Note: Sometimes the '70s is used as shorthand for the 1970s, the 1870s, or other such decades in other centuries – see List of decades

This is a list of events occurring in the 70s, ordered by year.

[edit] 70

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus Caesar Vespasian become Roman Consuls.
• Vespasian starts the building of the Colosseum; the amphitheatre is used for gladiatorial games and public spectacles, such as sea battles, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas of Classical mythology.
• Panic strikes Rome as adverse winds delay grain shipments from Africa and Egypt, producing a bread shortage. Ships laden with wheat from North Africa sail 300 miles to Rome's port of Ostia in 3 days, and the 1,000 mile voyage from Alexandria averages 13 days. The vessels often carry 1,000 tons each to provide the city with 8,000 tons per week it normally consumes.
• Sextus Julius Frontinus is praetor of Rome. Legio II Adiutrix is created from marines of Classis Ravennatis.
• Pliny the Elder serves as procurator in Gallia Narbonensis.
• April 14 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus surrounds the Jewish capital, with three legions (V Macedonica, XII Fulminata and XV Apollinaris) on the western side and a fourth (X Fretensis) on the Mount of Olives to the east. He puts pressure on the food and water supplies of the inhabitants by allowing pilgrims to enter the city to celebrate Passover and then refusing them egress.
• May 10 – Titus opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem, he concentrates his attack on the city's Third Wall to the northwest. The Roman army tries to breach the wall using testudos, mantlets, siege towers, and battering rams.
• May 25 – The Third Wall of Jerusalem collapse and the Jews withdrew from Bezetha to the Second Wall, where the defences are unorganized.
• May 30 – Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreats to the First Wall. The Romans built a circumvallation, all trees within fifteen kilometres of the city are cut down.
• July 20 – Titus storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Romans are drawn into street fighting with the Zealots.
• August 4 – Titus destroys the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Roman troops are stationed in Jerusalem and abolish the Jewish high priesthood and Sanhedrin. This becomes known as the Fall of Jerusalem, a conclusive event in the First Jewish-Roman War (the Jewish Revolt), which began in 66 AD. Following this event, the Jewish religious leadership moves from Jerusalem to Jamnia (present day Yavne), and this date is mourned annually as the Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av.
• August–September – Titus assaults the Temple Mount and detroys Herod's Palace in the Upper City of Jerusalem. Jewish resistance ends on September 26.
• Neapolis (present day Nablus) is founded in Iudaea Province.
• Naval clashes on the Rhine during the Batavian Revolt; crew of a captured Roman flagship is imprisoned at Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier).
• Roman legions V Alaudae and XV Primigenia are destroyed by the Batavi. Later, Quintus Petillius Cerialis puts down the Batavian rebellion of Gaius Julius Civilis.
• Vespasian disbanded four Rhine legions (I Germanica, IIII Macedonica, XV Primigenia and XVI Gallica), disgraced for having surrendered or lost their eagles during the revolt of Julius Civilis.
• Later Roman Emperor Domitian marries Domitia Longina.
• Romans make a punitive expedition against the Garamantes – they are forced to have an official relationship with the Roman Empire.
• Annexation of the island of Samothrace by the Empire under Vespasian.

[edit] Asia

• India sees the end of the Hellenistic dynasties.

[edit] Africa

• Expedition by the Roman Septimius Flaccus to southern Egypt. He probably reaches Sudan.
• Ze-Hakèlé (Zoscales in Greek) becomes king of Aksum.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Religion

• Avignon becomes the seat of a bishopric.
• Members of The Oneida Community, a now non-existent religious group formed in the Nineteenth Century, believed this was the year Jesus Christ returned.

[edit] 71

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• The Romans establish a fortress at York (Eboracum), as a base for their northern forces. Initially established solely for Legio IX Hispana, expansion later includes public housing, baths and temples.
• Battle of Stanwick: Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Britain, puts down a revolt by the Brigantes.
• Emperor Vespasian and Marcus Cocceius Nerva are Roman Consuls.
• Cerialis defeats Claudius Civilis at the Battle of Treves, thus quelling the Batavian rebellion.
• Titus is awarded with a triumph, accompanied by Vespasian and his brother Titus Flavius Domitian. In the parade are Jewish prisoners and treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem, including the Menorah and the Pentateuch. The leader of the Zealots, Simon Bar Giora, is lashed and strangled in the Forum.
• Titus is made praetorian prefect of the Praetorian Guard and receives pro-consular command and also tribunician power, all of which indicates that Vespasian will follow the hereditary tradition of succession.
• Herodium, Jewish fortress south of Jerusalem, is conquered and destroyed by Legio X Fretensis on their way to Masada.

[edit] Asia

• Reign of Rabel II, king of Nabataea. He makes Bostra, Syria, his second capital.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Arts and sciences

• Use of locks with keys of clever design begins in Rome.

[edit] Religion

• Mithraism begins to spread throughout the Roman Empire.

[edit] 72

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Antiochus IV of Syria is deposed by emperor Vespasian.
• Vespasian and Titus are Roman Consuls.
• First Jewish-Roman War: The Roman army (Legio X Fretensis) under Lucilius Bassus lay siege to the Jewish garrison of Machaerus at the Dead Sea. After they capitulate the Zealots are allowed to leave the fortress, before it is destroyed.
• The Romans lay siege to Masada, a desert fortress held by Jewish victims of the Sicarii.
• Foundation of Flavia Neapolis (Nablus).
• Construction on the Colosseum in Rome begins.

[edit] 73

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Spring – The Roman governor Lucius Flavius Silva lays siege to Masada, the last outpost of the Jewish rebels following the end in 70 of the First Jewish-Roman War (Jewish Revolt). The Roman army (Legio X Fretensis) surrounds the mountain fortress with a 7-mile long siege wall (circumvallation) and built a rampart of stones and beaten earth against the western approach. After the citadel is conquered, 960 Zealots under the leadership of Eleazar ben Ya'ir commit mass suicide when defeat becomes imminent.
• Pliny the Elder serves as procurator in Hispania Tarraconensis.
• Titus Flavius Domitianus becomes Roman Consul.
• Emperor Vespasian begins conquest of territory east of the upper Rhine and south of the Main. In addition, he reorganizes the defenses of the upper and lower Danube.

[edit] Asia

• February – The Chinese Han Dynasty launches a major campaign against the Xiongnu, whom they confront in the Battle of Yiwulu in the Kumul oasis, an ultimate Han military victory led by General Dou Gu (d. 88).
• Ban Chao (Pan-Ch’ao), competing with the Xiongnu, imposes a Chinese protectorate on the kings of Lop Nor and Khotan in the Tarim basin, with the aim of controlling the Silk Road.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Arts and sciences

• Martial writes a satire on "military cowardice".

[edit] 74

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Emperor Vespasianus and his son Titus Caesar Vespasianus become Roman Consul.
• The Black Forest region is reattached to the Roman Empire.

