TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Liner Notes

A weekly column by Tampa Tribune pop music critic Curtis Ross

ADVERTISEMENT

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2009

You can argue all you want about who invented punk rock. But that wall-of-noise guitar sound, those thick, distorted chords that define the music? That's Ron Asheton.

Asheton, guitarist for Detroit proto-punks The Stooges, was found dead in his Ann Arbor, Mich., home on Tuesday. He was 60.

The Stooges - Asheton, brother Scott on drums, bassist Dave Alexander and singer Iggy Pop - made their debut in 1967 but were the antithesis of the peace-and-love aura that year brings to mind.

Mind expansion? The Stooges sound was mind reduction - two-and three-chord riffs hammered hard and repeatedly until the brain gave up and started to savor the pummeling.

At the center was Asheton's guitar. The descending chords of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" reek negativity, while "1970" takes blues riffs past Chicago, past the Mississippi Delta and straight into hell.

As good taste and virtuoso playing began to creep into rock, Asheton held the rear guard, using his wah-wah pedal to make sounds that resembled a disemboweling.

If all this sounds terribly negative, well, it is and isn't. There's something liberating about screaming "No!" when everyone else is singing "Yes." The Stooges' opposite reaction may not have had the commercial equal of flower power, but it inspired more great music down the road than anyone could have ever predicted.

Asheton soldiered on after the band broke up in 1974, forming Destroy All Monsters and acting in horror movies. He finally got his band back when The Stooges - with Mike Watt replacing the late Alexander - reunited in 2003.

The Stooges will finally be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, after being shamed into it by none other than Madonna. It's a little late for Ron, but his riffs will continue to say more about rock 'n' roll than that stupid museum ever will.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT