Search and Destroy

SEARCH AND DESTROY
 
 
“Search and Destroy”  is a song by American rock band The Stooges, recorded for the group’s third album Raw Power (1973).  Lead singer Iggy Pop said that the title was derived from a column heading in a Time article about the Vietnam War.  In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 468 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.  In 2009 it was named the 49th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
As implied by the name, Rough Power includes the original mixes of most of the songs from Raw Power (and in the same order):  Search and DestroyGimme Danger, “Hard to Beat (Pretty Face)”, PenetrationRaw Power, “I Need Somebody”, and “Death Trip”.  The third track was originally called “Hard to Beat”, while its name on the official Raw Power album is “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell”.  According to the song listings, these songs were recorded on March 10, 1972 and April 10, 1972.
 
The only Raw Power song that is not included is “Shake Appeal”, but there are two other mixes of this song later in the CD; and Shake Appeal is well represented on another Iguana Chronicles album as discussed below.  However, it is still hard to understand why the full album would not have been presented by, say, including the mix of Shake Appeal that is provided near the end of the CD.
 
As given on the middle portion of Rough Power, presented during the WABX broadcast, and interspersed with discussion (and a lot of apologies about how bad they sound), six of the songs from Raw Power – I Need SomebodyHard to BeatDeath TripRaw PowerSearch and Destroy, and Shake Appeal – are followed by “Not Right”, with the latter song identified as a “previously unknown outtake”. 
 
To call these recordings “mixes” of any kind is probably a compliment that they do not deserve; much of the music is almost unintelligible, and in more than one case, I could not recognize the song at all even though I had the song listing to go by.  However, they are a fascinating glimpse into the earliest versions of these amazing songs; and at least for the people in Ann Arbor – the hometown of the Stooges – getting to hear any new Stooges material three years since the previous album, Fun House came out would be considered a blessing.
 
Rough Power closes with three other mixes by the Stooges of Raw PowerShake Appeal and Search and Destroy that possibly date from November 28, 1972
 
I also have the 10” vinyl EP of the Stooges album Rough Power that has two of the mixes from the CD – Search and Destroy (from the beginning of the CD) and Raw Power (near the end of the CD) – plus Gimme Danger (the April 10, 1972 version as opposed to the March 10, 1972 version on the CD) and Hard to Beat (from the November 28, 1972 mixes where the final three songs on the Rough Power CD were taken).  The latter two versions are not available elsewhere. 
 
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California Bleeding is probably my favorite of these albums and likely the one of most interest to collectors.  The first four songs – Search and Destroy, I Need Somebody (which has probably never sounded better), an extended performance of Open up and Bleed, and a shortened version of Johanna– are taken from the five-night stand (two sets a night) by the Stooges in September 1973 at the landmark nightclub Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles
 
(December 2017)
 
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Items:    Search and Destroy 
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021