[edit] Asia

• The Chinese reestablish a protectorate of the Western Regions.
• Chinese generals Dou Gu (Teou Kou) and Geng Bing (Keng Ping) take control of Turpan.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Arts and sciences

• Mesopotamia: The last known cuneiform text is written.

[edit] 75

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Emperor Vespasianus and his son Titus Caesar Vespasianus become Roman Consul.
• Temple of Peace, also known as the Forum of Vespasian, is built in Rome. The tempel celebrates the conquest of Jerusalem (in 70) and houses the Menorah from Herod's Temple.
• Vespasian fortified Armazi (Georgia) for the Iberian king Mithridates I. The Alans raid the Roman frontier in Armenia.
• Sextus Julius Frontinus becomes governor of Britannia and make his headquarters in Isca Augusta (Wales).
• Frontinus begins his conquest of Wales, Legio II Augusta is moved to the border of the River Usk.
• Caerwent is founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum, a settlement of the Silures.

[edit] Asia

• Accession of Han Zhangdi.
• Revolt against the Chinese in Tarim: Cachera and Turpan are besieged. Luoyang orders the evacuation of Tarim. Ban Chao makes the rebels retreat towards Khotan. At the same time, the Chinese army of Ganzhou reconquers Turpan in Northern Xiongnu. Ban Chao convinces the emperor of the need to control Central Asia in the fight against Xiongnu.

[edit] 76

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Emperor Vespasianus Augustus and Titus Caesar Vespasianus become Roman Consul.
• Governor Sextus Julius Frontinus subdues the Silures and other hostile tribes of Wales, establishing a fortress at Caerleon or Isca Augusta for Legio II Augusta and makes a network of smaller forts for his auxiliary forces.

[edit] China

• First year of Jianchu era of the Chinese Han Dynasty.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Arts and sciences

• Chinese historian Ban Gu develops a theory of the origins of the universe.

[edit] Religion

• Pope Anacletus I succeeds Pope Linus as the third pope (according to the official Vatican list).

[edit] 77

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Gnaeus Julius Agricola is named governor of Britannia, a post he occupies until 84. He extends the Roman influence to the mouth of the River Clyde (Scotland) and built fortifications.
• Agricola subdues the Ordovices in Wales and pursues the remnants of the tribe to Anglesey, the holy island of the Druids.
• The Caledonian tribes in Scotland are formed in a confederacy of 30,000 warriors under the leadership of Calgacus.
• A Roman squadron, sent by Agricola, explores the north of Scotland for the first time, discovering the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
• Winter – Agricola conquers Anglesey and disperses his army to their winter quarters.

[edit] Asia

• King Giru of Baekje succeeds to the throne of Baekje in the Korean peninsula.

[edit] By topic

[edit] Arts and sciences

• Pliny the Elder publishes the first ten books of Naturalis Historia.
• The Romans develop a simple method of distillation.

[edit] 78

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Romans conquer the Ordovices, located in present-day northern Wales, as well as the Silures.
• Gnaeus Julius Agricola replaces Sextus Julius Frontinus as governor of Roman Britain.

[edit] Asia

• Indian Prince Aji Caka introduces the Sanskrit language and Pallawa script, used to inscribe Javanese words and phrases, to the Indonesian islands.
• Emperor Kadphises of the Kushan Empire, sends a delegation to Rome for seeking support against the Parthians.
• This is the base year (year zero) of the Saka era used by some Hindu calendars, the Indian national calendar, and the Cambodian Buddhist calendar. It begins near the vernal equinox for the civil solar calendar, but begins opposite the star Spica for the traditional solar calendar.
• Kanishka, reigns over the Tocharian Empire of Kusana (Afghanistan and Northern India). He is a renowned conqueror and wise administrator.
• Pacorus II is king of Parthia (78–115).

[edit] By topic

[edit] Philosophy

• The philosopher Wang Chong (Wang-Tchoung) claims all phenomena have material causes.

[edit] 79

[edit] By place

[edit] Roman Empire

• Vespasianus Augustus and Titus Caesar Vespasianus become Roman Consul.
• June 23 – Vespasian dies of fever from diarrhea, his last words on his deathbed are: "I think I'm turning into a god." Titus succeeds his father as Roman emperor.
• August 24 – Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. The Roman fleet based at Misenum, commanded by Pliny the Elder, evacuates refugees but he dies after inhaling volcanic fumes.
• Emperor Titus dedicates the famous Roman Colosseum.
• Chester is founded as a castrum or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix. The fortress is built by Legio II Adiutrix and contains barracks, granaries, military baths and headquarters.
• Gnaeus Julius Agricola enters Caledonia (modern Scotland) but is resisted by the Caledonians.
• Agricola founds Mamucium, a frontier fort and settlement in the North West of England. This was the first Manchester, a distance to the east of Chester.
• To please the Senate, Titus exiles his Jewish mistress, Berenice of Cilicia.

[edit] China

• A commission of scholars canonizes the text of works of Confucius and his school.

Significant people[link]

• Titus Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor (Vespasian, 69—79)
• Titus Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor (Titus, 79—81)

Births[link]

Deaths[link]

References[link]

Gerry Rafferty
Rafferty performing at Dublin's National Stadium 6 September 1980
Background information
Birth name	Gerald Rafferty
Born	(1947-04-16)16 April 1947 Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Died	4 January 2011(2011-01-04) (aged 63) Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Genres	Rock, pop, folk rock, blues rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone
Years active	1966–2000, 2009–2010
Labels	Transatlantic Records United Artists Records London Records Hypertension
Associated acts	The Humblebums Stealers Wheel

Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty (16 April 1947 – 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer-songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working class family in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His mother taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs as a boy; later, he was influenced by the music of The Beatles and Bob Dylan. He joined the folk-pop group The Humblebums in 1969. After they disbanded in 1971, he recorded his first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back? Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group Stealers Wheel in 1972, producing several hits, most notably "Stuck in the Middle with You". In 1978, he recorded his second solo album, City to City, which included "Baker Street", his most popular song.

Early years[link]

Rafferty was born on 16 April 1947 into a working-class family in Paisley, a son and grandson of coal miners.^[1] He was a son of Mary Skeffington and Joseph Rafferty (died 1963);^[2] and had two brothers, Jim and Joe (died 1995).^[3] Rafferty grew up in a council house on the town’s Foxbar estate and was educated at St Mirin's Academy.^[3] His Irish-born father, a violent alcoholic, was a miner and lorry driver who died when Rafferty was 16.^[2] His mother was Irish/Scottish and taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs as a boy: "My father was Irish so growing up in Paisley I was hearing all these songs when I was two or three. Songs like 'She Moves Through the Fair', which my mother sings beautifully. And a whole suite of Irish traditional songs and Scots traditional songs."^[4][5] Heavily influenced by folk music and the music of The Beatles and Bob Dylan, the young Rafferty started to write his own material.^[3]

Foxbar in Paisley, Renfrewshire, where Gerry Rafferty grew up.

