Althouse: "The quickest route to ridicule, it seems, is for aging rockers to proceed as if nothing has changed."

December 21, 2012

"The quickest route to ridicule, it seems, is for aging rockers to proceed as if nothing has changed."

"The truth is, years have passed, and to deny this is a form of visual dishonesty."

Yeah, but what counts as denial? The writer knocks Roger Daltrey for performing with his shirt unbuttoned and then dares to classify Iggy Pop as somehow in denial for going entirely shirtless. It seems to me Iggy Pop is letting you see exactly what he is. He's the opposite of dishonest.

36 comments:

Expat(ish) said...: That is genetic gold, a really good diet, and a zillion hours in the gym.

Don't let anyone fool you on that either.

_XC; 12/21/12, 9:03 AM
SteveR said...: Likewise, I'm being consistently honest, I never wanted to see Iggy Pop's bare upper body then, and certainly not now.; 12/21/12, 9:13 AM
X said...: they've got Justin Bieber, we've got Roger Daltrey. I'll take Daltrey.; 12/21/12, 9:15 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Somebody's always ridiculing you for one thing or another if you're a public performer.

Just part of the game.

These guys are all used to some asshole ridiculing them. They comfort themselves with their money, fame, and the fun they have playing music.; 12/21/12, 9:19 AM
Kevin said...: I've touched far more of Iggy Pop than any other man. He feels kind of like a tough olive.

What? What was I supposed to do, let him hit the floor when he jumped at me?; 12/21/12, 9:27 AM
edutcher said...: The Don't Trust Anybody Over 30 crowd hits 60.; 12/21/12, 9:34 AM
William said...: I liked the defiannce and pathos in Johnny's Cash's old man voice. He was really good at being old. Frank Sinatra knew how to make middle age regret seem poignant and significant, but I don't think he handled old age with any special grance. Roger Dalrey looked like Albion Unbound in Tommy. He still looks good, but the amount of effort involved in looking good at that age indicates that he doesn't have his priorities in order. You don't want to spend too much of your last days on earth doing sit ups.; 12/21/12, 9:36 AM
Russ said...: Iggy still has the body (though not the face & skin) of a 20 year old rock star.

Daltry looks good for 68, but his body is more like the middle age father trying to recapture the college body he once had.

It reminds me of what my wife once told me: face or ass; You can only save one as you age.; 12/21/12, 9:41 AM
Geoff Matthews said...: I think that the point is that they are not acting their age. Being a rock star is a young man's game, with immaturity, disregard for the future, and all that.

Kevin, that bit made me laugh.; 12/21/12, 10:00 AM
Charlie Currie said...: Genetic gold and a really good diet (whatever that is) are certainly helpful, but are the Rolling Stones really gym rats. All of them.

Their stamina and energy level is what impresses me. What impresses me more is, they're still alive. Keith Richards...meditate on that for a minute...can't wait for his "really good diet" and exercise book to be published...couple of packs a day...play the guitar...drugs...lots of drugs...play the guitar...alcohol...lots of alcohol...play the guitar...sex...lots of sex...play the guitar...eat something once in a while...play the guitar...

I think the writer has cursed himself. Those who are hyper-critical of the lean, fit and full of energy, usually end up the opposite.

Cheers; 12/21/12, 10:02 AM
ricpic said...: ...face or ass; You can only save one as you age.

Who gets to save their ass?; 12/21/12, 10:24 AM
test said...: Russ said...
It reminds me of what my wife once told me: face or ass; You can only save one as you age.

It seems the choice would depend on your favorite position.; 12/21/12, 10:30 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "face or ass"

This fat excuse goes back at least half a century. The claim is that getting/staying fat is necessary to fend off wrinkles.

Iggy Pop is a monument to the superiority of a fit body and a well-wrinkled face.

It's also important to note that the amount of fat needed to fight wrinkles isn't that much, and too much fat will ruin your face too.; 12/21/12, 10:35 AM
Unknown said...: Appearing in concert without a shirt at age 60 strikes me as exactly what an aging rock star would and should do. Having plastic surgery not so much.; 12/21/12, 11:00 AM
mikee said...: Hey, hey, its only Rock and Roll, but I like it, like it, like it!; 12/21/12, 11:44 AM
jacksonjay said...: Shirtless or short pants?; 12/21/12, 11:45 AM
Carol said...: well at least they're making a buttload of money, unlike the thousands of baldheaded graybeard boomer bands around the country working for 100 a man.; 12/21/12, 12:19 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/21/12, 12:50 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/21/12, 1:11 PM
Patrick said...: Iggy Pop looks good for a man his age, but he has looked like this for about 35 years.; 12/21/12, 1:28 PM
Icepick said...: Iggy is 'roided up. He's not doing mega-roids, like the professional wrestlers do, but he's definitely cycling something. It helps not only with muscle mass but also with staying lean. Lots of rappers seem to be 'roided up as well.; 12/21/12, 1:38 PM
Teri said...: Look, this is the first generation of aging rockers. We're used to old blues and jazzmen. I saw Chuck Berry when he was about the age Mick is now and he looked ageless. The problem is that rock is really not an old man's game. I'm glad those guys can still perform, but I find it kinda silly.; 12/21/12, 3:01 PM
Sam L. said...: Hope They Die Before They Get Old...; 12/21/12, 3:15 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Iggy is 'roided up."

