I’ve always been a bit iffy about the Stooges, in that I think they never made a fully successful album (never heard The Weirdness nor Ready to Die, admittedly), though you’d have a great best-of made from the highlights of the first three albums. On re-listening to Fun House this evening, I may have to revise that somewhat. I have it on CD but I listened to it a ripped-from-vinyl form tonight, a rip of the new Rhino High Fidelity repress obtained from my usual hush-hush sources… and while I’m still not perhaps 100% convinced, it worked a lot better for me in this form than it ever has before. There’s a coherence and consistency and direction to it I don’t think I’ve entirely appreciated before. I also played it at somewhat higher volume than I normally do, which possibly made a difference. Maybe that’s what I should’ve done all along.
Whatever, it is awfully pleasant to revisit something you’ve known for years and find you like it more than you did before, though I do still think “TV Eye” should’ve been the opening track. The band wanted “Loose” to be the opener, and I understand that, but the record label preferred “Down on the Street”. And with all due respect, both parties were wrong; Iggy shouting “LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!” the way he does would’ve been a hell of a way to kick off proceedings, kind of like if the Beatles had ended Abbey Road with “I Want You”…
I mean… really. It was good to see uncle Jim make it to his 76th birthday last week, but it remains astonishing that he’s still here to have celebrated it (and in relatively good shape, too, all things considered)…
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