Music / The Stooges (Album)

Very much fun to be around!

The Stooges is the debut studio album by The Stooges, released in 1969. It is best known for hits such as "1969", "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "No Fun". This album was produced by John Cale, formerly of Velvet Underground. As a New Sound Album it was a predecessor of Punk Rock, eight years before the genre became commonplace.

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Tracklist

Side One

1. "1969" (4:05)
2. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (3:09)
3. "We Will Fall" (10:18)

Side Two

1. "No Fun" (5:14)
2. "Real Cool Time" (2:29)
3. "Ann" (2:59)
4. "Not Right" (2:51)
5. "Little Doll" (3:20)

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Principal Members:

• Dave Alexander - bass
• Ron Asheton - guitar, vocals
• Scott Asheton - drums
• Iggy Pop - lead vocals

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Now, I Wanna Be Your Tropes!

• Album Filler: The band only had five songs written when they were due to record their first album (namely: "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "No Fun", "1969", "Ann" and "We Will Fall"). Iggy bluffed and said they had "hundreds" when the record company said there weren't enough songs. According to legend, half the album was written in a hurry the night before the first session.
• Annual Title: "1969", consequently the year this album was released.
• Bleak Level: "No Fun".
  No fun
  No fun to be alone
  Walking by myself
  No fun to be alone
  In love with nobody else
• Broken Record: The chanting of "We Will Fall" just goes on and on. At a certain point Iggy starts saying "Goodbye" and repeats it several times, almost to indicate that they can stop now.
• Continuity Nod: This album has a song named "1969". The next, Fun House would have a song named "1970".
• Despair Event Horizon and Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life:
  • "1969"
  Well it's 1969 OK all across the USA
  It's another year for me and you
  Another year with nothing to do
  Last year I was 21 I didn't have a lot of fun
  And now I'm gonna be 22 I say oh my and a boo-hoo
  • "No Fun".
  No fun to be around
• Epic Rocking: "We Will Fall", which is more than 10 minutes long.
• Extreme Doormat: "I Wanna Be Your Dog".
  Now I wanna... be your dog
• Face on the Cover: Iggy's face is much closer in view on the album cover, than the rest of the band.
• Grief Song: "No Fun" and "1969."
• Intercourse with You: "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "Little Doll," and "Real Cool Time."
  Now we're gonna be face to face
  And I'll lay right down in my favorite place
  And now I wanna be your dog
• Large Ham: "1969:"
  Well, it's 1969, baaaay-baaaaaaay aaaaaaaaargl!
• Last Note Nightmare: Inverted with "I Wanna Be Your Dog", which opens on a riff with lots of feedback.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: "No Fun."
• The Not-Remix: John Cale originally planned to use a different mix from what ended up on the final release of the album, but it was rejected by the record company. However, it would later appear on reissues of the album alongside the mix from the original 1969 release.
• Obligatory Bondage Song: "I Wanna Be Your Dog," about a man who wants to be treated as a dog, by a woman he finds sexy.
• Ominous Chanting: "We Will Fall."
• One-Woman Song: "Ann" and "Little Doll."
• Record Producer: John Cale. He also plays the piano in "I Wanna Be Your Dog".
• Self-Titled Album: As many debut albums.
• Shout-Out:
  • "No Fun" was famously covered by Sex Pistols during concert tours. It would also be the final song they played, before suddenly splitting up in 1978, after an American tour. Johnny Rotten commented that at that point, they were well past the point of having fun. Sid Vicious covered "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on his only solo album Sid Sings (1979).
  • Joey Ramone covered "1969" on his solo album Don't Worry About Me.
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Ann" and "We Will Fall."
• Time Marches On: "1969," a song about a year that's now long passed.

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