The 18 months they spent together would turn out to be the most productive period of both their lives. Their counterintuitive logic led them to try to clean up their lifestyles by moving from LA to Berlin, the heroin capital of the world, but they showed a surprising degree of restraint while living there (for a while anyway). Record companies passed on the 1975 Kill City demos, at least until 1977, when Iggy Pop’s stock was on the rise again, and Bomp! Records gave Williamson funds to complete and release the album.ĭespite their narcotic proclivities, David Bowie and Iggy Pop were good for each other. Kill City is an edgy and erratic blur of driving riffage in the style of the old band, with Pop grumbling about surviving in the city, “until you wind up in some bathroom overdosed and on your knees”. Detention at a psychiatric facility on the UCLA campus gave the singer time to cool off, and at the weekends he was allowed out to record with former Stooges guitarist James Williamson at Jimmy Webb’s home studio in Encino. An intervention took place when he was arrested for intimidating diners at an LA burger emporium.
He spent the best part of a year couch surfing and relying on the charity of others, including fans, for heroin and quaaludes. Despite the ignominious nature of their demise, Jim Osterberg – the man behind Iggy Pop – had still not quite reached his rock bottom.
The Stooges had come off the rails before, but in February 1974 they finally split for good.