Musical career[link]

Rafferty left St. Mirin's Academy in 1963. He worked in a butcher's shop, as a civil service clerk, and in a shoe shop, although as he noted in a later interview: "But there was never anything else for me but music. I never intended making a career out of any of the jobs I did."^[6] On weekends he and a schoolfriend, Joe Egan, played in a local group named The Mavericks. In the mid 1960s Rafferty earned money, for a time, busking on the London Underground. In 1966 he was a member of the band The Fifth Column, along with future Stealers Wheel collaborator Joe Egan. The group released the single "Benjamin Day"/"There's Nobody Here" (Columbia 8068), but it was not a commercial success.

The Humblebums/Stealers Wheel[link]

In 1969 he became the third member of an existing folk-pop ensemble The Humblebums that was composed of future comedian Billy Connolly and Tam Harvey. Harvey left shortly afterwards and Rafferty and Connolly continued as a duo. They recorded two acclaimed albums for Transatlantic Records. In his own stand-up shows, Connolly has often talked about how Rafferty made him laugh and remembered the crazy things they would get up to while on tour. On one occasion Rafferty decided to look up the local Berlin telephone directory to see if there were any Hitlers registered.^[7] After the two decided to go their separate ways in 1971, Transatlantic owner Nathan Joseph signed Rafferty to a contract as a solo performer and Rafferty recorded his first solo album – Can I Have My Money Back. The album was a critical success but did not enjoy commercial success. In 1972, Rafferty and Egan formed Stealers Wheel, a group which was beset by legal wranglings, but did have a huge hit "Stuck in the Middle With You", which 20 years later was used prominently in the 1992 movie Reservoir Dogs. Stealers Wheel also produced the lesser top 50 hits, "Everything'll Turn Out Fine", followed by "Star". The duo disbanded in 1975.^[8]

City to City/Night Owl[link]

A street sign from Baker Street in central London, the inspiration for Rafferty's famous song.

Legal issues after the breakup of Stealers Wheel meant that, for three years, Rafferty was unable to release any material.^[8] After the disputes were resolved in 1978, he recorded his second solo album, City to City, with producer Hugh Murphy, which included the song with which he remains most identified, "Baker Street". The single reached #3 in the UK and #2 in the US.^[9] The album sold over 5.5 million copies, toppling the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in the US on 8 July 1978.^[10] "Baker Street" featured a distinctive saxophone solo played by Raphael Ravenscroft,^[11] although the origins of the solo have been disputed.^[12][13]

As the singer recalled in a 1988 interview with Colin Irwin: "When I wrote the song I saw that bit as an instrumental part but I didn’t know what. We tried electric guitar but it sounded weak, and we tried other things and I think it was Hugh Murphy’s suggestion that we tried saxophone."^[4]

Ravenscroft said differently, saying he was presented with a song that contained "several gaps". "In fact, most of what I played was an old blues riff," stated Ravenscroft. "If you're asking me: 'Did Gerry hand me a piece of music to play?' then no, he didn't."^[14] Ravenscroft, a session musician, was in the studio to record a brief soprano saxophone part and suggested that he record the now famous break using the alto saxophone he had in his car.

In his interview with Colin Irwin, Rafferty disputed this and noted that Ravenscroft had actually been his second choice to play the saxophone solo, after Pete Zorn, who was unavailable: "The only confusion at the time that I didn’t enjoy too much was the fact that a lot of people believed that the line was written by Raphael Ravenscroft, the sax player, but it was my line. I sang it to him."^[4] When a remastered version of City to City was released in 2011, it included the original, electric guitar version of the song, confirming Rafferty's authorship of the riff. In the liner notes to the album, Rafferty's long-time friend and collaborator Rab Noakes commented: "Let's hope [the Baker Street demo] will, at last, silence all who keep on asserting that the saxophone player came up with the melody line. He didn't. He just blew what he was told by the person who did write it, Gerry Rafferty.^[13] Michael Gray, Rafferty's former manager, agreed: "The audible proof is there from the demos that Rafferty himself created the riff and placed it within the song's structure exactly where it ended up."^[15]

The song remains a mainstay of soft-rock radio airplay^[14] and, in October 2010, it was recognised by the BMI for surpassing 5 million plays worldwide. "Stuck in the Middle With You" has received over 4 million plays worldwide, and "Right Down The Line" has had over 3 million plays^[16]

"Right Down the Line" was the second single from City to City. The song made #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the US. It remained at the top of the adult contemporary chart for four non-consecutive weeks. The third single from the album, "Home and Dry", reached #28 in the US Top 40 in early 1979.^[17] One of the lesser known songs from that time is "Big Change in the Weather" (the B-side of "Baker Street").^[18]

An irony of the success of "Baker Street" was that the lyrics reflected Rafferty’s disenchantment with certain elements of the music industry. This irony was elaborated on by music journalist Paul Gambaccini for BBC World News:.^[19]

His next album, Night Owl, also did well. Guitarist Richard Thompson helped by performing on the track "Take The Money and Run", and the title track was a UK #5 hit in 1979. "Days Gone Down" reached #17 in the US. The follow-up single "Get It Right Next Time" made the UK and US Top 40.

Snakes and Ladders/Sleepwalking/North And South[link]

Several of Gerry Rafferty's solo albums, including City to City and Night Owl and parts of Snakes and Ladders and Sleepwalking, were recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, which occupied this grade II listed building at 28/30 New Street, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire from 1972 until its closure in 1999.^[20]

Subsequent albums, such as Snakes and Ladders (1980), Sleepwalking (1982), and North and South (1988), fared less well, perhaps due partly to Rafferty's longstanding reluctance to perform live, which he felt uncomfortable with.^[12][21]

The deeply introspective lyrics of the 1982 album Sleepwalking suggested Rafferty found success far from glamorous: songs like "Standing at the Gates", "Change of Heart", and "The Right Moment" suggest the singer was exhausted, burnt-out, and desperately seeking a new direction. Liner notes for the compilation album Right Down the Line (prepared with Rafferty's close cooperation^[22]) confirmed this several years later, noting the singer was now "finding himself at the crossroads and looking to replace the treadmill with a new dimension in his life".^[23] In 1983, Rafferty announced his intention to take a break and devote more time to his family: "It dawned on me that since Baker Street I had been touring the world, travelling everywhere and seeing nowhere. Whatever I do in the future, it's at my own pace, on my own terms."^[24]

Based at 16th-century^[25] Tye Farm in Hartfield, near the Kent-Sussex border, Rafferty installed electric gates to protect his privacy, built a recording studio, and worked largely by himself^[26] or with Hugh Murphy.^[4][27] According to his former wife Carla, who discouraged visitors: "He was just stalling for time. Maybe some new project would suddenly happen, but I knew he'd crossed the line as far as the record business went."^[27] It was six years before he released his next record, North and South. In his 1988 interview with Colin Irwin, to promote the album, Rafferty mentioned that he was interested in doing more production work, writing film soundtracks, and even floated the idea of writing a musical about the life of Robert Louis Stevenson.^[4]

