Iggy Pop — A Real Wild Child
Jerry Lee Lewis and Pete Townshend were crazy too
There are many contenders for the title — Real Wild Ones of Rock’n’Roll.
Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat on stage — did he really do that? Slash taking his pet mountain lion, Curtis, on tour with him, it escaping its cage and completely wrecking a hotel room before being sedated. Yes, the cat really did do that. Curtis, it seems was quite capable of trashing without any help from Slash. Nirvana, the Stones, Amy Winehouse, and many others, were just as destructive on stage as they were back in the hotel.
Three who stand out for me are from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and didn’t use or abuse animals. They took their frustrations out of fans, each other, and their own gear. Iggy Pop — ‘The Killer’ Jerry Lee Lewis — Pete Townshend of The Who, let it rip on stage. Pete’s bandmate, Keith Moon, is excluded as he’s in a different league. One of his own.
As a guitarist, I find destroying guitars and amplifiers particularly cruel. How can anyone in their right mind destroy a great-looking guitar or a great-sounding amp? It’s gimmickry, I know, and all part of the act, but nonetheless, if I get the slightest of scratches, or take a chip out of my Strat, I weep and worry about it for weeks. Jimi Hendrix didn’t seem to care, he set fire to his.
