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The fact that Iggy Pop has never has a true hit record is a crime. I mean, all the guy ever did was more or less invent punk rock with the Stooges, and also be a prime influence on folks as diverse as David Bowie, Henry Rollins, and knowingly or unknowingly anyone else who fronts a garge punk band. Iggy invented it, but like other trailblazers like Lou Reed and Paul Westerberg, the orginal source may get the credit, but the second and third-eate imitators get all the dough. He's not exactly starving to death (though he looks it), but he doesn't get the commercial credit he deserves.

Yes- he's tried. On a few occaisions he's put out very polished, supposedly accessible records, like "Blah Blah Blah" and "Brick By Brick", and had minor success at best. "Candie" on "Brick by Brick" is about as close to the pop furncace as he has gotten, it's a duet wth the lovely and talented B-52 Kate Pierson, and it tells a tale about an old couple re-uniting. While it has a pop sheen that may make fans of "Raw Power" crindge, and a three-minute pop song pace that seems to leave it feeling a tad undercooked, it does feature Iggy's (a very underrated songwriter, I might add) unmistakable voice and phrasing and just enough of the raw nerve emotion to make it interesting.

The beauty and downfall of Iggy is that he is never fake. When he gets high-end collabarators, they try to get Iggy his deserved place in the sun, but instead, like on the Bowie-produced "Blah Blah Blah" the cold commericial sheen ties up the animal that Iggy is. "Brick By Brick" did a better job, while it does have that "Top 40" gleam, the songs are more diverse with a good mix of rockers and skower stuff. "Candie" fits into that mode with it's low bass line driving the beat and Iggy trading off vocals with Kate, with some spoken word thrown in. If you listen to the song while doing your laundry, it's not real memorable, but if you sit and listen to it closer, Iggy's raw power snakes it's way in, making the song it's own.

It's not the blazing confessional of "Lust for Life" or "Raw Power", nor is it the dry, more subtle observations of "China Girl" or "Passenger", but it has ten times more emotion and soul than most other hits of any era. Problem was, Iggy set out to make a hit, and the old-schoolers dissed him, and the pop fans had already judged him as the shirtless heroin addict freak that was their worst nightmare. While not his best song by any stretch of the imagination, it does fit well into his very unique, underrated, and original songwriting canon.

Learn more about this author, Steven Booth.
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