Rafferty collaborated with several other artists during this time. In 1980, he and Murphy produced a record for Richard and Linda Thompson; though never released, it eventually evolved into their album Shoot Out the Lights.^[4] It was also during this period that Rafferty sang the Knopfler-penned song "The Way It Always Starts" (1983) on the soundtrack of the film Local Hero, and co-produced The Proclaimers first UK hit single "Letter from America" in 1987 with Hugh Murphy.^[28] In the early 1990s, Rafferty recorded a cover version of the Bob Dylan song "The Times They Are a-Changin'" with Barbara Dickson, who had contributed backing vocals to both City to City and Night Owl. The track appeared on Dickson's albums Don't Think Twice It's All Right (1992) and The Barbara Dickson Collection (2006).^[29]

On a Wing and a Prayer/Over My Head[link]

Rafferty released two further albums in the 1990s in what musician Tom Robinson later described as "a major return to form".^[30] On a Wing and a Prayer (1992) reunited him with his Stealers Wheel partner Egan on several tracks. It included three tracks cowritten with Rafferty's brother Jim, also a singer-songwriter, who had been signed to Decca Records in the 1970s. Rafferty recorded a new version of his Humblebums song "Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway" on the album Over My Head (1994). These were the last two records Rafferty produced with Hugh Murphy, who died in 1998. According to guitarist Hugh Burns, Murphy's death was "a great blow to Gerry"^[30] and marked the end of a creative partnership that had lasted almost 30 years.

Another World/Life Goes On[link]

By the end of the 1990s, new technology enabled Rafferty to distance himself even further from the conventional approach of the music industry and work entirely on his own terms. Now based in London, he employed sound engineer Giles Twigg to assemble a Digidesign mobile recording studio and, with Twigg's help, recorded the album Another World in London, Scotland, Barbados, France, and Italy with collaborators from previous albums, including Hugh Burns, Mark Knopfler, Kenny Craddock, and Mo Foster.^[31][32] Through his company Icon Music, Rafferty promoted and sold the album independently on a website (www.gerryrafferty.com) created specifically for the purpose.

Another World, released in 2000, was originally available only via direct order from his website,^[33] but since 2003 is available on the Hypertension label. Another World, almost an esoteric work, also with assistance of Mark Knopfler and Egan, featured an album cover illustrated by John 'Patrick' Byrne, who also illustrated the covers for Can I Have My Money Back?, City to City, Night Owl, and Snakes and Ladders, and all three Stealers Wheel albums. Byrne was also responsible for one of Rafferty's most prized possessions^[34]: a hand-painted Martin acoustic guitar bearing his portrait and the name 'Gerry Rafferty', which features in many photographs of the singer.^[6][23]

Another World marked a new departure for the singer. As he explained in a press release heralding the new record in November 2000: "My heart and soul have gone into this album, and by releasing it in this way my creative influence has not been diluted in any way."^[35] Finally, thanks to the Internet, it seemed Rafferty no longer needed the music industry: technology was allowing him to put his music directly in the hands of an appreciative audience. In a blog posting dated 31 March 2004 he wrote: "Let's get back to music: after all that's the only reason that this website has been set up." Another posting announced that Rafferty would begin to release music regularly as free downloads: "In reality, Gerry could put a new track out every two weeks or so. We will keep you informed of developments as they happen."^[36] Only a handful of tracks were ever released, however, and the website eventually closed down without any explanation.

In 2009 Rafferty released Life Goes On, again on Hypertension. This album features a mixture of new recordings, covers of Christmas carols and traditional songs that had previously been available as downloads on his web site, and edited tracks from his previous three albums.^[37]

Posthumous[link]

Rafferty's death in January 2011 rekindled interest in the singer's work. According to his daughter Martha, interviewed by Glasgow's Sunday Mail some months later: "What surprised me most was the reaction on the internet. "Baker Street" had two million hits in the two days after his death and he was the third most talked about subject on Twitter."^[21] In May 2011, Martha Rafferty launched an official Facebook page named "The REAL Gerry Rafferty Page" as a tribute to her father.^[38] In September 2011, EMI issued a remastered, collector's edition of City to City featuring previously unheard demo versions of "Baker Street", "Mattie's Rag", "City to City", and other tracks from the album.

Attitude to the music industry[link]

Rafferty drew a clear distinction between the artistic integrity of a musician, on the one hand, and the music industry's need to create celebrities and sell products, on the other. In an interview with Colin Irwin in 1988, he said: "There's a thin line between being a songwriter and a singer and being a personality... If you feel uncomfortable with it you shouldn't do it. It's not for me – there are too many inherent contradictions."^[4] Two decades later, speaking to the press after Rafferty's funeral, Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers confirmed Rafferty's dislike of celebrity: "He was not entirely comfortable with fame. Even more so than most people who work in this business, he saw it as not a good thing".^[39] Reid believed Rafferty was fundamentally unsuited to the pressures of celebrity: "He struck me as a very, very sensitive man and for someone like that, fame was probably not appropriate."^[40]

Generally an autobiographical writer,^[6] Rafferty returned to this theme often, in the lyrics of Stealers Wheel songs such as "Star", "Stuck in the Middle With You", and "Good Businessman", and later solo tracks like "Take the Money and Run" (from Night Owl), "Welcome to Hollywood" (from Snakes and Ladders), and "Sleepwalking" (from the album of the same name). The liner notes to the compilation album Right Down the Line, written by Jerry Gilbert with Rafferty's close cooperation, note his consistent refusal to tour the USA and "generally 'play the industry game'."^[23] It was ironic that Rafferty—a lover and collector of religious icons, who would later name one of his publishing companies "Icon Music"^[41]—was also an iconoclast.^[23] According to Michael Gray, Rafferty's personal manager at the height of his success, he turned down many opportunities to work with other artists:^[27] "... he retained a healthy scepticism not just about the music industry but about society, money and politics in general. His background was soaked in Scottish socialism and poverty, his mind sharp and his personality acerbic, and he wasn't going to be dazzled by the glamour of success."^[42]

Rafferty never changed his mind about the music business; if anything, his views hardened. In 2000, he told the Paisley Daily Express that the second Stealers Wheel album, released in 1974, had been named Ferguslie Park, after a deprived^[43] area of Paisley, "to get as far away as possible from all the bullshit of the music industry in London."^[6] In a November 2009 interview with the Sunday Express, he said: "The music industry... is something I loathe and detest. It conjures up images of a gigantic factory spewing out parts of the machine. In many respects, this of course is exactly what it is now. Pumping out s**t like there’s no tomorrow."^[44] The last word came from Monsignor John Tormey, celebrating Rafferty's funeral mass, who suggested the singer's attitude to fame was an indication of his spiritual integrity: "He always searched for a more authentic way to live his life, shunning the outward trappings of celebrity so that he might live as he chose to live his life."^[39]

