By 1976, proto-punk pioneer Iggy Pop had hit a major rut. Drug problems had led to the collapse of The Stooges, the band with whom he made his name, and he had checked himself into UCLA’s neuropsychiatric institute in an effort to get clean. David Bowie, seeing his friend and collaborator in desperate need of support and guidance, was one of Iggy’s few visitors. Bowie would later invite Pop to accompany him as his companion on the Station To Station tour, the first time Iggy had witnessed an outing of such scale and magnitude. Impressed by the success of the tour and with Bowie’s work ethic, the pair relocated to West Berlin in order to wean themselves off their respective addictions and take full advantage of the burgeoning music scene there. While Bowie began work on his now-legendary “Berlin trilogy,” Iggy signed to Bowie’s long term label, RCA, in 1977. With a new record deal in place, alongside the production skills, musicianship and songwriting assistance of David, Iggy was able to record and release what would become his two most acclaimed albums. In March ‘77 came art-pop masterpiece The Idiot, which produced the singles ‘Nightclubbing’ and ‘China Girl.’ Although certain purists would criticise the record for being a David Bowie album in disguise, The Idiot was a resounding success both critically and musically, becoming highly influential on the early industrial and post-punk scenes. On 29th August the same year Lust for Life appeared, a more typical affair for Pop, but ultimately his most successful album to date which spawned one of his signature tunes, ‘The Passenger.’ The two albums, in addition to the world tour Iggy undertook with Bowie as sideman the same year, would ultimately revitalise the waning performer’s career, unleashing a reenergised Iggy Pop onto the music scene by the end of the decade. This CD, taken from a live radio broadcast of an in-house set recorded at Mantra Studios in Chicago, captures Iggy and Bowie alongside their touring band; during what was essentially a radio session, but one which captures superbly the essence of the tour they were undertaking at the time. Recorded just 10 days after the release of The Idiot on 28th March 1977, this recording reveals a truly legendary occasion for fans, unlikely as they are to have previously heard this rare set.
