THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

219-The Stooges-No Fun.

1969-It has never been released as a single in the UK.

Best Bit-At 3.17. The Three Stooges were fun, but these four Stooges were ‘No Fun.’

The Stooges were formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, by what is considered the classic line up of Iggy Pop, (lead vocals) Dave Alexander (1947-1975) (bass guitar) Ron Asheton, (1948-2009) (lead guitar) and Scott Asheton (1949-2014) (drums.) They were active between 1967-1971, but reformed with a slightly different line up between 1972-1974, there was a further reformation with further changes in membership between 2003-2016, after which the band was finally retired as Iggy Pop was the only remaining founding member still living. In total there have been 14 different official band members, with Iggy Pop being the one constant. The Stooges issued five studio Albums between 1969-2013, and 24 singles, and although their early releases met with very little commercial success, their influence on future generations should not be under estimated, especially in the genre of Punk Rock.

The Stooges started out life as the ‘Psychedelic Stooges,’ and have also been known at one time as ‘Iggy and the Stooges,’ due to their flamboyant front man Iggy Pop (see also best songs 701.) He was born James Newell Osterberg Jr. on April 21st, 1947, in Muskegon, Michigan, United States. At the age of 18 he was given the nickname ‘Iggy’ by a member of ‘Prime Movers,’ a band he had recently joined, after leaving his previous group ‘The Iguanas.’ He was given the nickname ‘Pop’ while a member of The Stooges, as he resembled a local who was known to the band. Iggy Pop who is celebrated by being called the ‘Godfather of Punk’ is an outrageous performer, his act has included smearing himself in peanut butter, or sometimes raw meat, and occasionally revealing his genitalia on stage. Iggy Pop who often performs bare chested has also self mutilated while performing, and has rolled around on broken glass. He is also generally regarded as the person who invented ‘stage diving.’

‘No Fun’ is the opening track on Side 2 of The Stooges self titled debut studio Album from August 1969, with all four band members receiving the song writing credits, as they also were on the Albums other seven tracks. The Album was produced by the Welsh musician John Cale, who had been a founding member of the Velvet Underground (see also best songs 401 and 165.) ‘No Fun’ is a song about being bored, and also being somewhat of a loner, but not having enough get up and go to do anything about it. In 1977 the Sex Pistols (see also best songs 576-92 and 27) covered the song for the ‘B’ side of their single ‘Pretty Vacant,’ bringing The Stooges to the attention of a whole new generation.

‘No fun to be alone, walking by myself. No fun to be alone, in love with nobody else. Well, maybe go out, maybe stay home, maybe call Mom on the telephone.’