In March 1977 Iggy Pop embarked upon his first tour as a solo artist. His friend and collaborator, David Bowie, took the unusual decision to accompany Iggy on tour of the UK and the USA as simply the band's pianist.
The set list was a mix of Stooges classics and new material from The Idiot and the forthcoming Lust For Life and the tour was a resounding success. As well as Bowie the band consisted of Hunt Sales on drums, Tony Sales on bass and Ricky Gardiner on guitars, who switched between the high octane Stooges styles and the more thoughtful avant garde guitar sounds of 1977 Iggy with ease.
After the release of Lust For Life Iggy again hit the road, but the second 1977 tour did not feature Bowie or Gardiner, replaced by ex Stooge Scott Thurston and Canadin guitarist Stacey Heydon respectively. The fall 1977 tour was generally a wilder affair, - Punk had gripped Europe by now and Iggy's first European dates were greeted with messianic fervour. The tour ended up back in the states at the end of the year.
TV Eye 1977 Live is a short document of those two tours, four tracks from each. The March dates are better recorded than the October tracks which are only of good bootleg standard - odd on an official release. But don't let that put you off. The four Bowie backed songs are excellent, from the opening roar of "TV Eye" - a rendition which equals the Fun House original - via a slightly ragged "Funtime" through an astonishingly good "Dirt", full of fire and anger, to the concluding "I Wanna Be Your Dog" which is superb apart from the affling decision to fade out just at the conclusion!
The October 1977 tracks are not as impressive, partly due to the poorer quality recording, but while "Lust For Life" sadly fails to convince, the Germanic "Nightclubbing" is a fearsome blast of eerie rock and a ponderous attack at "Sixteen" is equally good. Best though is the fabulous "I Got A Right" complete with another blood curdling opening scream and Stacey Heydon giving it everything he's got.
So - a good selection of songs, some top notch performances, and a good price.
Downsides - the frankly bizarre song order which mixes the performances up this emphasizing even more the disparity in recording quality. This also results in "Sixteen" (the opening song of the gig) strangely appearing as the album's third song, complete with the compere's introduction! The cover is a bit rubbish too. But it's a good price, for some cracking songs so what are you waiting for?
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