The Stooges were formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor, outside Detroit. They created three classic albums between 1969 and 1973, The Stooges, Fun House and Raw Power. Despite a lack of commercial success, the band attracted a small, devoted following and laid a musical foundation that would influence generations of artists. The Stooges' music was raw, primal, exciting, and the unique and compelling stage presence of the band's singer, Iggy, made them legendary. The Stooges' performances were unpredictable, with Iggy inciting audiences to react and making it impossible for them to remain complacent. Iggy was passionate, fearless and, at times, expressed himself in genuinely frightening ways, performing self-mutilation, stage dives, crowd surfing and rushing into crowds to confront hecklers or spontaneously interacting with audience members who struck his fancy. Iggy tore down the barriers that traditionally existed between audience and performer, forcing the audience to become part of the overall performance. By 1974, Iggy was locked into an orbit of self-annihilation and drug abuse that ultimately led to the demise of the band in February 1974. This book explores in depth all the concerts the Stooges played from 1967 to 1974, bringing the live experience to life through eyewitness accounts, press reports and other source materials to present an unprecedented account of the Stooges' performances during this period.
The author Per Nilsen is a leading authority on Iggy and the Stooges and was one of the authors behind The Wild One, the first biography of Iggy Pop. He has written on numerous artists, including David Bowie and Prince. Nilsen is a behavioural economist from Stockholm School of Economics and is a Professor of social medicine and public health at Linköping University. Music has been a life-long passion since he discovered the Beatles at the age of five.