The Stooges have come to be considered one of the most important rock bands, especially in regard to the formation of punk. By emphasizing their influence on later developments, however, critics tend to overlook the significance of the band in their own context and era. The Music and Noise of the Stooges, 1967-71 addresses such oversights.

Utilizing the lenses of cultural criticism and sound studies (drawing on the thinking of Theodor Adorno, Jacques Attali, and Pierre Bourdieu, among others), as well as contemporary and archival texts, this extensively researched study analyzes the trajectory and musical output of the original Stooges. During the late 1960s and early 70s, a moment when the dissonant energy of rock'n'roll was more than ever being subsumed by the record industry, the Stooges were initially commercial failures, with the band's "noisy" music and singer Iggy Pop's "bizarre" onstage performances confusing their label, Elektra Records. As Begnal argues, the Stooges embodied a tension between market forces and an innovative, avant-garde artistic vision, as they sought to liberate audiences from passivity and stimulate an immanent joy in the rock'n'roll moment.

This book offers a fresh perspective on the Stooges that will appeal both to rock fans and scholars (especially in the fields of cultural studies, the long Sixties, musicology, punk studies, and performance studies).

About the Author

Michael S. Begnal teaches writing in the English Department at Ball State University, Indiana, USA. He is a poet as well as a scholar.

Reviews

"...[Begnal] frames the Stooges' output and achievement in terms of cultural and literary criticism and sound studies...most interesting is Begnal's contextual analyses of the group as products of '60s social and political upheaval, who as scholars of jazz and blues were heavily steeped in the racial and cultural dialogues of the time. Within this he also dissects the relationship between market forces and the avant garde, and the record industry's role as agents of capitalism and commodification."

Mojo

"...author Michael S. Begnal has dredged up some surprising and provable influences on the band's intentions to smelt their initial psychy improvisation into tangible riffs and steadily solidified albums...this is a fresh reminder of those intriguing early days, adding smarts back into a story that is often lazily wound down into a bunch of memes about Iggy not wearing shirts...the investigation into the words and sounds of 'Loose' along will keep most uber-fans engrossed...there are useful [interviews] from old articles throughout that you might not ever have come across before."

Ugly Things, 64

"This ain't just any ol' Stooges book but one which really deals with the deep down whys and wherefores of just what the group was up to during their original pre-RAW POWER romp...TONS of pertinent information, a whole load of it unknown even to me...that is presented here along with the insight and workings of what was so unique and downright special about the Stooges...Begnal put[s] it into heady but understandable terms..really, this is worth the while."

Blog to Comm (blogsite of Black to Comm)

Book Information
ISBN 9780367648466
Author Michael S. Begnal
Format Paperback
Page Count 202
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 280g