Tribute puts pop in punk-master Iggy

He's crude and rude. He's been called the "Godfather of Punk," much to his discomfort. He has been known to strip down to his underwear, coat himself in peanut butter and then dive into an audience.

He's also respected enough that 20 artists have recorded a tribute to him.

Including efforts by bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Misfits, We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute provides a broad spectrum of the work that helped Iggy Pop gain the ostensible title of "Godfather of Punk." From his original work with The Stooges to his collaboration with David Bowie in the late '70s to his solo work of the past two decades, the tribute album covers it all.

"Iggy and The Stooges brought music back to the level of what rock 'n' roll is all about," said Bill Kelly, assistant professor of integrative arts at the University.

In the '70s, American corporate rock was more focused on production and keyboard overdubs. The Stooges first self-titled album released in 1969 returned the kick to music that had begun to vanish.

"If, for no other reason, I think Iggy represents an alternative to a mainstream that had gotten slick," Kelly said. "Iggy talks at a point where music had become very bland and saccharine. Iggy shook things up again."

With bands such as Rush and Journey as the dominant forces in the music industry, it is no surprise that the crackling distortion of brash Stooge hits such as "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "No Fun" caught on in such a big way.

The music of The Stooges was "two- to three-chord, nasty music your parents would certainly never like. Aggressive kid music," Kelly said.

Pop, whose real name is James Osterberg, would go on to make two more Stooge albums including Raw Power, which has found its way onto many essential lists of top music critics.

"I think The Stooges deserve their credit, but whether or not Iggy Pop is a rock idol is a point of contention," said Dana Nale (senior-integrative arts), chair of the University Concert Committee.

Pop went on to record solo albums after his stint with The Stooges. His most popular efforts came after a collaboration with David Bowie. Classic albums such as The Idiot (1976) and Lust for Life (1977), yielding such hits as "China Girl" and "The Passenger."

"'Lust for Life' is a sharper more refined song than most of Iggy's stuff," Kelly said. Pop's collaboration with Bowie helped him refine his music, which was mostly rough up to that point.

After his critical hits of the late '70s, Pop's fame dropped off until 1986 when he released Blah, Blah, Blah, one of his many "comeback" albums.

With this effort, Pop released two of his biggest hits to date: "Cry for Love" and "Real Wild Child," which is covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on the tribute album.

Pop would go on to record only one other hit album, Brick By Brick in 1990, which featured "Home" and the duet with B-52s' Kate Pierson, "Candy." Since then Pop's work has been largely ignored and panned by music critics.

"Iggy does kind of fall through the cracks," Kelly said. People are interested in rock from either the '60s or from today and Iggy kind of falls right in the middle.

Pop experienced another career resurgence last year with the help from some Scottish friends.

"I think 'Lust for 'Life' is a good song and Trainspotting really pushed it ahead," Nale said.

Trainspotting, last year's theatrical and critical hit about heroin addicts, featured in its soundtrack two Pop compositions. Soon, "Lust for Life" and "Nightclubbing" were being played on radio stations throughout the nation.

Riding the wave of fame, Pop decided to headline this year's R.O.A.R. Tour, which he hoped would bring in a new generation of fans. Unfortunately Pop, who has been notorious for his stage antics, had to withdraw from the tour after jumping from the stage and dislocating his shoulder.

"He used to beat himself around on stage," said Kelly. "He did everything to get a rise out of the audience."

Pop's antics, have included swearing at the audience and flipping them the middle finger.

Many bands have cited Pop as an influence. In its final performance, The Sex Pistols covered the Pop classic, "I'm Sick of You."

With the new tribute album, many more musicians got to pay tribute to one of the founders of punk music.

In the liner notes of the CD, Kurt Loder praises Pop as "the original snot-rocket from the midwest trailer parks, the man who once claimed to have killed off the Sixties single-handed."

Even though the tribute is pretty much devoid of marquee bands, the artists capture the essentials of a Pop tune.

The problem is most of the bands forgot to inject any of their own originality into the tunes. Most of the covers sound like exact replicas of the original tunes.

But this tribute album does affirm Pop's position in the history of rock 'n' roll.

Maybe Pop said it best in the liner notes of his greatest hits album, "So there's gonna be a collection of my stuff, they tell me. Sounds like fun. Yeah. No more to say, roll over."