Third Man Books, the publishing arm of Jack White’s Third Man Records, has announced the release of a new biography chronicling the history of one of the founding bands of punk, The Stooges. Unlike past tomes about the influential outfit from Ann Arbor, this one tells the story straight from frontman Iggy Pop’s mouth. Entitled TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of The Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop, the 300-page book is due out this winter.
Music historian and 101 Essential Rock Records author Jeff Gold penned the book with contributor Johan Kugelberg. The pair spent two days interviewing Pop at his Miami home discussing the legendary band he co-founded. It’s from those candid conversations that the authors pieced together “the alternately tragic and triumphant story of a group who rose from youth, fell prey to drugs, alcohol, and music biz realities, collapsed and nearly 30 years later reformed,” as a press release puts it.
“It was a rare privilege to sit with Iggy as he downloaded the story of The Stooges,” said Gold. “He’s an incredible storyteller with a fantastic memory and a great sense of humor, and he held nothing back. The Stooges were pioneers in sound, look, and live presentation, and along the way invented a genre-punk rock-and influenced countless others that followed. There was no precedent in rock music for what they did.”
Other contributors to TOTAL CHAOS include White, Joan Jett, Johnny Marr, Third Man Records’ Ben Blackwell, and others. Their words and stories will be printed alongside rare photos that have never before been released.
Peep the full book cover (with a photo by Dustin Pittman) below.
