Iggy and The Stooges - Search and Destroy

I'm reminded of Johnny Mnemonic's words in William Gibson's Burning Chrome, although I may not get them completely right, so to paraphrase:

When everyone else is coming high-tech, you go low-tech, and vice-versa.

I don't know if I can always agree with that sentiment, but there is a logic there that can definitely enhance creativity. It almost sounds like one of Eno's Oblique Strategies, although it doesn't sound nearly as intelligent as any of those. Regardless, sometimes a drastic change in perspective is exactly what you need.

The funny part about the mention of Eno is this all ties back in with one of his best known collaborators, David Bowie, someone who has always been interested in modern technology and was partially responsible for one of the odder releases on a major label for it's time, Iggy and The Stooges' Raw Power.

In case you're unfamiliar with the history behind Raw Power, Iggy and Bowie met in New York a few years after the end of The Stooges as they were known for their first two albums. Bowie and his then business partner, Tony DeFries, signed Iggy and his collaborator, James Williamson, to their company, MainMan, and proceeded to try and get them with a new rhythm section. For Bowie and DeFries, any attempt to commercialize Iggy was thwarted when it was decided that Ron and Scott Asheton, the original guitarist and drummer, respectively, for The Stooges, would become the new group's rhythm section, with Ron taking over on bass, Scott remaining on drums, James becoming the lead guitarist and Iggy retaining his permanent position as vocalist and rabble rouser. They would be rechristened Iggy and The Stooges and return to the recording studio to create their third album, although by this point DeFries had distanced himself from the band, most notably after Bowie offered to produce the album and was turned down flat.

In the studio, The Stooges really didn't need Bowie. They had their songs readied and refined, but when it came time to mix the final product, CBS wanted Bowie's name somewhere on the final product. So, despite a number of band-prepared mixes, they were rejected and Bowie entered the studio with Iggy to mix the album. This was achieved in one day and has been considered one of the most controversial album mixes of all time. Bowie's mix, while dynamic and interesting, rendered a band known for it's full and loud sound tinny and full of treble. It's not as bad as my words may paint it, at least in my opinion, but many fans consider it a turd on a wedding cake.

For years since, fans traded bootleg tapes of alternate, unreleased mixes of Raw Power until 1997 when Sony enlisted Iggy himself to remix the album. Iggy's mix was supposed to put the power back in line with the raw, and he didn't do a terrible job apart from the fact he insisted on mastering the album so loud that it is now considered the loudest album in existence. On paper that probably sounds pretty cool, but when the album is almost entirely in a state of perpetual distortion, it becomes somewhat unlistenable. Actually, that might be putting it too kindly as I can't stand to listen to Iggy's mix, at least as it was released, and I know I'm not the only one.

Finally, Sony made the decision to issue a deluxe version of Raw Power this year. It would be released in two forms, the Legacy Edition which contains a remastered version of the Bowie mix with a previously unreleased live show and two leftovers from the era, and the Deluxe Edition containing everything from the Legacy version plus an extra disc of relics from the era and a documentary DVD. The remastered version of the Bowie mix was supposed to be a revelation and fans were thrilled about all of this until they found it to be just as tinny as before. The live show was a welcome addition though and the additional unreleased tracks looked to be wonderful, but it was all a mixed blessing. None of the outtakes were essential or terribly enlightening, but the liner notes to the Deluxe Edition claimed a completely unreleased, alternate mix, labeled the Embassy Reels, was found, but this too was misleading.

Sometime in the mid to late seventies, Raw Power was reissued on a British label named Embassy. There is a lot of confusion regarding this because apparently some versions of this reissue may have been pressed from a slightly different master, or the very first UK pressing of the album was accidentally pressed from this slightly different master, or both. On top of this, some cassette releases of the album also contained a variant of this master, just to make things more confusing. This version of the album was pretty much the same as any other release though, apart from an otherwise unreleased and significantly different mix of Search and Destroy. Now, one would think that if you're going to include a significant find from a different version of the album that it would be the one track that is significantly different, but instead they included two of the tracks which were essentially the same as the standard Bowie mix. Go figure, eh?

After all this, the only other interesting find on the Deluxe Edition were two of Iggy's 1997 mixes in a non-distorted state, which begs the question "why not include Iggy's remix in it's entirety in this state?", to which everyone seems to be saying "WHO KNOWS?????". In the end, an excellent opportunity to please a notoriously difficult to please fan base was lost and we're all left upset with another major label. No shock there, but when the major labels are approaching the end of their ability to release physical product regularly it's unforgivable. What happened, did they fire everyone who knew how to research their archives with more than a passing glance?

Bowie's mix is still the one to get, at least for the time being, although the other variants are worth finding as well. Rough Power is mighty fascinating with it's varying mixes of the whole album, although the WABX tracks sound like the were recorded with a dictaphone next to a boombox. The Iggy remix is cool, just don't try to listen to it with headphones or through a loud system. The "Embassy" version is pretty much the regular album, though that mix of Search and Destroy is worth hearing.

Now I'm not about to post every variant of the album for you to check out, especially with the Legacy Edition, Iggy remix and Rough Power all being readily available, but the one track where the differences are most obvious is Search and Destroy, and I don't think it will hurt anyone if I post some variants for you to compare against each other.


Iggy and The Stooges - Search and Destroy

01 Unmixed Version
This was played on Detroit radio station WABX. The general consensus is that it's unmixed so whether that's accurate or not, that's how I'm labeling it for now. This is taken from a superior tape copy than the one featured on Rough Power.

02 Rough Mix
Labeling this a rough mix may be inaccurate as this may be Iggy's original mix circa 1973, but we haven't gotten any straight answers about details like that. Anyway, if it's not the final mix, it's generally considered rough, so that's how this is labeled. This is taken from Rough Power.

03 Original Bowie Mix
The standard Bowie mix as featured on almost all original pressings of the album, the Sundazed vinyl reissue, the Legacy and Deluxe Editions as well as the late eighties CD issue. This rip is from the 180 gram Sundazed vinyl edition because it sounds AWESOME!!!

04 Alternate Mix
This is the version that is either on some copies of the Embassy version, the first UK pressing, possibly both and also on some early cassette releases. Some speculate that this may have been Iggy's final mix, though it could also be an alternate Bowie mix. It doesn't matter though because it's pretty damn cool all on it's own. I prefer the "Original Bowie Mix", but this is worthy of replays despite the echo on the drums.

05 Iggy Remix, Nice Version
Most versions of Search and Destroy that appeared on compilations post-1997 were the Iggy Pop remix, but they are almost all mastered significantly "cooler" than Iggy's "hot" version. This version is taken from Iggy's A Million In Prizes anthology which was released on Virgin Records. As it stands, there are now five tracks from the Ig's 97 remix that have been released as better mastered versions, and while that's great it's ridiculous that all eight aren't out there somewhere. Anybody got the hook up?