Personal life[link]

Rafferty met Carla Ventilla (a 15-year-old apprentice hairdresser from an Italian family in Clydebank) at a dancehall in 1965—a story he later recounted in the song "Shipyard Town" on the album North and South. They married in 1970 and lived in Scotland with their daughter, Martha, before moving to the south of England in the late 1970s,^[12] where they divided their time between their farm near the Kent-Sussex border and a home in Hampstead, London.^[27] Rafferty's lengthy commutes from London to Scotland inspired a number of songs on the album City to City (including the title track and "Mattie's Rag", which recounted his delight at being reunited with his daughter), while the later move south inspired "The Garden of England" (from the album Snakes and Ladders) and a number of songs on North and South. After the completion of Another World, Rafferty planned to move back to Scotland and bought "a substantial listed 1860s mansion" in the Highland village of Strathpeffer,^[45] although he sold the property two years later and never actually moved in.^[46]

Alcoholism[link]

Rafferty had always enjoyed alcohol^{[12][21][30][47]} and early songs, such as "One Drink Down", "Baker Street", and "Night Owl", freely mention the subject. He told friends that his alcoholism dated back to his childhood,^[48] though even people close to him had no idea how it would come to dominate his life. Martha Rafferty believes her father started drinking heavily to cope with the pressures of playing on stage, but says his problem "wasn't obvious" for many years.^[21] According to Michael Gray, the singer's personal manager in the early 1980s: "It never occurred to me in all the time I knew him that he was heading for alcoholism. Maybe I should have realised, but I didn't. I'm unsure whether he did."^[42] As the 1980s progressed, Rafferty's growing drinking problem placed his marriage under impossible strain^[27] and his wife divorced him in 1990,^[49] though they remained close.^[27] In 1995, Rafferty was deeply affected by the death of his older brother Joseph, an event from which family and friends have said he never fully recovered.^[47][50]

In the late 1980s, Rafferty had told journalist Colin Irwin "I was always very conscious about keeping a low profile because that's the way I like to go about it. And I don't plan to be in the public eye too much now either."^[4] However, in the last decade of his life, having taken pains to shun the fame and celebrity that accompanied his musical achievements, Rafferty found himself making headlines once again as he struggled with alcoholism and depression and the increasingly erratic behaviour they spawned.^[51]

In April 2005, Rafferty was admitted to St Mary's Hospital in London after collapsing at his Hampstead home. According to a later report in the Daily Mail, Rafferty quashed rumours that he had taken an overdose of prescription drugs^[50] and revealed the cause "was actually a drunken fall down the stairs which produced a nasty head injury".^[52]

Rafferty later sold his London home and moved to California, where his daughter was then living, but often flew back to the UK. In 2006, the Daily Mail reported that the singer had been taken by police in a wheelchair to a Church of Scotland drying-out clinic after arriving in Inverness drunk on a private plane flight after a "ten-hour bender".^[53]

While the news stories focused on Rafferty's binges, they revealed nothing of his private struggle with alcohol or the impact on his family and friends. His fiancee Enzina Fuschini said he "felt that he was under some sort of evil spell. He felt crippled by it... I saw a man in despair",^[47] while his daughter Martha, interviewed by Graham Stellard after her father's death, revealed that Rafferty had "tried all the normal routes of abstaining or getting help but he wasn't able to do it... I tried everything I could. It was extremely painful to see him live out his life through alcoholism... It tore me apart on a daily basis."^[21]

Disappearance[link]

In 2008, Rafferty moved away from California and briefly rented a home in Ireland, where his drinking soon became a problem again.^[27] In July that year, it was rumoured that his friend and former musical partner Billy Connolly had arranged for the singer to enter rehab.^[54] But Rafferty apparently checked himself out and flew to London instead, where he holed up in the five-star Westbury Hotel in Mayfair and began a four-day drinking session that left his room extensively damaged. Speaking to the Telegraph later, the hotel's director, Alex Huggan commented: "It was such a shame. In person, Mr Rafferty was a really nice man, he kept himself to himself and didn't bother the other guests but he was clearly on a downward spiral. He was in self-destruct mode."^[55]

There were conflicting reports about what happened next. The newspaper Scotland on Sunday reported that Rafferty had been asked to leave the hotel and had then checked himself into St Thomas' Hospital suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking. The same report claimed that on 1 August 2008, Rafferty had disappeared, leaving his belongings behind, and that the hospital had filed a missing persons report.^[14] However no such missing persons report existed.^[55] On 17 February 2009, The Guardian reported that Rafferty was in hiding in the south of England, being cared for by a friend.^[56] Subsequently, Rafferty's spokesperson Paul Charles told The Independent newspaper that he had been in touch with Rafferty two weeks previously and that he was alive and well but had no plans to either record or tour.^[56] This was then contradicted by a further report in The Daily Telegraph on the following day which quoted from a statement by his solicitors issued to Channel 4 News: "Contrary to reports, Gerry is extremely well and has been living in Tuscany for the last six months… he continues to compose and record new songs and music… and he hopes to release a new album of his most recent work in the summer of this year [2009]."^[57][58] The album, titled Life Goes On, was released in November 2009.^[37]

The mystery surrounding Rafferty's disappearance was only clarified later. In November 2009, Rafferty told a journalist from the Sunday Express that he had been living in Florence, Italy, splitting his time between a home in Dorset and visits to Scotland each year.^[44] But a slightly different story emerged after his death. After leaving St Thomas' Hospital, and while claiming to be in Tuscany, he was quietly moving from one London hotel to another. It was during this time that he met Enzina Fuschini, an Italian artist and designer from Dorset. Rafferty and Fuschini fell in love and rented a large home together in Upton, near Poole.^[59] During 2009, Fuschini cared for the singer and tried to help him overcome his alcoholism, and Rafferty proposed to Fuschini at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on Christmas Eve 2009.^[47][48]

Death[link]

In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where he was put on a life-support machine and treated for multiple organ failure. After being taken off life support, Rafferty rallied for a short time, and it seemed that he might recover.^[60][61] Rafferty died at his daughter Martha's home in Stroud, Gloucestershire^[62][63] on January 4, 2011, of liver failure.

