Eighteen Reasons Ron Asheton Was Cool

01/06/09 1:54pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Stooges guitarist/bassist Ron Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor, Mich. home early on Tuesday morning.

Asheton's personal assistant (who'd have thought he'd have one of those?) called police late Monday night after not being able to reach the musician, and his body was discovered on his couch just after midnight. He appeared to have been dead for several days.

The cause of death hasn't yet been determined, but investigators don't suspect foul play. An autopsy and toxicology tests will be undertaken, but it's suspected he might have suffered a heart attack. Asheton was 60.

Rather than dwell on the passing of this man, we here at CHARTattack want to celebrate the highlights of his life. Without further ado, here are 18 reasons why Ron Asheton was cool:

1. Asheton began playing the accordion when he was five, before taking up the guitar five years later.

2. Asheton quit high school in grade 11 in 1965 and briefly moved to England with future Stooges bassist Dave Alexander to meet The Beatles. They never did, but they saw The Who, though Asheton never met guitar hero Pete Townshend until they were both in Austin, Texas for the South By Southwest Music Festival in 2007.

3. Asheton was in the Dirty Shames as a teenager before forming The Stooges with Alexander, brother and drummer Scott Asheton and singer Iggy Pop in Ann Arbor in 1967. The band became part of an Ann Arbor/Detroit rock music scene that also included the MC5, Bob Seger and Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.

4. Asheton came up with the guitar riffs for such songs as "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "No Fun" and "T.V. Eye," and his raw, primitive and loud playing is credited for laying the groundwork for the punk rock explosion of the mid-'70s.

5. Asheton had songwriting credits on Stooges favourites like those mentioned above and "Loose," "1969," "Fun House," "I Feel Alright," "Real Cool Time" and "We Will Fall."

6. After playing guitar on the band's first two albums — 1969's The Stooges and 1970's Fun House — Asheton showed his versatility by switching to bass to replace Alexander (who was fired in 1970 for being too drunk to play a show) on 1973's Raw Power, when James Williamson took over on guitar and played a major songwriting role.

7. All three of those Stooges albums made it into the top 200 of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best albums of all time.

8. Asheton was ranked #29 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 100 guitarists of all time.

9. Asheton became very adept at ducking the bottles, shoes, lit cigarettes, light bulbs and coins that were often thrown at The Stooges when they performed.

10. After The Stooges broke up in 1974 and Pop went on to a successful solo career, the Asheton brothers formed The New Order (not that New Order) in 1975. The band broke up a year later after releasing a handful of songs that have been reissued over the years.

11. Asheton joined Ann Arbor band Destroy All Monsters with MC5 bassist Michael Davis in 1976. The group released a few EPs and singles and Asheton romanced lead singer Niagara before the band split up in 1985. A three-CD box set of Destroy All Monsters' material was released by Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label in 1994. Asheton and Niagara also released an album titled Last Great Ride under the name Dark Carnival.

12. Asheton and MC5 drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson joined members of Australian proto-punk band Radio Birdman to form New Race in 1981. They released a live album titled The First And The Last which was recorded during a 16-show Australian tour before Asheton and Thompson returned to the U.S.

13. Asheton released a few records with another short-lived band called Empty Set.

14. Asheton, Sonic Youth's Moore, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, Mudhoney's Mark Arm and The Minutemen/Firehose's Mike Watt formed The Wylde Ratttz, who recorded "T.V. Eye" for the 1998 glam rock film Velvet Goldmine. (Actor Ewan McGregor's voice replaced Arm's on the song in the film.) The supergroup recorded enough tracks for an album, but it's never been released because of contractual issues.

15. Asheton's movie connections don't end with Velvet Goldmine. He also acted in the mid-'90s cinematic classics Mosquito, Legion Of The Night and Frostbiter: Wrath Of The Wendigo. One of his songs is also included at the end of Mosquito.

16. Asheton was a painter (canvas, not houses), who had exhibitions of his work.

17. While The Stooges never sold many records, they were one of the most influential groups of the early '70s and had a dedicated enough fan base that they were prompted to reform for shows in 2003, with Watt joining as the new bassist. While all the original members were in their fifties, they still performed with the fervour of their youth in touring around the world.

18. Asheton wrote and played on The Stooges 2007 album, The Weirdness. While it couldn't match the impact of their earlier releases, in retrospect I was exceedingly harsh in my review of the record because my expectations were probably too high.