The Record That Changed My Life: Johnny Marr on Iggy & The Stooges / Raw Power (1973)
I was 14 and trying out some guitar riffs with my first band. There was an older guy, and throughout one of our songs he said: “That sounds like Gimme Danger from The Stooges– and you sound like James Williamson.” I didn’t know the Stooges back then and was quite pissed off: when you’re 14 you still think that you’re inventing something completely new with every song.
But eventually curiosity won. I drove to my favourite record store- and froze when I saw Iggy on the cover. What a creature! I didn’t have enough money to buy the record. So I saved money, and when I finally had bought the record, I kept starring at the cover on my bus-ride back home. What a creature! The photo seduced me. It promised an alternative universe, and that is what rock-music should be about in my opinion. At home, I put on the record and had to agree with the guy in my band: my song was a copy of Gimme Danger. But it didn’t piss me off anymore, because from that moment on I knew that I was on the right track as guitar player.
I was living with my parents, in a small flat in what was Europe’s biggest concrete complex back then. Outside my room’s window, there was one of those big yellow street lights that would seep through the room. I listened to Raw Power, the orange light shone through the curtains, and I was in another world. A dark and dangerous world, sexy and full of drugs. But most of all beautiful.
by Johnny Marr
(Read about other artists’ album choices and reviews here)
I heard Johnny tell that same story when I was much younger, he’s the best.
Saliha, can you get Morrissey to review his favorite record after you wrote that ‘thumb-sucking, asexual Nazi’ – story about him? Just re-read it, still laughing 🤣
Agreed with Johnny that the Stooges created a “beautiful, dark, dangerous world” but agreed with Saliha that Raw Power is not my favorite Stooges record.
Raw Power is my least favorite of the band’s first three records. I prefer Ron Asheton’s guitar style to James Williamson’s and I’ve always felt Dave Alexander’s bass playing and songwriting are underrated on “We Will Fall” and “Dirt” (probably my two favorite songs by the band–sinister.)
I dig Fun House much more than Raw Power, but my favorite Stooges will always be the self-titled debut.
Agree on all points, the debut is my all time favorite too despite loving Fun House. But I have an unconditional and uncritical love for everything the Stooges and Iggy have released. Also, there’s no need to be critical even if I wanted to : its all sublime, excellent and interstellar.
Each of their first three offers different takes on their sound–the debut is the most psychedelic (Ron Asheton’s wah-wah guitar and the trippy “We Will Fall” & “Ann”), Fun House gets fiery funky and jazzy on side two (“1970” and the title track), and Raw Power is their rawest–much more of a “punk” rampage.
Very beautiful story! He’s such a great lad!
YES!. No arguments with this record. It’s an absolute milestone. The starting riff of ‘Gimme Danger’ is glorious.
James Williamson’s playing style had a huge influence on Johhny.. This record is a beautiful statement to sexuality, drugs, violence and danger. A brutal and essential combination.
Johnny is the best ♥️
Absolutely no argument here. Raw Power remains one of the few albums that remains as powerful today as it did when I first heard it. Still offering that alternative universe. The mix takes a lot of heat but I’ll always prefer the original over anything I have heard since.
Raw Power! Undoubtedly an album that has long become a legend. And with every decade that has passed since its release, the legend seems to be growing.
And rightly so!
Every lover of dirty, overwhelming hard rock and / or punk music will love this record. It is too ultimate to age. The title really summarizes what you hear on the record. Raw Power!
Bowie-Mix: 5 Stars
Iggy-Mix: 5 Stars
Rough Power: 5 Stars
Forever cool 👍
Zero complaints, perfect choice. ‘Raw Power’ is not my favorite of the all-excellent Stooges records, but I think it is the absolutely most influential one, and no less influential than the Sex Pistols’. You hear this album’s impact throughout the entire garage and punk’n’roll scene, all the bands aspire the brutal sound created by James Williamson, and the raw power attack-mode of the entire album.