I don't think the Stooges & the MC 5 are even in the same musical tier as the Velvet Underground, a band that was a whole lot more than a proto-punk band. John Cale & Lou Reed were composers of songs that are in the same class of great songwriters like Bob Dylan, David Bowie & Patti Smith.
Iggy has definitely become more of a three dimensional musician over the course of his solo career but there was no evidence of his talents for crafting a nuanced pop music song during his tenure with the Stooges. Over the years since the dissolution of the MC 5 Wayne Kramer has written a few first rate topical songs but he is still a reprobate rocker at age 62.
Don't get me wrong, I adore the Stooges & the MC 5 but neither band had a songwriter with the talents of Reed or Cale. The first three VU albums are as influential as any music that came out of second generation rock & roll.
Iggy has definitely become more of a three dimensional musician over the course of his solo career but there was no evidence of his talents for crafting a nuanced pop music song during his tenure with the Stooges. Over the years since the dissolution of the MC 5 Wayne Kramer has written a few first rate topical songs but he is still a reprobate rocker at age 62.
Don't get me wrong, I adore the Stooges & the MC 5 but neither band had a songwriter with the talents of Reed or Cale. The first three VU albums are as influential as any music that came out of second generation rock & roll.