I know the Ig is no stranger to drugs of all variety, but I would have to hear it from his own mouth to believe he is doing steroids.

I had a roommate in college who never exercised in the year I lived with him, yet he was lean and well-muscled...in an Iggy Pop type way.

I think this is a matter of genetics.; 12/21/12, 3:55 PM
Robert Cook said...: I think most of the rockers I heard on the bits I watched the 12/12/12 concert sounded...depleted...bad.

There's nothing wrong with aging rockers continuing to perform, but they must gauge the quality of their own performances to decide when to hang it up. The Who sounded the best of a poor lot, but they lacked the power they produced in their heyday.

Of course, I wondered if the sound mix transmitted over the television was simply a bad mix...perhaps they all sounded better in the room.; 12/21/12, 4:02 PM
Clyde said...: Button your shirt?

You better, you bet!; 12/21/12, 4:09 PM
Clyde said...: ricpic said...
...face or ass; You can only save one as you age.

Who gets to save their ass?

Madonna, for one. Classic case.; 12/21/12, 4:15 PM
Strelnikov said...: I wish I had ever been in the shape Iggy is in that shot. Physically, I mean. Mentally, he's had it. Speaking as someone who saw The Stooges on tour in support of "Raw Power", he's lucky to be alive.; 12/21/12, 4:41 PM
Emil Blatz said...: Sinatra should have retired from performing 10 years before his final concert. His "Concert for the Americas", recorded in 1982, was actually pretty good.

I often wonder if the money was that good, or if he just didn't know what to do in retirement. The last public performance he did in February 1995 is on YouTube and if you were ever a fan of his, do not look at it.

B.B. King is still performing,sort of, and should give it a rest.

Contra that - Tony Bennett. It still is a good show.; 12/21/12, 4:54 PM
Icepick said...: I had a roommate in college who never exercised in the year I lived with him, yet he was lean and well-muscled...in an Iggy Pop type way.

Your college roommate was 65? Iggy looks like a pro football player or MMA fighter. His testosterone production would have naturally diminished by now. I've known of one man in my life that ever looked even close to that good at that age without chemical enhancement.

I don't doubt he's working his ass off in the gym. 'Roids (and similar chemical enhancements) don't make someone look like that without a lot of work. But he's not looking like that without help. And why is it so hard to believe that someone that is (a) vain enough to want to look like that at his age and (b) has used lots of chemicals in the past, won't use PEDs? That thought is almost as stupid as the idea that big league ball players weren't 'roiding up to help their performance in the past. (Which was a statement of the genius of our age, Nate Silver.); 12/21/12, 6:33 PM
Icepick said...: Excuse me, Silver said that the stars in baseball weren't using, just the marginal players. You know, the Barry Bonds, Mark McGuires, the Roger Clemenses....; 12/21/12, 6:37 PM
William said...: I wonder what kind of groupies Iggy Pop attracts. Do they throw their Depends on stage when he performs?....Mick Jagger probably still gets quality groupies. It's like a tradition in many English families to have sex with a Rolling Stone before you turnn twenty. Having casual sex with attractive young strangers is undoubtedly responsible for the spring in his step.; 12/21/12, 7:04 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Iggy looks like a pro football player or MMA fighter."

No, he doesn't.; 12/21/12, 7:38 PM
Icepick said...: Yes, he looks like some MMA fighters. But not all of them look as cut as he does. Pierce and Baczynski weighed in at 171 and 170, respectively, which is Iggy's listed weight. Pierce is 5'8". Pop is 5'7". Pierce was cutting weight for a fight, Pop probably wasn't cutting weight. Pierce is 32 and fights for a living, and has to make weight. Pop looks to be in much better shape. (Pierce is the shorter fighter in the picture I linked.)

George Sotiropoulos looked similar at the weigh-in for his last fight eight days ago. George cuts down to 156 and is three inches taller than pop. Except again, the fighter isn't as cut as an ancient Iggy Pop, even though he was cutting weight for the fight. Pop's body looks a helluva lot better than the Diaz brothers, actually - definitely more muscular. Not as ripped as Cyborg Santos (the wife, not the husband) though.

I saw a pic of Adrian Petersen earlier today. He's got more muscle mass than Pop, but then AP plays running back. Pop looks to be more ripped and vascular. Pop has the look of a lot of slot receivers, except that again, he's more cut.

So, we have an old(er) man with a physique better than that of professional fighters, who looks more cut than men that are close to his height and weight AND have been cutting weight (that is, dehydrating themselves) to make weight, which will given them better definition until they re-hydrate.

Pop is 'roiding up. He's doing it very well, too. He's not adding lots of bulk, so he's not looking like a cartoon freak, he's just looking like a rock star freak. Like he did (more or less) when he was a young stud. More power to him. I don't have a problem with it, it's his body and his career, and it's not like he's putting others at risk because he's going to be hitting them in the head for a living. (He's more of a danger because of his peanut butter thing - watch out for people with allergies!) But his body is no more natural than Mark McGuire's or John Cena's. Or Christine Cyborg Santos's.; 12/21/12, 8:21 PM
Robert Cook said...: Icepick...I wish you all happiness with your delusions.; 12/22/12, 6:58 AM
sabeth.chu said...: the only older rockers who are looking dignified are bowie and charlie watts - both jazz-men at the bottom of their hearts.
jazz makes for a fine old age. god bless the blues men!; 12/22/12, 8:08 AM