The two would interact artistically for the rest of the decade, with a brief intermission in the mid-70s as Iggy tried to shake himself loose of his addictions by sectioning himself in a mental institution.This was a heavy period for Iggy, even as Bowie’s star was rising higher and higher.Īnd yet, Bowie was still interested in what Iggy Pop could produce as an artist, with the two of them reconvening, and writing/touring The Idiot album together. Yet, he and Bowie had been tight since the early 70s, with Bowie on board to co-produce Iggy’s Raw Power with him, and with Iggy in turn, vis-a-vis the Stooges, arguably having been something of an inspiration to Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World proto-heavy metal textures. Iggy Pop had had a tumultous half-decade by 1977, struggling with a flagging reputation and an advanced drug habit. With this method of songwriting, a lot comes out in the subtext.

But, what of this song? With lyrics by Iggy, and music by guitarist Ricky Gardiner, the tune was bashed out in the studio, with the words strung together on the fly. This is stripped down, and almost minimalist rock ‘n’ roll, compared to Bowie’s layered art-rock approach.Īnd indeed, in addition to co-producing the record, Bowie plays sideman on this just as he did on the previous Iggy album, The Idiot. Yet this album is all about Iggy, with his growling lead voice over a style of music that in many ways runs contrary to what Bowie was doing on his Berlin albums. The record was written, recorded, and mixed in eight days in Hansa studio in Berlin, a city in which Bowie himself would be associated through his own “ Berlin trilogy” of albums – Low, Heroes, and Lodger. The song appears on a record he produced with David Bowie and engineer/bandmate Colin Thurston the classic Lust For Life. It’s “The Passenger”, actually a B-side to his single “Success”. Listen to this track by punk rock founding father and pharmaceutical adventurer James Osterberg, better known to the world as Iggy Pop.

The passenger iggy pop