[GIMME DANGER
opens in Cleveland on Friday November 4th exclusively at the Cedar Lee
Theatre.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
To casual music fans, Iggy Pop is probably best known (if
known at all) for solo hits like "Lust For Life", "The
Passenger", and that execrable duet he did with Kate Pierson,
"Candy". But hardcore music devotees know that Pop's most influential
and important work was done in the late sixties and early seventies when he
fronted proto punk/metal band The Stooges. It is that aspect of Pop's career
that Jim Jarmusch's engrossing new documentary GIMME DANGER focuses on.
Signed to Elektra Records by savvy A & R man Danny
Fields as the cheaper part of a "twofer" with The MC5, the world was
not ready for The Stooges when their debut self titled album was released in
1969. The group would manage to limp along in one for or another until 1974,
releasing another 2 albums before falling apart more than breaking up.
Jim Jarmusch begins his documentary of the band with this
inauspicious ending before going back to tell the story from the beginning.
Iggy Pop does the lion's share of the talking, but drummer Scott Asheton,
second guitarist James Williamson, and Elektra's Fields all provide a
substantial number of memories and anecdotes as well. Occasional member
saxophonist Steve Mackay also gets to chime in once or twice. Guitarist Ron
Asheton had passed away before Jarmusch began shooting the film, but he gets to
speak via a few archival segments. It all adds up to, if not a complete history
of the band, then about as complete of one as most people would ever need
(Those still wanting to know more are directed to Legs McNeil and Gillian
McCain's oral history book of punk rock, Please
Kill Me).
Born James Osterberg, the future Iggy Pop grew up in a
trailer. Not in the trailer park sense, but the sort used for camping.
Obviously a bit out of the norm, Iggy's parents allowed him to set up a drum kit
in their small lodgings. Iggy played drums for various garage bands, and even
backed up blues and Motown groups when they would play gigs for white
audiences, but eventually he had to follow his muse. And that muse was the
sound of a factory metal stamper going "clang, clang, clang". But you
don't need me to recount the many entertaining stories of this seminal band's
luckless career. That's what GIMME
DANGER is for, and it does it quite well.
Jarmusch doesn't deviate much from the usual rock doc
formula, but why would he? Yes, it's the same old rise, fall, breakup, and
reunion (accompanied with long overdue recognition) that we've seen numerous
times on 'Behind the Music' and in other rock docs, but it's never boring. The Stooges were the sort
of band who not only made a mark on music, but were characters as well, and
their rock n roll war stories are never dull. There are ample moments of humor,
such as the story of how Ron Asheton called up Moe Howard of the Three Stooges
to ask permission to use "The Stooges" as a band name. And on the
other hand, there's an element of tragedy considering how many of the
principals never lived to see the finished film.
But first and foremost, GIMME
DANGER is a celebration of a band that deserves to be celebrated, and a much-needed
vindication that bowing to commercialism may bring short term success in the
music business, but staying true to your own vision can transform a garage band
from Detroit into immortal rock legends. 3 ½ out of 4 stars.
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