Music / Fun House (Album)

aka: Fun House

Fun House.

Out of my mind on Saturday night
1970 rollin' in sight
Radio burnin' up above
Beautiful baby, feed my love
All night till I blow away
All night till I blow away
I feel alright, I feel alright

—"1970"

Fun House is the second studio album by The Stooges, released in 1970. It's best remembered for the hits "Loose", "TV Eye" and "Fun House". It is also their first album with saxophonist Steve Mackay, whose initial tenure with The Stooges was brief, but rejoined in 2003 and has been a member since. It is also their final album to feature bassist Dave Alexander, who would be sacked shortly after release. Ron Asheton would switch from guitar to bass, and James Williamson would join the band as the guitarist.

Like Raw Power after it, the album was unsuccessful on release, and only after Punk Rock took off around 1977 did it get retrospective recognition as a predecessor to the genre, and as such both are brought up as key albums in the development of Punk Rock.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Down On The Street" (3:42)
2. "Loose" (3:33)
3. "T.V. Eye" (4:17)
4. "Dirt" (7:00)

Side Two

1. "1970" (5:14)
2. "Fun House" (7:45)
3. "L.A. Blues" (4:52)

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Principal Members:

• Dave Alexander - bass
• Ron Asheton - guitar
• Scott Asheton - drums
• Steve Mackay - saxophone
• Iggy Pop - lead vocals

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Calling from the trope house!

• Album Title Drop:
  Calling from the fun house with this song
  We've been separated far too long
• All Women Are Lustful: "T.V. Eye".
• Annual Title: "1970".
• Being Watched: "T.V. Eye".
  She got a T.V. eye on me
• Book Ends: "1969" from The Stooges was about feeling disgruntled, bored and bad that year. "1970" is the opposite feeling.
• Careful with That Axe:
  • "TV Eye"
  Loooooooooooooooooooooord!
  • "L.A. Blues": Iggy screaming, grunting, moaning, growling,... while the music goes berserk!
• Continuity Nod: The first album had a song called "1969". This one has "1970".
• Corrupt the Cutie: "Loose".
  I took a record of pretty music
  Now I'm putting it to you straight from hell
• Dancing Is Serious Business: "Loose".
  I feel fine to be dancin', baby
• Design Student's Orgasm: The psychedelic fire album cover.
• Despair Event Horizon: "Dirt".
  Ooh, I been dirt
  And I don't care
• Epic Rocking: "Dirt" (7:00 minutes) and "Fun House" (7:45)
• Face on the Cover: The band members, all shown from different angles, morphed into one image.
• Fun with Acronyms: "TV Eye" has nothing to do with television; the phrase was coined by the Ashetons' sister, who'd refer to good looking guys as "giving her a twat vibe."
• Genre Mashup: The album mixes in more jazz and blues into the band's proto-punk sound, making the album an Ur-Example for the jazz punk subgenre as well as for punk as a whole.
• Grief Song: "Dirt".
• Hall of Mirrors: "Fun House".
• Intercourse with You: "Loose".
  Cause it's love, yeah I do believe
  I'll stick it deep inside/ I'll stick it deep inside
• In the Style of: Iggy Pop sang the tracks with the voice of blues singer Howlin' Wolf in mind.
• Instrumental: "L.A. Blues". There is singing, but it's mostly growling and screaming.
• Last Note Nightmare: "L.A. Blues", the closing track, consists of screeching guitar and saxophone and Iggy Pop screaming unintelligibly like a madman. Ironically, the most eerie part is in the last couple of seconds with Iggy mumbling over a brief feedback loop.
• Obsession Song: "Fun House".
• One-Word Title: "Loose", "Dirt".
• Sensory Abuse: "L.A. Blues".
• Shout-Out: The Australian band Radio Birdman chose their name based on mishearing the line "radio burnin' up above" in the song "1970".
• Something Blues: "L.A. Blues".
• Stylistic Suck: The band's performances on this album have been noted by reviewers as having the sound of a band on the verge of collapse. A listen to the band's rehearsals for this album, released as the limited-edition box set mentioned above, reveals that they actually rehearsed meticulously for the album and were remarkably consistent between takes. The inescapable conclusion is that they deliberately intended for their sound to be that chaotic.
• Time Marches On: "1970", a song about a year that's now long passed.
• The Unintelligible: Iggy during "L.A. Blues".

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