Something 4 The Weekend #101

The Stooges: Fun House: "T.V. Eye" [mp3]

The Stooges' guitarist Ron Asheton passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 60 of an apparent heart attack, and so we have lost one of the unsung heroes of Rock history, in that The Stooges have had such a huge impact on Punk and Garage Rock in the 40+ years since their debut, and yet they never sold many records, and the "Rock Establishment" has yet to vote the band into the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame.

Now, whenever I mention the RNRHOF I always bring up the question of the importance and relevance of such an institution pertaining to a music that began as a counterculture movement and was decidedly anti-institutional. Of course, alot has changed since the middle of the last century, and nowadays Rock'n'Roll is no more countercultural than The Jonas Brothers, having long ago been turned into a commodity.

Even The Stooges became a commodity of sorts over the years, especially when the original line-up reformed and released The Weirdness album in 2006, seemingly cashing in on their heightened cache among hipsters and wannabe punks, and their ever-growing legion of namechecking fans among so many newer, younger bands...

Whatever...The Stooges were a blast of hot, sweaty fun when they hit the scene in 1967, and in that year, that era, it might be argued that there were no other bands quite as heavy or quite as garage as these guys were, and yeah, in hindsight, they were definitely Punk, and we can all shine the spotlight on Iggy Pop, but The Stooges were first and foremost a band, and if they were iconoclasts and vanguards, Ron Asheton's gnarly guitar had as much to do with it as Iggy's histrionics.

RIP, Ron Asheton. It's too bad The Stooges are likely going to gain admittance, at last, into the RNRHOF, and yr not gonna be around to take yr bow. Life is cruel that way.

Hotcha! Hank