iggy's anti-establishmentarian hatred for anyone wearing a suit, he really never warmed up to Gallucci.

But what Don did was help create a great album, primarily by staying out of the way and letting the band play in the studio as though it was a live gig (ala Steve Albini.) Rather than tracking and overdubbing, he reconfigured the studio as though it were a live stage, set the band up to play together and captured their whole sound.

I have read about the session in multiple interviews, articles and book excepts, and it is my impression that Don's methods were crucial to making the final product as great as it is.

It is likely that the typical record producer would have messed it up, probably never getting a record out of The Stooges (with the majority of the members deep into drugs, on top of Iggy's mental issues) and typical production techniques would have killed the primal groove that this group needed.

Don did experiment with dubbing some organ over "Down in the Street," and that might have been something that pissed Iggy off, but that version didn't make it onto the record, and in Don's defense I think his organ dub sounds pretty good!

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by arielk

If you're referring to Touch, I doubt it. But most of the album they released is on their myspace, and I suspect it might change tracklisting (on the myspace) from time to time. It's definitely possible to find the whole album, my father (who showed the band to me) managed to download it all from online. Oh, and check Amazon for used copies, there was a reissue of the album in '03 so it's possible you can find some.

Good luck.

"That Touch stuff is very nice! A bit of a sad story though, they where actually TOO FAR ahead of their time "

Yeah, that's what I think, too. For one thing, it was so early on for prog that people weren't aware that that kind of music COULD be reproduced live...

Not to mention, Touch's music was even crazier than most prog has been - probably more than any prog I've heard. I'm not THAT surprised that Gallucci thought it couldn't be reproduced live - but yeah, stupidest band decision ever.

Essentially, if Touch had come out a couple years later, when prog existed in a bigger way, they would have become a bigger deal, IMO.

Yeah.... I bet if I put myself in the shoes of someone in 1968-69, I wouldn't have thought something like this or The Wall or some Yes stuff would be logistically possible to manage live, especially given the number of people you'd need to make the arrangements work if you wanted to reproduce them exactly. A lot of the gear that Rush and Genesis used (Taurus pedals, etc) just didn't exist yet, or hadn't been applied to rock yet. Then again, I also wouldn't have been a stick in the mud about artistic vision, but that's my personality versus his.

Seriously cool stuff, though-- this is the first I've heard of either band.

[AwesomeMcBadass]

Originally Posted by arielk

Incidentally, I've never heard the Stooges; was Fun House poorly produced, according to y'all?

'Fun House' is one of the greatest albums ever made; maybe not quite as good as 'Raw Power', IMO, but still.

[Toronto Bassist]

Originally Posted by Dosed_Mind

But didnt The Beatles state the same as being part of why they stopped touring? But i do agree that Touch perhaps should have done something, like simplified versions of their songs or whatever, too keep them going.

Well, if McCartney is to be believed, they stopped touring because the massive wall of shouting and screaming pretty much drowned them out wherever they went.

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by Toronto Bassist

Well, if McCartney is to be believed, they stopped touring because the massive wall of shouting and screaming pretty much drowned them out wherever they went.

If your audience can drown you out, Paul, that's a sign you need something with more go to it than a Bassman and 2x12.

Also-- Funhouse is 'great' now, but that's time marching on for you. When it first came out, it was dogs***, and sold very poorly.

[arielk]

Okay.

I never said I've never HEARD OF the Stooges, only that I don't know their music at all. Same goes for Iggy Pop. I'm really a thrash metal/progressive rock/classic rock kinda guy, I s'pose (which isn't to say those three genres naturally hang together, or anything...).

Stooges sound like a neat band; I'll have to check them out sometime. Didn't realize they go so far back...

Interesting story about the record, Dreadraver. A cool read, your post; thanks.

TheLurker - thanks. I agree with your sentiments, btw.

Incidentally, all: for whatever it's worth, I HAVE heard of "Raw Power".