Ron Asheton

Damn, it seems like my record collection is getting more and more populated by dead people.

I reckon that now's the time that those who actually survived the 60s are starting to drop in earnest. I wrote about some of them fairly recently. (Believe it or not, I skipped Mitch Mitchell.)

The latest is Ron Asheton, guitarist for the Stooges. That's Ron with the glasses over there with a practically zygotic Iggy Pop in front. Ron, Iggy and the bunch (including Ron's brother Scott) were responsible for some of the dumbest, simplest, most awesome music to come out of the late 60s-early 70s. They were punk before punk existed. Which is not really news, but hey.

Here's their most well-known stupidfest, "I Wanna Be Your Dog". You have to love this. I love even more that classically-trained John Cale, recently divorced from Lou Reed, was responsible for producing the record.

Ron and Scott had re-united with Iggy recently for a tour and album, which just goes to show you that anybody who isn't dead will eventually get back together. Weirdness, indeed.

Even weirder... Chuck Berry? Still alive, people.