Iggy Pop Tour: ‘Only Drugs + Booze’ Backstage

Drummer Clem Burke had his first encounter with Iggy Pop during a 1977 road trip with Blondie. However, it was a later experience that left a lasting impression.

“I toured with Iggy’s band for six weeks in 1981 to promote the Party album, and he was basically out of his mind,” Burke told Classic Rock. “Backstage, there were no food provisions, only drugs and alcohol.”

During this chaotic tour, Pop notably slammed a microphone into his face, knocking out a front tooth. Fans got a glimpse of this wild period through the 1983 release Live in San Fran 1981, which was recorded at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. A DVD followed in 2005.

“It was ‘no blow, no show,'” Burke explained. “His only instruction to the band was to play as loud and as fast as possible.”

Despite the uproarious atmosphere, Party ended up being Pop’s final album with Arista Records. It reached only No. 166 on the Billboard Top 200, a significant drop from his late ’70s commercial success with The Idiot, a collaboration with David Bowie that made it to the U.K. Top 30.

Blondie had their own memorable experiences with Iggy Pop when invited to open for the Idiot World Tour in 1977, shortly after their debut album release. “Blondie’s first national tour of the States was with Iggy, with David Bowie on keyboards,” Burke recalled. “The night before the tour began, we performed at Max’s Kansas City in New York. Right after, we got into an RV and drove overnight to Montreal.”

Burke shared a special backstage moment in Montreal: “We were crashed out in a funky dressing room when David Bowie and Iggy walked in. They couldn’t have been nicer.”

An interesting detail Burke noticed was their matching footwear: “Iggy and I both wore Anello and Davide Beatle boots, which I had bought on my first trip to the UK in ’75.”

Source: Classic Rock