Posted on Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 9:46 a.m.
Iggy Pop leads off NPR's list of 50 great voices
By AnnArbor.com Staff
Iggy Pop
In a piece headlined "The Voice as Weapon," NPR explains, "His isn't the first name you'd expect to see on a list of great voices. But when you think of voice in the broadest sense of the word — a person communicating an idea with an audience — then Iggy Pop more than holds his own."
Read the story and hear audio at NPR's website. (Note that the fact that he comes first doesn't necessarily mean NPR is ranking him No. 50, or No. 1 — he's just first.) And don't forget that on March 15, Pop's proto-punk band the Stooges will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
Watch Iggy perform "Raw Power" in Brazil last November:
Comments
treetowncartel
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 4:05 p.m.
TDW, I think the mailing address changes at Dalton, between Packard and Washtenaw, but don't qoute me on it. funny his dad taught English at Ypsi, I worked with a guy years ago who said his dad was a teacher in Garden city, could have sworn it was math that he said he taught too. So, if we look at it, he was a student in Ann Arbor, resided in Pitssfield with his parents off Carpenter, and then later the Stooges off of State /Ellsworth and associated himself more with Ypsilanti than other areas of the County. Regardless, he is a legend in his own time no matter where he came from, one of the front runners of the punk/glam movement.
PittsfieldTwp
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 12:02 p.m.
TDW - The Pittsfield Twp / Ypsi Twp border is Golfside. If you follow that line straight down across the I-94 the boundary street is Munger Rd. Those north of I-94, west of Golfside have an AA mailing address, those south of I-94 but just west of Munger (myself), have an Ypsi address. Further west of me, the mailing address in the Twp become Ann Arbor, then further still some become Saline. Its quite confusing. I had a politician knock on my door last summer saying one platform he was running on was to get the Pittsfield residences in my area a different zip code so we would not have Ypsi addresses.
tdw
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 11:49 a.m.
@pittsfieldtwp what area do you live? I'm tottally confused now I live two blocks east of golfiside (which is Ypsi Twp)but until now I thought everything west was a A2 mailing address.
PittsfieldTwp
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 11:48 a.m.
TDW - All those businesses on Carpenter North of Elsworth are Pittsfield Twp, but no business or resident anywhere in the Twp has Pittsfield in their mailing address. As a matter of fact, most all the comercial and industrial businesses and McMansions along St Street coridor south of I-94 are also Pittsfield which means lots and lots of tax revenue base. I don't know how the city of Ann Arbor survives with hardly no industry or comercial property tax base plus the burden of supporting U of M (tax exempt). Anyway, what are we talking about again? Iggy?
PittsfieldTwp
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 11:17 a.m.
Another great example of the Pittsfield Twp identity crisis. I also live in Pittsfield, have an Ypsi mailing address, but am also in the AA school district. From a Rolling Stones Article - "I'm on the outskirts of the outskirts, between two towns: Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. I'm in a trailer camp called Coachville Gardens Mobile Park, and I live in Lot Ninety-six...There's 113 trailers in the trailer camp. The only people in the trailer camp with a college education are my mother and father. I slept on a shelf above the kitchenette" "They lived in the trailer park because Iggy's father, Newell, thought trailers made sense. He used to say, "This is the way to live." He taught English at Ypsilanti High..." http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937621/iggys_trail_of_destruction/print
annarbortownie
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : 8:17 a.m.
Jim, Iggy, is indeed an AnnArbor boy. He did go to Tappan and I remember sitting in our basement with my older brother and Jim eating peanut butter sandwiches!!!
tdw
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 : midnight
Ok its offical Ypsi and A2 both get to claim him
treetowncartel
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 10:36 p.m.
Atticus, Scarlett was not up and running when Mr. Osterberg went to junior high. He did live off Carpenter and his dad was a math teacher in Garden City. I was a student at Tappan myself when I was foraging through the old yearbooks and saw the picture of him for most likely to suceed. Hypsi, I think your point is a good one, but don't forget the band lived in that old farmhouse at State and Ellsworth for a while. The farmhouse is long gone but Iggy still rocks! And while we are at it, the West Park band shleter needs to be declared a national historic site, since Jerry and the Dead rocked it out back in the late 60's.
tdw
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 9:42 p.m.
Ok...there's a picture of him in Ann Arbor.And?
Wystan Stevens
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 6:22 p.m.
Here's a 1966 snapshot, on Flickr, of Iggy strolling barefoot on State Street. You can't get more "Ann Arbor" than this. He appears to be right at home, and he looks like he's enjoying himself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8903114@N07/2353902717/in/photostream/
Atticus F.
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 4:54 p.m.
I was always told that Iggy grew up in Sunnyside mobil home park at Packrd and Eisenhower, not Coachville. Sunnyside makes more sense, as this is the Tappen School district... Although I could be wrong. Can someone clarify?
hypsi
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 4:17 p.m.
tdw! Thanks, that's the point I was trying to make, if you read up and have followed Iggy Pop and the Stooges at all. Seems from all the media he did relate to Ypsi more. Actually, for most of his career he was embarassed to say he was from Michigan at all :]
tdw
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 3:29 p.m.
Not taking any sides here,but for some reason business east of Carpenter are listed as Ypsi or A2.Pizza Hut is listed as Ypsi Miles of Golf is listed as A2 Coachville, Henderson glass and Meijer is listed as Ypsi.BUT it is A2 schools and A2 phone numbers,so who knows.Maybe Iggy Pop just related to Ypsi more
uawisok
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 2:59 p.m.
I agree with IGGY...Ypsi is a much more "real" town than the town I live in now (ann arbor)my nieghbors are aloof,indifferent and stand offish. The best nieghbors I had where transplants from Ypsi.
hypsi
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 2:24 p.m.
You can also read his biography! http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767923194&view=excerpt
hypsi
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 2:22 p.m.
Taken from Iggy Pop interview: http://www.iggypop.org/iggyinterviews.html "Being kicked..." "I" like rich, yeah, that's right. These kids there, it's a dry town. I've never cared for Ann Arbor very much. I went to school there really and that's all. I lived, I'm from Ypsilanti, which is more like a town, it's oakies, bunch of oakies.""
hypsi
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 2:01 p.m.
Why not put this story in the Ypsilanti (or Muskegeon or Berkley) section? If you know your Iggy and the Stooges/Iguanas history, you'd agree.. Wink Nod Wink:]
treetowncartel
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 10:24 a.m.
Jim Osterberg, voted most likely to succeed in his 9th grade class at Tappan Junior High.