Wikinews has related news: Over 400 attend Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty's funeral

A Requiem Mass was held for Rafferty at St Mirin's Cathedral in his native town of Paisley on Friday 21 January 2011. Politicians in attendance were the First Minister of Scotland the Right Honorable Alex Salmond MSP, Wendy Alexander MSP, Hugh Henry MSP, and Robin Harper MSP. Musicians present included Craig and Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers, former bandmates Joe Egan and Rab Noakes, Barbara Dickson, and Graham Lyle. The eulogy was given by Rafferty's longtime friend John Byrne. His remains were then cremated at the Woodside Crematorium in Paisley^[64] and his ashes scattered on the island of Iona.^[65] He is survived by his daughter, granddaughter Celia and brother Jim.^[2]

Tributes[link]

Newspapers printed lengthy obituaries for the singer; in The Guardian, Michael Gray charted Rafferty's long downward spiral into alcoholism,^[27] while a full-page obituary in The Times summarized his career more positively: "As well as being a singer of considerable talent who at one time had the pop world at his feet, Gerry Rafferty was also a consummate songwriter, blessed with sensitivity and an enviable melodic flair that at its best recalled Paul McCartney."^[66]

Other entertainers also paid tribute to Rafferty, with comedian and ex-bandmate Billy Connolly calling him "a hugely talented songwriter and singer who will be greatly missed" and musician Tom Robinson saying, "His early work with Stealers Wheel was an inspiration to a whole generation of songwriters in the 70s, including me."^[67] Speaking after the funeral, Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers said: "I think Gerry Rafferty was one of the few people who really successfully straddled the worlds of both folk and popular music. He did it really well and he was respected in both camps."^[40] Barbara Dickson also paid tribute to her friend, whom she described as a "luminous, glorious Scottish musician".^[5] A spokesperson for Rafferty's last record label, Hypertension, commented that he "was a major talent. His songwriting, production and the way he sang his songs, with that beautiful voice of his, was truly wonderful and inspiring."^[68]

The reaction of younger artists suggests Rafferty's music has also inspired a new generation of fans. Shortly after news of the singer's death, Lily Allen tweeted the message "Rest in Peace Gerry x" with a video link to the song "Right Down the Line",^[69] reputedly one of her favourite music tracks.^[70] Electropop star Elly Jackson described "Right Down the Line" as "my favourite track of all time. It makes me think of home, nostalgia and happiness."^[70] Bonnie Raitt recorded a reggae treatment of "Right Down the Line" for her Slipstream album released 10 April 2012.

Will and legal dispute over estate[link]

In October 2011, newspapers reported that Rafferty's immediate family were the beneficiaries of his £1.25 million estate: his daughter Martha inherited a house and its contents in California, while his granddaughter Celia inherited, in trust, the rights to Rafferty's songs and any future royalties. Rafferty had apparently not changed his will after meeting his fiancee Enzina Fuschini in the autumn of 2008 and left her nothing.^[71][72] Several months later, in January 2012, the Daily Mail reported^[73] that Fuschini had launched a High Court legal action against Martha and Celia Rafferty seeking a share of the will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975^[74], which allows financial dependents of a deceased person to claim "reasonable financial provision".

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Chart singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gerry Rafferty

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gerry Rafferty

• The Official World of Gerry Rafferty: Official tribute website run by Martha Rafferty.
• BBC Obituary, 4 January 2011
• The Guardian obituary - Singer and songwriter known for Stuck in the Middle With You and Baker Street
• Gerry Rafferty at Allmusic
• Gerry Rafferty Message Board http://s2.excoboard.com/GerryRafferty

Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop performing at Parkenfestivalen 2011, Bodø, Norway
Background information
Birth name	James Newell Osterberg, Jr.
Born	(1947-04-21) April 21, 1947 (age 65) Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock, protopunk, garage rock, glam punk, shock rock, glam rock, hard rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums
Years active	1960–present
Labels	Virgin, RCA, Elektra
Associated acts	The Stooges, The Trolls, The Nymphs, The Iguanas, Slash, David Bowie, Deborah Harry, Blondie, Sum 41
Website	www.iggyandthestoogesmusic.com

Iggy Pop (born James Newell "Jim" Osterberg, Jr.; April 21, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.^[1] Though considered an innovator of punk rock,^[1] Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues.^[2] Pop became known as 'Iggy' in high school, during which time he served as drummer for local blues band The Iguanas. He is vocalist of influential protopunk band The Stooges (Pop and the other surviving members of the group reunited in 2003),^[3] having become known, since the late 1960s, for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics.^[4][5]

Though the singer's popularity has waned and waxed throughout his career, Pop has recorded a number of well-known songs, including "Lust for Life", "Real Wild Child", "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's),^[6] "China Girl", "Nightclubbing", "Search and Destroy", and "The Passenger". The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010

Early life[link]

Iggy Pop (AKA Iggy Stooge)^[7] was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the son of Louella (née Christensen) and James Newell Osterberg, Sr., a former high school English teacher and baseball coach at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan.^[8] Osterberg was raised in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, Michigan.^[9] He is of Irish and English descent on his father's side, and of Norwegian and Danish ancestry on his mother's.^[10] His father was adopted by a Swedish American family and took on their surname (Österberg).^[10]

Music career[link]

Early days: 1960 to 1967[link]

The Prime Movers featuring Pop on drums

Osterberg began his music career as a drummer in different high school bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One band was the Iguanas, from the name of which he adopted his future moniker Iggy. After exploring local blues-style bands such as the Prime Movers (with brothers Dan and Michael Erlewine), he eventually dropped out of the University of Michigan^{[citation needed]} and moved to Chicago to learn more about blues. While in Chicago, he played drums in blues clubs, helped by Sam Lay (formerly of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) who shared his connections with Iggy.^[11] Inspired by Chicago blues as well as bands like The Sonics and The MC5, he formed the Psychedelic Stooges and began calling himself Iggy. The band was composed of Iggy on vocals, Ron Asheton on guitar, Asheton's brother Scott on drums, and Dave Alexander on bass.

The Stooges era: 1968 to 1975[link]

The seeds of Iggy Pop's stage persona were sown when he saw The Doors perform in 1967 at the University of Michigan and was amazed by the stage antics and antagonism displayed by singer Jim Morrison.^[9] Morrison's extreme behavior, while performing in a popular band, inspired the young Pop to push the boundaries of stage performance. Pop was the first performer to do a stage-dive, which he started at a concert in Detroit.^[9] Other exploits of Pop include rolling around in broken glass, exposing himself to the crowd and vomiting on stage.^{[citation needed]}

In 1968, one year after their live debut and now dubbed The Stooges, the band signed with Elektra Records, again following in the footsteps of The Doors, who were Elektra's biggest act at the time (reportedly, Pop called Moe Howard to see if it was all right to call his band "The Stooges," to which Howard responded by merely saying "I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they're not the Three Stooges!" and hung up the phone). The Stooges' first two albums The Stooges, (on which Iggy was credited, much to his displeasure,^{[citation needed]} as "Iggy Stooge"), produced by John Cale; and Fun House, sold poorly. Shortly after the new members joined, the group disbanded because of Pop's growing heroin addiction.

