Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" Blog

I've been obsessed with this record for awhile and recently started some research and analysis of the songs, production and other creative facets of the album. I've been documenting this in a blog:

idiotlust.blogspot.com

Ultimately, I'd like to discover and document all the details about the recording process: equipment, mic placement, mixing. I'm taking little detours here and there as my fancy dictates.

I hope you enjoy it and value your contributions!

Hi Bradb, your blog is an awesome tribute to The Idiot! Wish every Iggy album would get such a treat. Today I got the cd! and probably get brainwashed in a few days...

The uncut 'Funtime' performance+interview on the Dinah Shore show on April 15th, 1977 is still smashing. Here's the link again for those who haven't seen it yet: http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=158027

Great blog brad, interesting information, only read so much of it though, im guna read the rest later, but i skimmed it and didnt see a mention of Dostoeskvy's book The Idiot, i always thought it was based on this, well at least the title. Always thought that, iggy being a reader, does anyone know if there's any substance in this?

Yep - the title was taken from the Dostoevsky book. The parallels (prince returns from an asylum, his honest soul and big hearted kindness frequently mistaken for simple mindedness) with iggy's life were all too apparent to Bowie and Iggy whilst they were recording the Idiot tracks.
Cheers,
Richard

adams66 wrote:

Yep - the title was taken from the Dostoevsky book. The parallels (prince returns from an asylum, his honest soul and big hearted kindness frequently mistaken for simple mindedness) with iggy's life were all too apparent to Bowie and Iggy whilst they were recording the Idiot tracks.
Cheers,
Richard

'Simple-minded'!? Iggy!?
out of interest, has anyone here read any Dostoevsky? tried 'Crime and Punishment' myself, which I thought started off brilliantly but then tailed off for the next seven hundred or so pages ...

Thought so, thanks, and yeh, i've read the idiot because of the album, b4 hearing the album actually, but i thought there were similarities, and, nadja, ive read a bit, well as mentioned the idiot and ive read crime and punishment, which i thought was great, really stays with you u'no, tried readin brothers karamazov but other books got in the way

the trouble with Crime and Punishment, I found, is that while it's so psychologically intense and powerful, there just end up being too many characters and it all gets long-winded ... (I better not get carried away though, this isn't a literature forum!!)

Nadja wrote:

...too many characters and it all gets long-winded ...

...this isn't a literature forum!!)

I agree with the first statement, and we should make a thread for the second!

Yeah, I'd be up for a literature thread - I'm a book nut as well as a music nut (although music is definitely the more important)- don't know how many others would be interested in discussing nineteenth-century Russian novels though!

Same here, music's the main thing in life for me, nothing like seein a good band live, and i spose you're right, i bore a lot of ppl talkin about books anyway, funny signature btw

'funny signature' - erm, what exactly do you mean by that - in what sense 'funny'? I'd genuinely like some feedback here ....

as far as musical experiences go, the best thing for me isn't really going out to hear it but just shutting myself in my room with a fave record, shutting out the rest of the world
(oops, that makes me sound like an anti-social teenager)

Nadja wrote:

(oops, that makes me sound like an anti-social teenager)

oooh, very nice


anyway...

Nadja wrote:

'funny signature' - erm, what exactly do you mean by that - in what sense 'funny'? I'd genuinely like some feedback here ....

honestly nadja i have no idea y u take these things so personal, i thought it was Ha Ha funny, as in i laughed at it, well with it, if i have to explain what i meant about each word...

seriously, theres no malice in anythin ive said so far (so far being since ive joined the forum)

p.s. im listenin to just like a woman by dylan (blonde on blonde)



ok that was my first barb, but it was funny all the same, lol

where was this thread about?

something about an idiot ...

but, yes, HJW, before things get any more complicated I'm just gonna go back to talking solely about music and not bothering with literature and 'literariness' and the meaning of words etc

So ... I hear 'The Idiot' mentioned all the time but I've never got round to listening to it. And I confess that is largely because I've never really made a point of listening to Iggy's solo stuff, well apart from ubiquitous songs like Lust for Life' and 'The Passenger' etc which I couldn't really help hearing

Nadja wrote:

something about an idiot ...

then...
hail to the idiot
and

Nadja wrote:

And I confess that is largely because I've
never really made a point of listening to Iggy's solo stuff, well apart
from ubiquitous songs like Lust for Life' and 'The Passenger' etc which
I couldn't really help hearing

shame on you.

Hi everyone,

I thought that I'd get some kind of automated reply that there was a reply to my original post but I haven't gotten anything. I just randomly decided to pop in and see what was up.

Anyway, thanks for the comments everyone. I really do think this record is a really underrated gem and as far as the production on it, not very many other albums come close.

