A few years back? Iggy (or Mr. Pop, as the New York Times refers to him) lives in that rarefied zone inhabited by the true avatars of rock who struck its template in the 1960s, and survived through the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond. It is not enough that the Stooges virtually single-handedly godfathered punk rock, garage rock and American heavy metal more than three decades ago, or that Iggy Pop went on to conquer Europe and the far East as a headlining phenomenon in the ’90s. His status today, filling stadiums (and hundreds of websites) around the world with his energy, his nerve, and his charisma indicates that the specter of Iggy Pop is a far more universal force in rock than many suspect.

When the music annals of 2003 are compiled, topping many lists will be the wildly successful reunion of original founding Stooges members Iggy Pop, and brothers Ron Asheton (guitar and bass) and Scott Asheton (drums). The reunion is celebrated with four newly recorded tracks on SKULL RING, Iggy’s seventh album on Virgin Records.

But in true Iggy Pop fashion, SKULL RING also features fresh collaborations with mega-platinum hitmakers Green Day (“Private Hell,” “Supermarket”) and Canadian punk-pop hipsters Sum 41 (“Little Know It All,” the first single from the new album). Both bands are diehard Stooges fans, along with controversial hardcore rap siren Peaches (with whom Iggy collaborates on “Rock Show” and “Motor Inn”). The lion’s share (seven) of the new tracks on SKULL RING were recorded with Iggy’s hard-working band the Trolls. Along its members is guitarist Whitey Kirst (often Iggy’s songwriting partner) who first came on-board back on Brick By Brick, Iggy’s first Virgin album in 1990.

Anticipation for the first new songs by the Stooges in eons has been building through the spring and summer. The four songs – “Little Electric Chair,” “Skull Rings,” “Loser,” and “Dead Rockstar” – are as comfortable on the SKULL RING album as they might have been on any of the Stooges three original studio LPs. After a month of woodshedding, the four tracks (all Pop-Asheton-Asheton compositions) were recorded at Hit Factory Criteria Studios in Miami during January 2003. The public got its first taste of the 2003 edition of the Stooges – Iggy, Ron and Scott abetted by fellow conspirator Mike Watt on bass – during several historic headlining shows together including the annual Coachella Festival in Indio, California in April, and New York’s Jones Beach Amphitheatre in August. A major Detroit homecoming on the fateful night of August 14th was postponed because of The Great Blackout Of 2003 … talk about raw power!

The explosive phenomenon of Iggy Pop and growing fascination for the unadulterated sound of the Stooges has been one of the most exciting developments in rock over the past five years. Television and movie soundtracks (either on screen or in the albums), documentaries and rock histories, radio and tv commercial spots, compilation albums, surf and skateboard videos, video games, and especially cover vers ions by a multitude of artists have kept the mystique of Iggy Pop and the Stooges on fire.

There seems to be a never-ending migration back to the band’s three seminal LPs, starting with the classic self-titled debut of 1969, The Stooges, with “1969,” “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (covered by everyone from Richard Hell and Joan Jett to Uncle Tupelo, and sampled by Snoop Dogg), and “No Fun” (done by the Sex Pistols). The second album released the following year, Fun House, contained “Down On the Street” (done by Rage Against the Machine), “1970” (the Damned), and “T.V. Eye,” most recently heard on the original soundtrack of Jack Black’s School Of Rock (along with “Sick Of You”).

The Stooges’ final album, 1973’s Raw Power, was the source for “Search and Destroy” (whose endless covers include Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Go-Gos, Dictators, Everclear, EMF, Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous movie soundtrack, and Beavis & Butthead!), “Gimme Danger” (Monster Magnet and last year’s Dogtown And Z-Boys soundtrack), and “Shake Appeal” (a perennial VH1 and horror movie favorite), not to mention Guns N’ Roses’ cover of the title tune, “Raw Power.”