So Ron Ashton, founding guitarist for Iggy Pop and The Stooges is dead from a suspected heart attack at the age of 60. He was found at his home on January 6 and it is believed he'd lain there undiscovered for several days. That makes me sad. Not so much that he died - death comes to us all and while I don't believe he had an easy life, I definitely think he totally lived the dream. But to not have daily contact with people to the point where you can die and no-one would immediately miss you is very sad. And scary. It's one of my greatest fears having moved to Canada where I don't know a soul and where I only speak to my friends in Europe once in a blue moon, preferring to Facebook (where occasional silences are expected) or visit in person (which doesn't happen often). My husband would hopefully find me before the smell of decomposition alerted the neighbours and of course if I failed to pick up my daughter from daycare - that too would not go unnoticed but if my daughter were home and my husband on a business trip - well I have thought about it and there is no getting round the fact that my daughter would have a hell of a time finding food until daddy got home. This has led to some practical though morbid precautionary measures.
When I know that I'm going to be home alone for a while instead of asking the in-laws to call once a day lest that be mistaken for a glorified suicide watch service - I always put a jumbo bag of crackers and a couple of sippy cups full of water at baby height in the event the grim reaper comes to collect his dividends off me.
To be fair I'd probably be in a similar position in London if I worked from home as I do here. Though I dare say I'd still be found sooner. There is one thing to say for Canada, at least in the winter the rate of decomposition would be much decelerated. Every cloud.
Back to Ron. I was fortunate enough to get to see Iggy and The Stooges in August, see my review here: http://www.phase9.tv/musicreviews/iggypopandthestooges-c.shtml. It was an honour and a long standing dream come true to see them in all their original glory. I want to pay homage to Asheton’s riffing which include the iconic I Wanna Be Your Dog, No Fun and Down On The Street. He took up bassist duties on their third record Raw Power in 1973 before leaving the band and joining The New Order and Destroy All Monsters, New Race and the Wylde Ratttz, a supergroup comprised of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Mark Arm from Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and The Minutemen’s Mike Watt.
To the quiet American who eschewed drama and remained true to his art to his last tour, RIP and thanks for all the fish.
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