There must have been something in the water in Detroit in the mid-1960s. A political movement of white, working class kids, combining an angry, misguided amalgamation of anarchism and socialism, rose out of the fires of Vietnam war protests and civil rights and marched to the tune of sledgehammer rock and roll and incendiary lyrics. The two most politically motivated bands were MC5, affiliated with John Sinclair, founder of the White Panther Party (and host of an excellent blues program on WWOZ in New Orleans, http://www.wwoz.org) and The Stooges, fronted by an androgynous, crazed genius who went by the moniker of IGGY Pop.

Pop would do anything and everything to himself, his band, and to his audience. He would break glass and roll around in it, bite members of the audience...and worse. Their three major label releases (THE STOOGES, FUN HOUSE and RAW POWER) stand together as a triumvirate of a raw, rock and roll mugging, designed to knock you down and stomp you into the landscape.

After the Stooges self-destructed little was heard of IGGY, other than for some imported outtakes and live recordings. Then, at the end of the 1970s, he suddenly reappeared. His music, at least aurally, was somewhat more sedate, though still exciting.

The Heritage Collection, culled from three albums he released on Arista between 1979 and 1981, is a mixed bag of hits and misses. Iggy's spooky cover of "Sea of Love," the Phil Phillips/Cookie & the Cupcakes swamp-pop classic, sounds as if it were recorded to an enraptured audience at a transvestite strip-club, and is worth the price of admission all by itself. Gems such as "New Values" and "I'm Bored" (a sequel to the earlier, and better, "No Fun" found on THE STOOGES), however, are mixed in with throwaways like "I'm A Conservative." While this collection certainly serves a purpose --- the CDs which are the source of these songs are, regrettably, out of print --- the ultimate selection of work from Iggy's career at that particular point in time could have been stronger. And...where in the name of GOD are the liner notes? The musician credits for each of the selections? The history of IGGY? While it is to Arista's credit that this compilation was released at all, given that the Popster was never a really huge seller for the label (they, unfortunately, never really knew what to do with him) collections like these should be something more than a throwdown to the market. The bottom line? I'm glad they did it, but it could've been better. Recommended for new fans of Pop and for the curious. His hard core followers have it all, and more.