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The four Stooges in black and white in 1969, long hair and leather, faces close together
The Stooges in a 1969 Elektra publicity photograph: Iggy, Ron and Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander. Distributed by Elektra Records · Public domain

The Stooges

Both off. Switch one on.

Three houses in Ann Arbor, a ballroom in Detroit, a hotel in New York, a studio in Los Angeles that they emptied of rugs before they played. Switch the kitchen on, then go and stand where it happened.

Sources

Ann Arbor, 1967–68

Three addresses, one box.

The band moved twice in two years. The houses were people’s homes, so here they are streets, not pins.

Highlake Avenue
  1. Highlake Avenue
  2. Forest Court
  3. Packard Road

Box 1 of 3: Highlake Avenue. Rehearsals begin in the Asheton family basement on Highlake Avenue.

A low building beside a tree-lined suburban road in summer
Packard Street at No. 2229, June 2011: the same road, some blocks in from where the Fun House stood. Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0

1967 · Packard Road, Ann Arbor

The Fun House

In 1968 they moved to a house on Packard Road, shared with their manager and others: the Fun House.

From 1967 the band rehearsed in the Asheton family’s basement on Highlake Avenue, and Dave Alexander joined them there.

That summer they sublet a house on Forest Court and lived and practised in it. The name reportedly came from a Three Stooges marathon on television.

Nico’s Evening of Light video was shot in the cornfields behind it.

The house was later torn down.

The house is gone and the road is lived on. Drive or walk Packard Road; nothing is marked, and the homes along it are private.

Sources
A large brick and stone university building with a central tower
The Michigan Union on State Street, Ann Arbor, June 2009. Vincent Arel · CC BY 3.0

October 1968 · 530 South State Street, Ann Arbor

Michigan Union

In October 1968 Danny Fields saw the band here, in the Union Ballroom, still billed as the Psychedelic Stooges.

That show led to the Elektra deal. Fields signed the MC5 and the Stooges in the kitchen of the White Panther House on Hill Street.

By March 1969 Detroit’s Fifth Estate was reporting a New York session for Elektra at the end of the month, with John Cale producing.

The University of Michigan’s union on State Street. See it from the street, or check the university’s hours before going in.

Sources
A close black-and-white portrait of the young singer with long straight hair
Iggy, then billed as Iggy Stooge, in a 1969 Elektra publicity photograph. Distributed by Elektra Records · Public domain
A long empty two-storey brick ballroom building on a wide avenue
The Grande Ballroom on Grand River Avenue, Detroit, August 2009. Albert duce · CC BY 3.0

Grand River Avenue · Detroit

The Grande.

Russ Gibb took over the ballroom in 1966 and booked local bands there: the MC5, the Stooges, SRC, the Frost and the Rationals.

It was built in 1928 in a Moorish Deco style, with a sprung dance floor upstairs. The last show was on New Year’s Eve 1972. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in December 2018.

Empty and shut. See it from Grand River Avenue.

Sources
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New York, April 1969

Three more by morning.

They came with five songs. Elektra’s Jac Holzman wanted more, so they wrote three more overnight.

  • I Wanna Be Your Dog
  • No Fun
  • 1969
  • Ann
  • We Will Fall
  • —
  • —
  • —

Five songs on the table, and Elektra wants more.

A tall red-brick hotel front with iron balconies
The Hotel Chelsea on West 23rd Street, August 2009. Historystuff2 · CC BY 3.0

April 1969 · 222 West 23rd Street, Manhattan

Hotel Chelsea

The band stayed at the Chelsea while they made their first album in New York in April 1969.

A working hotel, with a lobby bar and restaurants. Book a room or a table.

Sources
Billboards and traffic in Times Square in the 1960s
Times Square and Broadway in the 1960s: the Hit Factory was just off the square. SAS Scandinavian Airlines · Public domain

April 1969 · Off Times Square, Manhattan

The Hit Factory, 1969

Recording began on 1 April 1969 at the Hit Factory, a studio off Times Square.

John Cale produced it. It was his first job as Elektra’s new staff producer.

