items evoke that illustrate an incredible and deeply honest account. Pulling up at the rear of the book are short essays and Q&As with Marr, White, Joan Jett, and others, each shedding a particularly reverent light on Pop.
interviewer and Kugelberg also chiming in—they went through all of it chronologically over two days. Gold is the perfect choice to lead this conversation, but of his own contributions to the writing, he says, “Out of 10 hours of talking, I’m talking maybe 20 minutes—the rest is Iggy.”
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n his essay for “Total Chaos: The Story of The Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop,” Johnny Marr says: “What does it mean to be Iggy Pop, five decades of being ‘the wildest man in rock’? Rockstar, musician, songwriter, and craftsman. Philosopher, professional, James Osterberg.” “Total Chaos” is a 350-page coffee-table book detailing the oral history of Iggy Pop And The Stooges as told by Pop himself, published by Jack White’s Third Man Books and out on Nov. 29. Very soon into it, the reader realizes another Iggy Pop characteristic: he is someone with near perfect recall. Rock music memorabilia collectors, Jeff Gold and Johan Kugelberg, pooled together selections from their formidable Iggy Pop and Stooges archives, picked 100 pieces, made prints of them, and took them to Pop in his Florida home. Armed with a question for each piece—with Gold as the primary
“I went there knowing he was a great raconteur and storyteller and that he had a good handle on trivia I’d asked him about before,” Gold continues, referring back to when he interviewed Pop for “101 Essential Rock Records.” “But, I was completely unprepared for how much he remembered. Instead of trying to lengthen his answers, I had to keep cutting him off because of time, which was a really weird position to be in.” The collected items—all of which are included in “Total Chaos,” alongside many, many more—range from handbills to posters, recording contracts, reviews, and pictures, but it’s the stories these
“No,” Gold says when asked if it took a lot of convincing to get Pop to participate. “Iggy had been thinking about The Stooges a lot. I was a known commodity. He liked the book I’d done and the books [Kugelberg] had done, and he was probably feeling like it was a good time to do it. Iggy’s 69 years old and this is the biggest year of his career. He’s had the highest charting record, a Stooges movie, this book, and the most successful tour. It’s crazy fantastic.”
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warning: leafing through the revised edition of Ramón Oscuro Martos’ “… And Justice for Art: Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers”—co-published by Dark Canvas and Martos himself— may make you feel old. Not Saxon’s Biff Byford old, mind you, but like part of the upper-middle tier of the metal generation who came of age in the era when album purchases depended at least partway on album cover art. Sometimes, you tanked, but sometimes, you scored big time. It was the luck of the draw, kiddos. The only way you could hear what a band sounded like pre-purchase was if one of your friends had a dubbed copy of their record—likely fourth generation, sent through the mail from a country you’d have to consult an encyclopedia to find on a map. To this end—and since the first edition was snapped up quickstyle—the revised edition of “…And Justice for Art” is a treasure trove of memories for metal geriatrics. Wanna know the story behind Iron Maiden’s Somewhere in Time cover? Death’s iconic Scream Bloody Gore imagery? The book also features just enough newer blood in the form of Lamb Of God, Cattle Decapitation, and the like to make it a worthwhile investment for the younger recruits. Martos has said he did not want to print more of the first edition when he had the opportunity to include new material. He sought to honor the original version of the book and compares the new release to the special edition of a film, replete with bonus features.
With the spotlight shone on over 400 albums interspersed with 100-plus reflections from both the bands and artists involved, “…And Justice for Art” deserves this revision. It joins “Choosing Death” and “Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult” as books worthy of display on your coffee tables and sacrificial altars—and just in time for Christmas!
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