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Rating: Uh-oh! It has been pointed out to us that this review does not concern (neither in whole nor in part) the English survivors' band Joy Division.
I believe that no one enjoys spending their entire life fighting against the windmills of normalizing society. Even for a criminal like Edward Bunker, I imagine it was more pleasant to spend old age at the expense of that fool Quentin Tarantino and alongside stunning women rather than dealing with the cheap tricks of Los Angeles and continuing to rob the suckers that fill the world. And so, even for an old pirate like Ron Asheton, after a life spent on shields, it must have seemed too fair to play along with Iggy by reforming the Stooges (or at least a group with the same name) in the second millennium.
Many of you already know the story, the real Stooges died in 1974 on stage during the legendary concert of broken glass, and then the dispersal followed. Now, it's clear that a showman like Iggy, if he doesn't succumb to his drug addiction problems, is destined to be pulled out of the hat once more to entertain people. The magician in this case is named David Bowie, who sticks a rod up his ass and makes him jerkily move (goodbye epileptic contortions) like an idiotic new wave puppet that borders on disco. But what hope did a guitarist like Ron Asheton, who in the last Stooges had endured the humiliation of being moved to bass to make room for James Williamson, have of being recycled in show business?
Especially since Ron is not a chameleon who knows how to cater to the audience's tastes and is not undecided like Iggy about which path to take, because there is only one thing he knows how to play and that's hard rock. And then, like a convict who has done ten years of jail time, he falls back on the road doing what he knows best. No high-class British connections but back to hanging around with the usual tough guys of the scene, like fellow Detroiter Dennis Thompson (ex-MC5) on drums and the morphine-high pianist Scott Thurston (already live with the Stooges). And, since the new mecca for hard playing is Los Angeles, our three heroes hang around the city of angels alongside the other guitarist Ray Gunn, the excellent bassist Jimmy Recca, and the singer Jeff Spry.
They were the best unsigned band in town, live they could outplay anyone with fiery covers of MC5/Stooges in a medley of "Down on the Street"/"No Fun" along with the Beatles' "Come Together". Another high-intensity battle piece was "Hollywood Holyday", which ended up on this record, with Jimmy Recca's pulsating bass and Ron's piercing solos. And I swear "Lucky Strike" is still a track that will set your sunny afternoons on fire, nailed to that metallic riff without being heavy metal. It's Ron's characteristic (let's remember he wrote tracks like "TV Eye" or "Down the Street): crafting a stunning, violent, and hot rock and roll that yet gently gets under your skin.
Too bad for the recording of these gems, practically everything is flattened by non-existent production since they are demos saved with a pocket recorder. If they had been cleaned up, we would be here raving about the torrid assault of "Declaration of War", where bass and guitar exchange solos, or the very jazzy "Sidewinder", with Scott's piano prominent and the frenzied horns in the closing. These four tracks, which make up the first side of the vinyl released by French label Fun in 1977, represent for me the best of the New Order experience, because the three tracks on the second side seem too tied to radio requirements with the new singer Dave Gilbert (ex-Amboy Dukes, another Detroiter) with a less harsh and more conventional voice than Jeff Spry. As if, after a 1975 spent seeking a gig, the following year hunger had convinced them to a less disturbing and aggressive rock than the Motorcity-based one and instead more suitable for being broadcasted, stuff that would later become popular in Los Angeles a decade later, filling street bands like L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat with dollars. Even though they had the anthem "Rock and Roll Soldier", later covered by Radio Birdman and more recently by the Hellacopters, and the dark and desperate rock of "Of Another World", nothing can take away from me that the five New Order were now shooting their most reliable cartridges, especially since there was talk of interest from none other than Sandy Pearlman and Kim Fowley as producers.
But convicts like this are damned, thus destined to fight against society for their entire lives, and the bad reputation they carry discourages any potential big "employer." No worries because the old pirate will give us more gems sowing discord in the Destroy All Monsters family and crossing the ocean with the faithful Dennis Thompson to give spectacular concerts with New Race with their fans Rob Younger and Denniz Tek (Radio Birdman). Then the return with Iggy and the parody of the Stooges...finally a peaceful old age? No, life always comes back to settle the score. Fuck it.
Ron "Rock Action" Asheton (1948-2009 R.I.P.)
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