A record that I think is kinda similar is radiohead's Kid A. Now, I don' t really like radiohead and think that the hype surrounding them is overblown, but aurally the departure that Kid A took is small step in the same direction that Bowie and Iggy leapt in back in 1976 (Hmm, maybe I'll incorporate that into my blog! hehe)

I'm hoping to score some interviews so I can get some more details on the technical work behind the record, so please keep your eyes peeled and comments are welcome.

Also, I came to the Idiot from Lust for Life and didn't really get it at first, give it a few listens.

cheers,
bb

PS yes the name "The Idiot" comes from the Dostoevsky book. I haven't read it, but I just got the Kurosawa film. I know, I know, i need to read the book. Soon!

Sorry bradb, can't help you out with some interviews.
But do want to know more about the following:

Saw on your blog that you're a musician and engineer. Writing in detail about the place where the sound of 'The Idiot' was recorded.

Now I got curious, what your (and others) opinion is concerning the recorded sound quality of The Weirdness album. In this forum is often spoken about the sound. But not from the point of view concerning the space where the album is recorded. Maybe you can give us some interesting technical knowhow or point of view?

Have you seen the interview with The Stooges. Taken in the recording studio in New York, where they recorded The Weirdness?

http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=97434a61c0ae80d9883c0398f7860984c3437b5b

It surprised me that Iggy his voice sounds really thin in this brick space studio during the singing. For example the bass would sound totally flat here. Not to speak about the drum and a sax. Only for a guitar this space maybe is givin the wanted metallic sound, what makes The Weirdness so typical.

To my opinion this metallic or thin sound ruins the thick dense sound quality The Stooges once had. What do you think did The Stooges on purpose chose this space to record?

yes, the drums sound bad in weirdness... but theres nothing wrong with the bass because, generally you go directly in when recording bass in studio(XLR)... so thats no issue ! i know this from personal recordings of mine, and heavy researching.

Nice Blog, i just bought this album! Sounds kinda un-Iggish if you ask me.. but i think il get into it after a few listens.. Dum Dum Boys is just sucha cool song !

I don't know much about The Stooges reunion album and havent heard it. But I do know about Steve Albini the engineer and producer. He is known for his uncompromising, straight to tape production / engineering style. Very hands off, very much a documentarian.

Did they use a DI on the weirdness for bass?

This is pretty standard, i know studios that do many genre's and for each, bass is always done direct. I'm not such a big fan of that. Many unique sounds can be achieved by amping a bass. In fact, a ric 4003 thru a twin reverb with a touch of reverb is a beautiful thing, depending on the setting.

well its still ran threw the amp... just output it to board.. i think probley done that way for weirdness... bass is just not loud enough on the album

bradb wrote:

I don't know much about The Stooges reunion album and havent heard it. But I do know about Steve Albini the engineer and producer. He is known for his uncompromising, straight to tape production / engineering style. Very hands off, very much a documentarian.

probably Steve Albini hadn't so much influence. Iggy-Ron and Scott their ideas had more weight in it.

bradb wrote:

This is pretty standard, i know studios that do many genre's and for each, bass is always done direct. I'm not such a big fan of that. Many unique sounds can be achieved by amping a bass. In fact, a ric 4003 thru a twin reverb with a touch of reverb is a beautiful thing, depending on the setting.

ok Thanx!

You too JLTS!

And about the effect the brick walls had on the sound? only the drums?
Agree the drums should be mixed much louder.
What about the sax and Iggy's voice do they also recorded that direct?

Many things affect the sound that results on tape. Generally, you could say that having a brick wall in the studio will give you sharp, higher frequency ambiance. Soft padded walls will give you a more dead sound. But the walls are just part of the equation, how the record was mixed, how the instruments were mic'ed also has an effect.

A sax doesn't output an electric signal and must always be mic'ed. Iggy's vocals run thru a microphone and then a microphone pre-amp. Thats pretty standard.

I'm sure there is some documentation out there of how they recorded that record, i read that mike watt blogged about it. i also remember seeing something where iggy and the stooges recorded everything in a room together with minimal isolation.

Yes, they all did it together in the room, but it bleed into each track when being recording

not the best idea to be so close to each other



cheers

Bradb, you've read this interview, hidden deep down in the archive of Paul Trynka's site?
http://www.trynka.net/Site/Open_Up_Blog/FA90564D-4770-4255-802F-72CE4266C2B5.html

Paul took the interview for his book Open Up and Bleed.
Where he says: ' The recording of The Idiot
is pretty obscure, even Iggy himself doesn’t recall the names of the
musicians who played on it, so tracking him down and getting his story
was a triumph for me....'