In 1971, Iggy Pop and David Bowie met at Max's Kansas City, a nightclub and restaurant in New York City.^[12] Pop's career received a boost from his relationship with Bowie when Bowie decided in 1972 to produce an album with Pop in England. With James Williamson signed on as guitarist, the search began for a rhythm section. However, since neither Pop nor Bowie was satisfied with any players in England, they decided to re-unite The Stooges. It would not be a true reunion insofar as Dave Alexander, due to alcoholism, was unable to play on the record (he later died in 1975). Also, Ron Asheton grudgingly moved from guitar to bass to make way for Williamson to play guitar. The recording sessions produced the rock landmark Raw Power. After its release Scott Thurston was added to the band on keyboards/electric piano and Bowie continued his support, but Iggy's drug problem persisted. The Stooges' last show ended in a fight between the band and a group of bikers, documented on the album Metallic K.O. Drug abuse stalled his career again for several years.

Bowie and Berlin: 1976 to 1978[link]

Iggy Pop, October 25, 1977 at the State Theatre in Minneapolis

After the second breakup of The Stooges, Iggy Pop made some recordings with James Williamson, but these were not released until 1977 (as Kill City, credited jointly to Iggy Pop and Williamson). Pop was unable to control his drug use and checked himself into a mental institution, UCLA’s neuropsychiatric institute, to try to clean up. David Bowie was one of his few visitors there, and he continued to support his friend and collaborator. It was also rumored that Bowie would smuggle in cocaine to give to Pop.^[13] In 1976, Bowie took him along as his companion on the Station to Station tour. This was Iggy Pop's first exposure to large-scale professional touring and he was impressed, particularly with Bowie's work rate.

Bowie and Pop relocated to West Berlin to wean themselves off their addictions. In 1977, Pop signed with RCA and Bowie helped write and produce The Idiot and Lust for Life, Pop's two most acclaimed albums as a solo artist, the latter with another team of brothers, Hunt and Tony Sales, sons of comedian Soupy Sales. Among the songs Bowie and Pop wrote together were "China Girl", "Tonight", and "Sister Midnight", all of which Bowie performed on his own albums later on (the last being recorded with different lyrics as "Red Money" on the album Lodger). Bowie also played keyboards in Pop's live performances, some of which are featured on the album TV Eye in 1978. In return, Pop contributed backing vocals on Bowie's Low.

The Arista albums: 1979 to 1981[link]

Iggy Pop had grown dissatisfied with RCA, later admitting that he had made TV Eye as a quick way of fulfilling his three-album RCA contract. He moved to Arista Records, under whose banner he released New Values in 1979. This album was something of a Stooges reunion, with James Williamson producing and latter-day Stooge Scott Thurston playing guitar and keyboards. Not surprisingly, the album's style harked back to the guitar sound of the Stooges. Although highly regarded by many Iggy fans (some preferring it to the Bowie collaborations), New Values was not a popular success, despite some strong material including "Five Foot One" and "I'm Bored."

Iggy Pop, Cardiff, 1979

The album was moderately successful in Australia and New Zealand, however, and this led to Iggy Pop's first visit there to promote it. While in Melbourne, he made a memorable appearance on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's nationwide pop show Countdown. During his anarchic performance of I'm Bored, Pop made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was lip-synching, and he even tried to grab the teenage girls in the audience. He was also interviewed by host Ian "Molly" Meldrum, an exchange which was frequently punctuated by the singer jumping up and down on his chair and making loud exclamations of "G'day mate" in a mock Australian accent. His Countdown appearance is generally considered one of the highlights of the show's history and it cemented his popularity with Australian punk fans; since then he has often toured there. While visiting New Zealand, Iggy Pop recorded a music video for "I'm Bored", and attended a record company function where he appeared to slap a woman and throw wine over a photographer.^[14] While in Australia, Iggy Pop was also the guest on a live late-night commercial TV interview show on the Ten Network. It is not known whether a recording of this interview exists, but the famous Countdown appearance has often been re-screened in Australia.

During the recording of Soldier (1980), Iggy Pop and Williamson quarrelled over production (the latter apparently wanted a big, Phil Spector-type sound) and Williamson was fired. Bowie appeared on the song Play it Safe, performing backing vocals with the group Simple Minds. The album and its follow-up Party (1981) were both commercial failures, and Iggy Pop was dropped from Arista. His drug habit varied in intensity, but persisted.

The 1980s[link]

In 1980, Iggy Pop published his autobiography I NEED MORE, co-written with Anne Weher, an Ann Arbor arts patron. The book, which includes a selection of black and white photographs, features a foreword by Andy Warhol. Warhol says that he met Iggy when he was Jim Osterberg, at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1966. "I don't know why he hasn't made it really big," wrote the one Pop artist about the other. "He is so good."

Pop at Pinkpop, 1987.

The 1982 album Zombie Birdhouse on Chris Stein's Animal label, with Stein himself producing, was no more commercially successful than his Arista works, but again, in 1983, Iggy Pop's fortunes changed when David Bowie recorded a cover of the song "China Girl". The song had originally appeared on The Idiot, and was a major hit on Bowie's blockbuster Let's Dance album. As co-writer of the song, Pop received substantial royalties. On Tonight in 1984, Bowie recorded two more of their co-written songs, this time from the Lust for Life album, "Tonight" and "Neighborhood Threat", assuring Iggy Pop financial security, at least for the short term. The support from Bowie enabled Pop to resolve problems and permitted him to take a three-year break during which he overcame his heroin addiction and took acting classes.

Additionally, Iggy Pop contributed the title song to the 1984 film Repo Man (with Steve Jones, previously of the Sex Pistols, on guitar) as well as an instrumental called "Repo Man Theme" that was played during the opening credits.

In 1985, Pop recorded some demos with Jones. He played these demos to Bowie, who was sufficiently impressed to offer to produce an album for Pop: 1986's New Wave-influenced Blah Blah Blah, featuring the single "Real Wild Child", a cover of "The Wild One" originally written and recorded by Australian rock 'n' roll pioneer Johnny O'Keefe in 1958. The single was a Top 10 hit in the UK and was successful around the world, especially in Australia, where for the last twenty years it has been used as the theme music for the ABC's late-night music video show Rage. It remains Pop's solitary brush with major commercial success. Blah Blah Blah was Pop's highest-charting album in the U.S. since The Idiot in 1977, peaking at No. 75 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

Also in 1985, the movie Rock & Rule was released featuring performances by Iggy Pop and Lou Reed for the character Mok. Pop's song in the film was "Pain & Suffering" from the final sequence of the film.^[15]

In 1987, Pop appeared (along with Bootsy Collins) on a mostly instrumental album, Neo Geo, by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The music video for "Risky", written and directed by Meiert Avis, won the first ever MTV Breakthrough Video Award. The groundbreaking video explores transhumanist philosopher FM-2030's ideas of Nostalgia for the Future in the form of an imagined love affair between a robot and one of Man Ray's models in Paris in the late 1930s. Additional inspiration was drawn from Jean Baudrillard, Edvard Munch's 1894 painting Puberty, and Roland Barthes Death of the Author. The surrealist black-and-white video uses stop motion, light painting, and other retro in-camera effects techniques. Meiert Avis recorded Sakamoto while at work on the score for The Last Emperor in London. Sakamoto also appears in the video painting words and messages to an open shutter camera. Iggy Pop, who performs the vocals on "Risky", chose not to appear in the video, allowing his performance space to be occupied by the surrealist era robot.

