COLUMN: Iggy Pop, just so cool

Everyone knows James “Iggy Pop” Osterberg, The Godfather of Punk is one of the coolest people on the planet.

He fronted The Stooges, arguably one of the most influential bands in history.

He recorded two of punk’s most classic albums, “The Idiot” and “Lust for Life,” in the same year. He gave us 40 years of wild rock ’n’ roll music and crazy rock ’n’ roll antics.

The “Iggy Myth” is what people think of when they hear the name.

They picture the young, shirtless body covered in scars and muscle with a Dutch-boy mop-top haircut, rolling around on stage amongst shattered glass and insanity, bellowing out the lyrics to Stooges punk classics “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “T.V. Eye.”

Or perhaps they picture the 1977 thin-as-a-rail heroin addict, veins filled with equal parts opiates and adrenaline, flailing and jumping around to the primal rhythms of “Lust for Life.”

Some might even picture the contemporary Iggy Pop, a polite elder statesmen of punk rock music, as much of a cultural icon as a musical god, yet still able to pull out a powerful live show at a moment’s notice.

Whether you think of The Stooges’ Iggy, the 1977 Iggy or the contemporary Iggy, I can almost guarantee you that you are not thinking of the 1986 Iggy.

Too old to be the young innovator, too young to be the legend, 1986 Iggy was just a man. He was James Osterberg, a married man who didn’t do drugs and instead vacuumed his apartment, did the dishes and stayed in on the weekends.

He was no longer living the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle that he was so notorious for, and in a weird way, this makes Iggy even cooler.

The fact that one of rock’s legendary party animals was living his quiet home life less than 9 years after releasing the albums “The Idiot” and “Lust for Life,” makes his character even more fascinating.

With the exception of a few songs, the period of time from the late 1970s to the late 1990s is largely glossed over and forgotten by Iggy Pop fans, and for the most part they are right in doing so. However, there are some hidden nuggets in these years, albeit of a different flavor.

One of the best songs from this period is the ballad “Shades,” from 1986’s “Blah Blah Blah.”

Musically, the song is an ’80s synth rocker and carries little of the energy and raw power that Iggy was known for. Yet, this only helps contribute to why this song is so great.

When striped away from the angry loud guitars, tribal drums and thundering bass, Iggy comes across as an old crooner pouring out his soul, and there is something just oh-so-cool about it.

Co-penned by David Bowie, the song tells the simple story of a man who is deeply touched after he receives the simple gift of a pair of sunglasses from a significant other. The music video shows him in a brown jacket, black T-shirt and combed black hair.

He isn’t flailing around in jeans, shirtless and diving into crowds; he is telling the world that he is a simple man with simple, basic feelings. He doesn’t need nor want the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle anymore. He just wants the small thoughtful things — “a real fine pair of shades, means everything.”

Iggy just wants someone to make him feel special.

With its simplicity and sincerity, you don’t question the song one bit. Iggy sings just as passionately and earnestly as he did on any Stooges song. Songs similar to this are what make people such as Iggy so cool.

Without tracks similar to “Shades,” Iggy is just a one-dimensional wild man who parties and plays rock ’n’ roll, but when you have a really touching ballad sandwiched inside a catalog of some of the best punk rock music ever made, we get to see the full picture of a complex artist.