The Stooges gain entry into Rock Hall - finally

DETROIT -- Iggy Pop was starting to feel like the Susan Lucci of rock 'n' roll.

Just as the veteran soap actress believed she might never win a Daytime Emmy, the godfather of punk was certain his groundbreaking band The Stooges wouldn't ever earn a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Well, as it turns out, Lucci got her gold statue on the 19th try. And Iggy and the boys finally got their shot to search and destroy at Monday's induction ceremony, on their eighth attempt.

"At least I won't be nominated anymore," Pop said.

It's hard to say exactly what turned the tide in voter sentiment, but Pop points to three possibilities: the band's long streak of Rock Hall futility, the January 2009 death of founding member Ron Asheton and ... Madonna.

Iggy Pop, right, performs with Billy Joe Armstrong during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York, Monday, March 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

The Stooges honored their fellow Michigan native by performing rocking versions of two of her hits at 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Pop says the gig helped provide some much-needed exposure for a band that wasn't really heard from for 30 years -- the result of numerous band breakups and lineup changes that current members blame on drugs and fights over money.

"I thought, 'Well, some of the people there will see that we don't have horns. We're not going to breathe fire on the tables or anything,'" he said.

Whatever the reason, this year the guys were on stage at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, but this time performing their own tunes.

They selected "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Search and Destroy," two songs Stooges guitarist James Williamson says are "the most representative" of the band's work.

The latter was on the 1973 album "Raw Power," which rates No. 125 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine called it a "proto-punk-rock classic" that featured a certain "hellbent ferocity."

Fans love and critics appreciate "Search and Destroy" for its searing guitar riff and signature Iggy Pop lyrics. It kicks off with the singer's guttural snarl: "I'm a street-walkin' cheetah with a heart full of napalm."

The song also served as the soundtrack for a Nike ad andmore recently popped up in an episode of ABC's "Lost."

Pop sees the usage as an alternate means of exposing people to the music.

The Stooges "didn't get the radio airplay," he said. "We were shut out of the goodies of the industry."

When he hears "Search and Destroy" and other songs from the "Raw Power" era, Pop says the music doesn't sound dated to him.

"Every usage again and again I notice that, and I also notice that the stuff always sounds kind of rippin'," he said of the album, which is being re-released next month.

After that comes a host of European dates for the band, which currently consists of Williamson (guitar), Ron Asheton's brother, Scott "Rock Action" Asheton (drums), and former Minutemen member Mike Watt (bass).

Back on lead vocals is the inimitable Pop, who Williamson says simply is "one of the best there ever was."

"The thing that Iggy did that was all his own was to confront the audience -- not just act out on stage like a Mick Jagger does or something like that -- but Iggy got in your face," the guitarist said. "He got out in the audience and was right there with you. And nobody else had ever done that before. He was fearless about that."