Elektra asked them to drop “Psychedelic” from the name. The album was in the shops by 5 August 1969.

The accounts give no street for the 1969 studio, so it is not on the map. Times Square is twenty minutes’ walk up from the Chelsea.

Sources
Hotel Chelsea

Hotel Chelsea

West 23rd Street, Manhattan

Where the band stayed while they made the first album in April 1969. A working hotel at 222 West 23rd Street, with Café Chelsea, the Lobby Bar and El Quijote downstairs.

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Elektra Sound Recorders · May 1970

Take the padding out.

Jac Holzman had dressed the room with Oriental carpets and pillows to deaden it. Gallucci and the band took them out. A first try with baffled amps, a boom microphone and headphones was a let-down. So the baffles went, and the band set up as they would on stage. Carry each thing out, then try a take.

Out on the kerb

  • Nothing yet

0 takes

7 pieces of padding, the headphones and a boom microphone. Start carrying.

A wide boulevard running downhill under palm trees
La Cienega Boulevard looking south from Sunset, West Hollywood: the old Elektra studio is a short walk down it. Minnaert · CC BY-SA 4.0

May 1970 · 962 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles

Elektra Sound Recorders

The studio was at 962 North La Cienega Boulevard; the Doors, Judy Collins and the Stooges all cut records there. Electric Entertainment has the building now.

In May 1970 the Stooges had Elektra’s new Los Angeles studio to themselves for two weeks, with Don Gallucci producing.

Working offices now. See the building from La Cienega Boulevard; it is not open to visitors.

Sources
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An old ballpark grandstand and green field in summer
Crosley Field in August 1969, ten months before the Cincinnati festival. Blake Bolinger from Central NJ · CC BY 2.0

13 June 1970 · Cincinnati

Off the stage, on camera.

The Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival was held here on 13 June 1970. Iggy left the stage, walked out into the crowd and stood up on the fans’ shoulders.

WLWT cut about 14 hours of film into a 90-minute show, Midsummer Rock, which went out in August 1970.

Dalton Avenue now runs across the old field, and a plaque stands where the right-field grandstand was.

The ballpark is gone. Walk Findlay Street: a plaque stands where the right-field grandstand was.

The rest of that afternoon, and the Iggy years after the band, are in Iggy Pop’s World.

Sources

London, 1972

The guitarist moves to bass.

Bowie urged Iggy to come to London in 1972 to make a new album with the guitarist James Williamson. They made Raw Power at CBS Studios in September and October 1972, and stayed at the Kensington Gardens Hotel. Rebuild the band they made it with.

Off the floor

The 1969 line-up. Pick a name, then a slot.

A curved cinema building on a corner at night
Scala, once the King’s Cross Cinema, at night, August 2024. No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0

15 July 1972 · 275 Pentonville Road, King’s Cross

Scala, King’s Cross

Iggy and the Stooges played the King’s Cross Cinema, now Scala, on 15 July 1972: their first UK concert.

Mick Rock photographed the show, and a picture from it became the cover of Raw Power.

A blue plaque went up in July 2022.

A working club and venue. Read the plaque from the pavement, or buy a ticket for a night inside.

Sources
A busy London shopping street with buses
Tottenham Court Road, October 2019: CBS’s purpose-built 1970s studios stood just off it. Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0

September–October 1972 · Central London, off Tottenham Court Road

CBS Studios, London

Bowie mixed it, at Columbia’s insistence. Iggy’s own remix came out in 1996.

CBS’s purpose-built studios of the early 1970s stood just off Tottenham Court Road.

The accounts don’t name the room or the street, so it is not on the map. Tottenham Court Road is as close as the record allows.

Sources
A guitarist in black on a festival stage
Ron Asheton with the re-formed Stooges at Sziget, Budapest, 15 August 2006. Derzsi Elekes Andor · CC BY-SA 4.0
Scala

Nights at Scala

Pentonville Road, London N1

The old King’s Cross Cinema still puts on bands and club nights. Pick one from its own listings and read the plaque on the way in.

