"No Sense of Crime" (Van Hunt)

I generally stand by the statement that "an original is better than a remake."  But there are exceptions to every rule.  

More on that in a second.

Back in 1975, Iggy Pop cut some demos with former Stooges guitarist James Williamson in hopes of landing a record deal.  Story goes, in the wake of The Stooges' disintegration due to—what else?—drug problems, a depressed, self-destructive Iggy checked himself into the psychiatric ward at UCLA to kick his heroin addiction.  In order to record with Williamson, Iggy had to get permission to leave the hospital for a day.

The handful of demos they recorded were ignored by record execs, and the tunes sat, unreleased, for almost two years.  That is, until Iggy made a comeback (with David Bowie's help) via the ambitious art rock album The Idiot (1977).  To capitalize on his newfound renown, the 1975 tracks were quickly assembled for the album Kill City (1977), an immaculately ragged collection of music that is at once rocking and vulnerable.  Case in point: sitting in the middle of Side Two is a track called "No Sense of Crime."  It's a ballad at its heart; but it's a ballad that only Iggy could create, filled with self-destruction, regret, and ambivalence.  It has a bit of bucolic country jangle to it, yet it can't escape its "Sunset Strip at 4 am" urban desolation.  In fact, it feels like something that Jagger/Richards might have started for Exile on Main St. and Iggy/Williamson picked up and finished.  

Now, about my song of the day...

I never would have thought that "No Sense of Crime" could be recast as a Sly Stone-esque/There's A Riot Goin' On-influenced R&B number.  (Actually, it's kind of genius, considering that Stone's own career ebbs and flows have been largely related to his drug use, not unlike Iggy Pop.)  But the inimitable Van Hunt pulled it off on his album On the Jungle Floor (2006): Mellotron flutes and thumping percussion replace the lonesome guitars, and Hunt stands in for the Iggster, belting out the lyrics with no less passion, pain, and vigor.

And if there's any doubt in your mind whether or not Hunt can "own" this song, take a listen to the intro.  His narration kills me every time.  ("You may call in and request any song that you want, as long as it's one of mine...")

It's the most honest, inventive Iggy Pop cover I've ever heard.

And that includes David Bowie's reworking of "Sister Midnight" from The Idiot as "Red Money" on Lodger.