Music Tidbits: Iggy Pop

Hey Neatoramanauts, I'm testing out a new section here, kinda like Stacy's Movie Trivia -only for music. For the first one, I decided to do one of my all time favorite musicians, Iggy Pop, but I'd love some suggestions for future pieces. (Photo: Robert Scales [Flickr]) If you want to know about Hank Williams, The Beatles, Oingo Boingo, The Killers or even, Billy Ray Cyrus, I'd be happy to look into it to help answer your burning music-trivia questions. So whoever you want to know more about, let me know.

• You may have heard Iggy Pop called "the Godfather of Punk," but I was surprised to find out he is also called "the Rock Iguana." In case you were curious what his actual name is, it's James. James Newell Österberg, Jr.. He came up with his stage name in high school, after playing drums in a band named "The Iguanas."


• The Stooges were originally called "The Psychadelic Stooges," but they changed it when they were signed to Elektra Records. Supposedly, Moe Howard of The Three Stooges was asked if the change was ok with him, but Moe replied, "I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they're not the Three Stooges!"


• Many of Iggy's stage antics were inspired by watching Jim Morrison play in The Doors. He wanted to push things even further than Morrison though, and as a result, The Stooges shows were known for having an outrageous show. It was typical for Pop to slice himself open with glass, vomit, roll around on stage in glass and vomit. He was also known for and showing his "special parts" to the audience.


• The last Stooge's show with their original line-up ended in a fight between the group and a bunch of bikers. The show was actually being recorded and the fight can be heard on the album, "Metallic K.O.."


• Many people credit Iggy Pop with being the first person to stage dive. Even if he wasn't the first, everyone agrees he was one of the first.


• Iggy Pop and David Bowie had one of the more legendary friendships of rock history and many people believed they actually had a sexual relationship together. Their friendship resulted in some great music, including the Iggy Pop albums "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life," which included the songs China Girl, Tonight and Sister Midnight. Later in his career, Bowie covered those three songs and his success helped Pop rake in a ton of royalties.


• Iggy's had a ton of fans in Australia ever since he went on the pop music show Countdown. During his performance, he repeatedly swung the mic at the audience and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was lip-syncing. He also gave an interview where he repeatedly jumped up and down on the chair and screamed "g'day mate" in a terrible Aussie accent. If you want to watch it, the clip's below and here's a link.

• Despite having been a raging drug addict and alcoholic, Iggy is quite intelligent. He has the distinction of being the only popular musician to be published in a journal of classical scholarship.


• Iggy has worked on soundtracks for multiple films, including Repo Man, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare and Arizona Dream.


• In the last few decades, Iggy Pop has been increasingly used as an actor. He performed as prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in the opera The Manson Family, played a redneck relative of Johnny Depp's character in Cry Baby, had a recurring role in the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, provided the voice for Lil' Rummy on Comedy Central's Lil' Bush, has done voices for Fox's American Dad and has been in 4 other shows and 15 movies.


• Iggy has inspired more than just musicians. Ewan McGregor's character in Velvet Goldmine was loosely based on him and James O'Barr, creator of The Crow, used Pop's anatomy as an example for his main character. In turn, when the comic was adapted to film, Brandon Lee said he used Iggy as inspiration for his portrayal of Eric Draven.


• A movie based on Iggy's early life and career with The Stooges is currently in works. It will be entitled The Passenger. Elijah Wood will be playing Iggy, a role he was intimidated to take because he is a huge fan of the rocker.


• When Madonna was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, she refused to play in protest of the fact that The Stooges have not been inducted yet. Instead, she asked the remaining living members of The Stooges to perform her songs for her. They played Burning Up and Ray of Light. As Iggy left the stage, he quoted Like a Virgin to her, saying "You make me feel shiny and new, like a virgin, touched for the very first time."