Let There Be Dark The actor & ex-Stooges guitarist
on Iggy, VH-1 and "Raw Power"
by Chris Parcellin
In 1969, when the Stooges eponymously-titled debut album hit music store shelves, it seemed like the world at-large just didn't know what to make of the band. Though they had the bombastic sonic power of Cream or Jimi Hendrix, they weren't a bluesy jam band. They simply played punked-out anthems expressing the boredom, pain and anger of growing up in America in the Sixties when Vietnam and student rebellion were the leading stories on the nightly news.
The Stooges were a little too raw--and way too real for Top 40 radio, and succeeding classic albums by the band (Funhouse and Raw Power) fell through the cracks as banal party bands like Grand Funk Railroad and Ten Years After sold millions of records by mindlessly recycling freeze-dried blues licks.
But the Stooges were onto something new and dangerous. Leader singer Iggy Pop was more performance artist (long before that term was coined) than vocalist and his live performances bristled with palpable anger and cathartic physical outbursts.
Ron Asheton, on guitar, and his brother Scott "Rock Action" Asheton on drums, along with original bassist Dave Alexander were just as important, with a ferocious musical style like no one before them. More than just proto-punk legends, they even counted among their fans jazz giant Miles Davis. And the influence of the highly-experimental Funhouse--with it's forays into jazz-inspired dissonance and heavy funk has seeped into the mainstream and can be heard in bands like Rage Against the Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That said, those bands can never hope to equal the brilliance of the Stooges' finest work.
After the Stooges folded in the mid-'70s, guitarist Ron Asheton had bands like Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival that again pushed the envelope of what rock'n'roll could sound like. He also began a career as a actor in pulpy grade-B horror flicks--most notably the underground sci-fi classic "Mosquito" where he shared top-billing with Texas Chainsaw Massacre star Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen.
In PART ONE of our exclusive D-FILED.COM interview, Ron reflects on Iggy, VH-1's Behind the Music, and other cool stuff.
What did you think of the VH-1 "Behind the Music" episode on Iggy?
RON ASHETON: I thought they did a good job. They used a lot of good photos of the band and good footage. But I was given the impression that it was going to be a real "Behind the Music" on the Stooges that really dug up a lot of dirt. But, as it turned out, they really wanted to make the show about Iggy. So, they used all his stories and kind of softened things up. When they contacted my brother they said "We're doing a show about Iggy, we don't really care about the Stooges. You can either take part in that or forget it." The producer they sent out to interview me was this girl who didn't know anything about the Stooges, but she interviewed me for about three hours about the band. None of the good stuff made it to the show.

I thought it was really strange that they spent like half of the show on Iggy's son.
RA: Yeah! What did that have to do with the music? I've met Eric (Iggy's son) and he's a nice guy, but I thought the program was supposed to be about Iggy and the Stooges.

"Raw Power"-era: James Williamson,
Scott Asheton, Iggy Pop & Ron Asheton

Would you like to see a real documentary made about the Stooges, kind of like the one that's in production about the MC5?
RA: Sure, that would be great. I was approached by a company from New York called Frog Films awhile back, but I haven't heard anymore about it.

Did you like how "Please Kill Me" turned out?
RA: Yes, there were some funny stories in there. Legs McNeil came out here and interviewed my brother and sister and myself and it was a lot of fun. And I've heard that a lot of people enjoyed my stories in the book, too.

Okay, I have to ask you about Iggy's "Raw Power" remix.
RA: Oh, boy! (laughs) Well...um...(laughs) I heard it was being done, but I actually hadn't spoken to Iggy in a long time. And Iggy called me up---and I wasn't here---he called me at like 3AM because he was up early to catch a flight. So, someone just left me a message. So, anyway, his manager ended up sending me an advanced copy of the remix.
It was so funny. When I was in New York Don Fleming said "When Iggy's remix of 'Raw Power' comes out, we're all gonna say 'Boy, do we love that first mix of 'Raw Power'!" And, sure enough, it came true. What Iggy did was bring up every little yip and yell. Brought all his shit up. He didn't know much about guitars, so he took all the ambient sounds off of James' (Willaimson) guitars. Once again, people were disappointed with "Raw Power". All the cool stuff Bowie did with the guitar sounds was gone. Don Fleming was right. But people think it's fun--just in the sense that it's another interpretation of that record. Something for real Stooge-o-philes.

Yeah, I really thought he'd bring up the bass and drums in the mix.
RA: Well, that's what everyone bitched about. And that was the bitch on the original mix. But, of course, he didn't. The tracks are there, he just didn't bother. He concentrated on his own shit. I haven't spoken to him since then. He doesn't call me and I don't know where he is. He's always changing his phone number. Occasionally, I'll talk to his manager. That's about it.

Ron (left) with Dark Carnival

So, you don't think there's still any chance of a Stooges reunion?
RA: Well, Iggy keeps threatening. (laughs) He keeps saying it on the internet and in interviews, but he hasn't spoken to me or my brother. I know there was a little interview in some magazine with James Williamson where he said "Scotty's gone fishin'." Well, we were never "gone fishin'". So, that kinda pissed me off.
© 2001 Chris Parcellin, All rights reserved.