See what’s on

1974 · 2003 · 2011

Twenty-nine years, then home.

The band under stage lights in a London theatre
Iggy and the Stooges at the Hammersmith Apollo, 2 May 2010. aurélien. · CC BY-SA 2.0
Parked cars under a ruined gilded theatre ceiling
Cars parked under the old ceiling of the Michigan Theatre, Detroit, 2017. grego1402 · CC BY 2.0

9 February 1974

The Michigan Palace

The Stooges played their last show here on 9 February 1974, to a hostile crowd that threw things at the stage.

The live album Metallic K.O. comes from that night. They did not play another concert until 2003.

The old Michigan Theatre had been the Michigan Palace, a rock venue, since 1973. In the mid-1970s the auditorium was gutted and turned into a car park.

A working car park for the office building. See it from Bagley Street; it is not run as an attraction.

Sources
A festival stage and crowd on polo-field grass in desert sun
Coachella at the Empire Polo Club, Indio, April 2011. Juan Bendana · CC BY 2.0

27 April 2003

Empire Polo Club

On 27 April 2003 Iggy and the Stooges closed Coachella in Indio: Iggy and the band together again for the first time in 30 years.

A private polo club that hosts Coachella each April. Go in with a festival ticket.

Sources
A lit vertical sign and marquee on a theatre front at night
The Michigan Theater on Liberty Street at night, February 2013. Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0

19 April 2011

Michigan Theater

Ron Asheton died at his home in Ann Arbor in January 2009, aged 60.

On 19 April 2011 the Michigan Theater held a tribute concert for him, put together by his sister Kathy and curated by Iggy.

Iggy, Scott Asheton, Mike Watt, Steve Mackay and James Williamson played as the Stooges, with Henry Rollins and Deniz Tek as guests.

The night was filmed and came out as Tribute to Ron Asheton, with the profits going to the Ron Asheton Foundation.

A working cinema and concert hall run by a non-profit. Buy a ticket for a film or a show.

Sources
Michigan Theater Foundation

Films and shows at the Michigan Theater

603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor

Ron Asheton’s tribute was here in 2011. The theatre runs films, talks and shows most nights; pick one from its own listings.

See what’s on

Visit

Where it is now

9 places you can visit. The band’s Ann Arbor houses were homes, so they are named by street and left off the map; the 1969 and 1972 studios have no street in the accounts, so they are named and not pinned.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The University of Michigan’s union on State Street. See it from the street, or check the university’s hours before going in.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Empty and shut. See it from Grand River Avenue.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working car park for the office building. See it from Bagley Street; it is not run as an attraction.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working cinema and concert hall run by a non-profit. Buy a ticket for a film or a show.

  1. A large brick and stone university building with a central tower
    The Michigan Union on State Street, Ann Arbor, June 2009. Vincent Arel · CC BY 3.0

    530 South State Street, Ann Arbor

    Michigan Union

    In October 1968 Danny Fields saw the band here, in the Union Ballroom, still billed as the Psychedelic Stooges.

    The University of Michigan’s union on State Street. See it from the street, or check the university’s hours before going in.

    Sources
  2. A long empty two-storey brick ballroom building on a wide avenue
    The Grande Ballroom on Grand River Avenue, Detroit, August 2009. Albert duce · CC BY 3.0

    8952 Grand River Avenue, Detroit

    The Grande Ballroom

    Russ Gibb took over the ballroom in 1966 and booked local bands there: the MC5, the Stooges, SRC, the Frost and the Rationals.

    Empty and shut. See it from Grand River Avenue.

    Sources
  3. Parked cars under a ruined gilded theatre ceiling
    Cars parked under the old ceiling of the Michigan Theatre, Detroit, 2017. grego1402 · CC BY 2.0

    The Michigan Building, Bagley Street, downtown Detroit

    The Michigan Palace

    The Stooges played their last show here on 9 February 1974, to a hostile crowd that threw things at the stage.

    A working car park for the office building. See it from Bagley Street; it is not run as an attraction.