Pop's follow-up to Blah Blah Blah, Instinct (1988), was a turnaround in musical direction. Its stripped-back, guitar-based sound leaned further towards the sound of the Stooges than any of his solo albums to date. His record label, which had most likely been expecting another Blah Blah Blah, dropped him. Nevertheless, the King Biscuit radio show recording of the Instinct tour (featuring guitarist Andy McCoy and Alvin Gibbs on bass) reaching Boston on July 19, 1988, remains one of punk-rock's most enduring live albums.^{[citation needed]} Working with rock attorney Stann Findelle, Pop scored more movie soundtrack inclusions in 1989, "Living on the Edge of the Night" in the Ridley Scott Michael Douglas thriller, Black Rain and "Love Transfusion" in Wes Craven's Shocker.

The 1990s[link]

In 1990, Pop recorded Brick by Brick, produced by Don Was, with members of Guns N' Roses and The B-52's as guests, as well as backup vocals by many local Hollywood groups, two of whom (Whitey Kirst and Craig Pike) would create his band to tour and perform on his Kiss My Blood video (1991), directed by world-famous director Tim Pope and filmed at the Olympia in Paris. The video attracted much controversy, as it featured much footage of Pop performing with his penis exposed to the audience. The album was his first Gold-certified album in the U.S. (denoting sales of over 500,000 copies) and featured his first Top 40 U.S. hit, "Candy", a duet with B-52's singer Kate Pierson.

Also in 1990, Pop starred in the controversial opera The Manson Family by composer John Moran, released on Point Music/Phillip Classics, where he sang the role of prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. That year he was also contributed to the Red Hot Organization's AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue project, singing a version of "Well Did You Evah!" in a duet with Deborah Harry.

In 1991, Pop and Kirst contributed the song "Why Was I Born (Freddy's Dead)" to the soundtrack of the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. The song also plays over the end credits of the film, with a compilation of clips from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series running alongside the end credits.

In 1992, he collaborated with Goran Bregović on the soundtrack for the movie Arizona Dream by Emir Kusturica. Pop sang four of the songs: In the Deathcar, TV Screen, Get the Money, and This is a Film. Also in 1992, he collaborated with the New York City band White Zombie. He recorded spoken word vocals on the intro and outro of the song "Black Sunshine" as well as playing the character of a writer in the video shot for the song. He is singled out for special thanks in the liner notes of the band's album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1.

In 1993, Pop released American Caesar, including two successful singles, "Wild America" and "Beside You." The following year Pop contributed to Buckethead's album Giant Robot, including the songs "Buckethead's Toy Store" and "Post Office Buddy". He appears also on the Les Rita Mitsouko album Système D where he sings the duet "My Love is Bad" with Catherine Ringer.

In 1996, Pop again found mainstream fame when his 1977 song "Lust for Life" was featured in the film Trainspotting. A new video was recorded for the song, with clips from the film and studio footage of Iggy dancing with one of its stars, Ewen Bremner. An Iggy Pop concert also served as a plot point in the film. The song has also been used in TV commercials for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (with many music critics denouncing the usage of the song to promote peppy cruises) and as the theme music to The Jim Rome Show, a nationally-syndicated American sports talk show.

In 1996, Pop released Naughty Little Doggie, with Whitey Kirst returning on guitar, and the single "I Wanna Live". In 1997, he remixed Raw Power to give it a rougher, more hard-edged sound; fans had complained for years that Bowie's official "rescue effort" mix was muddy and lacking in bass. Pop testified in the reissue's liner notes that on the new mix, "everything's still in the red". He co-produced his 1999 album Avenue B with Don Was, releasing the single "Corruption." Pop produced 2001's Beat 'Em Up, which gave birth to The Trolls, releasing the single "Football" featuring Trolls alumni Whitey Kirst and brother Alex.

In 1997, Pop was credited with the soundtrack to the film The Brave.

In the early to middle 1990s, Pop would make several guest appearances on the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete. He played James Mecklenberg, Nona Mecklenberg's father.

The Stooges reunion: 2003 to present[link]

Pop's 2003 album Skull Ring featured collaborators Sum 41, Green Day, Peaches, and The Trolls, as well as Ron and Scott Asheton, reuniting the three surviving founding members of The Stooges for the first time since 1974. Pop made a guest appearance on Peaches's song Kick It as well as the video. Also in 2003, his first full-length biography was published. Gimme Danger – The Story of Iggy Pop was written by Joe Ambrose; Pop did not collaborate on the biography or publicly endorse it. Having enjoyed working with the Ashetons on Skull Ring, Pop reformed The Stooges with bassist Mike Watt (formerly of the Minutemen) filling in for Dave Alexander, and Fun House saxophonist Steve Mackay rejoining the lineup. They have toured regularly since 2004. That year, Pop opened Madonna's Reinvention World Tour in Dublin.

Iggy and The Stooges played the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007. Their set included material from the 2007 album The Weirdness and classics such as "No Fun and "I Wanna Be Your Dog." Pop also caused controversy in June 2007 when he was interviewed on the BBC's coverage of the Glastonbury Festival. He used the phrase "paki shop", apparently unaware of its racist connotations, prompting three complaints and an apology from the BBC.^[16]

On March 10, 2008 Pop appeared at Madonna's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Together with The Stooges he sang raucous versions of two Madonna hits "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light." Before leaving the stage he looked directly at Madonna, quoting "You make me feel shiny and new, like a virgin, touched for the very first time.", from Madonna's hit song "Like A Virgin". According to guitarist Ron Asheton, Madonna asked The Stooges to perform in her place, as a protest to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for not inducting The Stooges despite six appearances on the nomination ballot.^[17] Pop also sang on the "No Fun" cover by Asian Dub Foundation on their 2008 album Punkara.

On June 1, 2008, The Stooges were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.^[18]

On January 6, 2009, original Stooges guitarist, and Iggy's self-described best friend Ron Asheton, was found dead from an apparent heart attack. He was 60 years old.

In 2009 James Williamson rejoined the band after 29 years.^[19]

On December 15, 2009 it was announced that The Stooges would be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2010. Pop had "about two hours of a strong emotional reaction" to the news.^[20]

In March 2010 the Stooges and Iggy Pop were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[21]

In 2011, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.^[22]

Recent career[link]

Pop supplied vocals for the 1999 Death in Vegas UK Top-10 single Aisha. The same year he appeared on Hashisheen, The End Of Law, a collaborative effort by Bill Laswell, reading on the tracks The Western Lands and A Quick Trip to Alamut. He also sang on the tracks Rolodex Propaganda and Enfilade by At the Drive-In in 2000.