No Cowbell for Iggy Pop's "The Passenger"
Punk idol, Iggy Pop re-records single over the internet with New Zealand musicians for broadband marketing campaign.
Iggy Pop is championing technology as he aligned himself with a New Zealand telecommunications firm to re-record his 1977 single "The Passenger" from the "Lust for Life" album.
But it's not quite that simple. Iggy, who is currently preparing for a Stooges tour playing "Raw Power" in its entirety and contemplating another studio recording with guitarist James Williamson, saw the opportunity to front the advertising campaign for Orcon broadband by utilizing the internet firm to its fullest capacity.
Orcon ran a campaign inviting the public to video tape themselves performing "The Passenger" on the instrument of their choice, be it guitar, bass, drum, xylophone, zither, tuba, cowbell or just sing the song. And we all know "The Passenger" is sorely lacking cowbell. The video was an audition which Iggy would then select the top 8 performers to be a part of his "band" to re-record the song with him live online.
After weeding through over 200 submissions, the lucky eight were chosen. While settled comfortably in his Miami studio, Iggy manned the controls and apparently the headspace of one of the New Zealand musicians, instructing him to strip to his skivvies which was obliged. The session, which included a cellist, and a flutist, has now been turned into a television ad. The session and submission tapes are available for viewing on YouTube.