    Sources
  4. A lit vertical sign and marquee on a theatre front at night
    The Michigan Theater on Liberty Street at night, February 2013. Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0

    603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor

    Michigan Theater

    Ron Asheton died at his home in Ann Arbor in January 2009, aged 60.

    A working cinema and concert hall run by a non-profit. Buy a ticket for a film or a show.

    Sources

Stay

Sleep at the Chelsea.

The hotel on West 23rd Street where three songs were written overnight.

Hotel Chelsea

Hotel Chelsea

West 23rd Street, Manhattan

Where the band stayed while they made the first album in April 1969. A working hotel at 222 West 23rd Street, with Café Chelsea, the Lobby Bar and El Quijote downstairs.

Check rates

Go there

Walk the cities.

Marketplace music walks in Detroit, Manhattan and West Hollywood.

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Detroit

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Manhattan

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What’s on

Pick a night out.

The Michigan Theater and Scala still put on shows. Choose from their own listings.

Michigan Theater Foundation

Films and shows at the Michigan Theater

603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor

Ron Asheton’s tribute was here in 2011. The theatre runs films, talks and shows most nights; pick one from its own listings.

See what’s on
Scala

Nights at Scala

Pentonville Road, London N1

The old King’s Cross Cinema still puts on bands and club nights. Pick one from its own listings and read the plaque on the way in.

See what’s on

Take it home

Books and records.

Two books and the three albums tied to these rooms.

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Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop

Joe Ambrose

A history of Iggy and the Stooges, from Ann Arbor on.

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Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed

Paul Trynka

Paul Trynka’s biography, with the Ann Arbor houses and the Elektra years in detail.

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The Stooges

The Stooges · LP, Elektra EKS 74051, 1969

The first album, produced by John Cale at the Hit Factory in April 1969.

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Fun House

The Stooges · LP, Elektra EKS-74071, 1970

Cut live in Elektra’s stripped La Cienega room in May 1970.

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Raw Power

Iggy and the Stooges · LP, Columbia KC 32111, 1973

Made at CBS in London in 1972, with Ron Asheton on bass.

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Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The sources

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

12 of 12 places · 15 of 15 Moments

  • The Fun House

    Packard Road, Ann Arbor

    • The basement

      Rehearsals begin in the Asheton family basement on Highlake Avenue.

    • Forest Court

      The band sublets a house for the summer and takes its name.

    • The Fun House

      The band moves to the house on Packard Road.

  • Michigan Union

    530 South State Street, Ann Arbor

    • The Union Ballroom

      Danny Fields sees the band, and Elektra signs them.

    • Household noise

      Iggy works a vacuum cleaner and a blender into the feedback.

  • The Grande Ballroom

    8952 Grand River Avenue, Detroit

    • The Grande

      Russ Gibb books the Stooges at his Grand River ballroom.

  • The Michigan Palace

    The Michigan Building, Bagley Street, downtown Detroit

    • The last show

      The Stooges’ last show for 29 years.

  • Michigan Theater

    603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor

    • For Ron

      A tribute concert for Ron Asheton in his home town.

  • Hotel Chelsea

    222 West 23rd Street, Manhattan

    • Three more songs

      At the Chelsea, the band writes three more songs overnight.

  • The Hit Factory, 1969

    Off Times Square, Manhattan

    • The first album

      John Cale produces the first album at the Hit Factory.

  • Elektra Sound Recorders

    962 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles

    • Take out the padding

      The carpets, pillows and baffles come out, and Fun House is cut live in the room.

  • Crosley Field

    Findlay Street at Dalton Avenue, Queensgate, Cincinnati

    • Out into the crowd

      Iggy walks out into the Cincinnati crowd, and WLWT films it.

  • Scala, King’s Cross

    275 Pentonville Road, King’s Cross

    • King’s Cross

      Iggy and the Stooges play their first UK show.

  • CBS Studios, London

    Central London, off Tottenham Court Road

    • Raw Power

      Raw Power is made in London, with Ron Asheton on bass.

  • Empire Polo Club

    Avenue 50, Indio, California

    • Back together

      Iggy and the Stooges close Coachella.

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