The Concert That Made Iggy Pop Think 'Hey, I Can Do That!'

Iggy Pop is arguably the most influential character in punk rock. With their legendary first three album run (1969's The Stooges, 1970's Funhouse and 1973's  Raw Power) his band The Stooges brought a sense of recklessness and real life danger to rock n' roll that went on to influence everybody from The Sex Pistols and The Ramones to Nirvana and The White Stripes. The music was dark, sloppy, distorted and utterly transcendental - but the lone impact of Iggy's signature topless, contortionist, self destructive style can't be denied. So, it is easy to wonder who, or what inspired him to embrace his innermost self so freely.
 Well, according to the man himself, one 60's counter culture hero in particular is at least partially to thank.
 In a 2011 interview, Iggy recalled seeing The Doors at a University of Michigan homecoming dance, shortly after their monster hit 'Light My Fire' was released, and they were well on their way to superstardom.

"It was 5,000 mullet headed jocks and their rightwing girlfriends in a gymnasium. It looked like the gymnasium in that video “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.

So, here’s this guy, out of his head on acid, dressed in leather with his hair all oiled and curled. The stage was tiny and it was really low. It got confrontational. I found it really interesting. I loved the performance but the music sounded terrible because they didn’t have the sound system together. They had a really unique style and it wasn’t easy for them to sound good live, at first. Part of me was like, “Wow, this is great. He’s really pissing people off and he’s lurching around making these guys angry.” People were rushing the stage and Morrison’s going “Fuck you. You blank, blank, blank.” You can fill in your sexual comments yourself. The other half of it was that I thought, “If they’ve got a hit record out and they can get away with this, then I have no fucking excuse not to get out on stage with my band.” It was sort of the case of, “Hey, I can do that.” "

 It really comes as no surprise that The Doors, and especially Jim Morrison would leave a lasting impression on Iggy. After all, Morrison was notorious for his vulgar, sexually explicit - even meditative - onstage antics. So much so, that it landed him in jail a number of times, and turned him into perhaps the most dangerous figure of the late 60's rock n' roll revolution. Though The Stooges would never go on to become as massively successful as The Doors, Iggy would take the groundwork laid by Morrison, and kick it into the stratosphere. Where Morrison may have inspired awe and a mystic allure, Iggy would go on to inspire sheer confusion and terror - digging into his flesh with broken glass, throwing fistfuls of peanut butter into the crowd, and contorting his body like a man possessed. 
 It is rumored that Iggy was considered as a replacement for Jim following his untimely passing at 27 years of age. Though that did not ultimately transpire, we can't help but imagine an alternate timeline wherein Iggy & The Doors reigned supreme.
 
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