Comments on: Iggy and the Stooges, Farmington High School, MI, December 5th, 1970

By: sway

sway — Thu, 15 Sep 2025 10:40:08 +0000

Both James W. and Ronnie played guitar toward the end (before the band reunited). The only recordings of this line up with both on guitar are live. Most are barely listenable.

]]>

By: Peter Brat

Peter Brat — Thu, 15 Sep 2025 08:00:32 +0000

Surreal seeing these pics 40-odd years later… but at the time it wasn’t unusual to have cool bands playing at schools… even here in Adelaide, Australia… We had the Zoot (who were just starting to get big here) play at my school… and later, into the 70s, once I started playing in bands (such as Rashamra), school lunchtime gigs and ‘socials’ were part of the promotional round for our latest record. Of course there would be the occasional ‘noise complaint’ etc, but they were great fun and an important way for kids to see their favourite bands while being too young to get into clubs… and they bought a fair proportion of the 7″ singles too! Sad that it’d never happen now! But anyway, thanx so much for the photos and you do have a very cool site! Cheers from OzLand

]]>

By: Peter Rose

Peter Rose — Wed, 14 Sep 2025 20:39:42 +0000

Is this happening today? Will people be looking back , 40 years from now, remembering when acts such as The Amboy Dukes, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and The Stooges played their high school auditoriums as a matter of routine? Man, am I grateful for these photos. I wasn’t exactly there, but other places exactly like that with no camera. THANK YOU.

]]>

By: scene-of-the-cryme

scene-of-the-cryme — Sat, 10 Sep 2025 22:11:54 +0000

For some insightful ‘dope’ on this particular time/space of the Stooges saga, I submit these nuggets from Per Nilson’s excellent short bio book; “The Wild One”:

“….By late 1970 James Williamson was back from the reform school in NY, and he moved to Ann Arbor. He knew Ron from time in The Chosen Few, & he started sitting-in on Stooges rehearsals. Prior to his arrival, Steven Mackay (sax) had left to return to Detroit to form the Mojo Boogie Band. The ‘free jazz’ oriented improv style was soon replaced by James’ more high-energy rock & roll riffage….
….In an interview in ZigZag in late ’70, Iggy emphatically denied any speculations the the “new” Stooges would become more accessible or softer in order to appeal to a larger audience;
his quote: “Mass recognition is not what’s important to me, what’s important is individual recognition. In other words, it’s not how many people recognize you, it’s what the people who do recognize you, recognize you for. To me the biggest band is the band that’s biggest in the hearts of the people who listen to it…”
…..The drug climate in America changed during 1970; suddenly heroin was spreading rapidly & its general availability increased abruptly in Detroit & other major cities. In John Sinclair’s opinion, the epidemic of heroin was a result of carefully planned US government strategies: “The 1st step was to start cutting the LSD with amphetamine & market it as some powerful new trip: STP!…By ’68, just about every hit of acid was 80-90% speed w/ a tinge of LSD to make it seem ‘weird & scary’. Everyone trying to ‘trip’ became habituated to amphetamines without even knowing it. Next, amphetamine crystal slid onto the scene, & kids who had been dropping the speed-laced ‘acid’ could dig it ’cause it was ‘like the acid, without the ‘scary’ side-effects”. Once they started running speed, it was just a hot minute until smack crept in, and it first got to be popular as an antidote for the jangly after-effects of speed runs….
….By late ’70, all the Stooges, barring Ron, were addicts.”

Anyway, I thought this backround info kinda puts this “high school hop” gig in some kind of perspective. ( Wonder what size balloon did the high school dance budget bring?)

*In early ’71, Zeke Zettner left the band & enlisted in the Army and went to Vietnam, allegedly to get cheaper heroin. Zeke died from an overdose in 1975.

]]>

By: chels

chels — Fri, 09 Sep 2025 16:47:29 +0000

hey that was my high school.

]]>

By: poof! yer a drink

poof! yer a drink — Fri, 09 Sep 2025 01:31:10 +0000

“Seriously, is that Williamson in the leather stinkers? These pics say a lot. Great stuff.”

Not only is it Wms, but it’s his first gig with the Stooges.
Found that info on Wiki – these slides might be kinda – - worth something to someone.

]]>