Author News and Book Reports
Iggy Pop and The Stooges get their act together and take it on the road again
With an introduction by Miami Herald, Slate, and New York Times pop culture journalist Brett Sokol, rock 'n roll innovator James Newell Osterberg, Jr., better known as Iggy Pop and photographer and author Robert Matheu took the stage at the 2009 Miami Book Fair to tell the story of the recently inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group known as The Stooges through pictures and anecdotes covering the 40-year history of the iconic band, beginning with what Iggy Pop called their 'Children of the Corn' days in the late 1960's. Using pictures from Robert Matheu's photo journal, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story (Abrams; October, 2009), which includes many photos shot by Matheu himself and a forward by another rock icon--Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop describes his performance techniques for 'getting noticed' and engaging audiences with often stunning and sometimes shocking stagecraft, including stage diving, where he was one of the first to rock and rollers to dive into the crowd while performing. Next, Pop and Matheu described on the famous Vogue and first 'Stooges' album photo shoots, and how the images reflected The Stooges. Robert Matheu then took the audience on a retrospective tour of The Stooges performances in photos taken throughout the 1970's, and Iggy Pop wrapped the presentation with comments on the 2003 re-union of The Stooges and their music today, complete with worldwide tour (currently playing throughout Europe in 2010) compared to their early incarnation.
