Day 118: A song by a lead singer you think is too homely for words.

“Candy” – Iggy Pop (with Kate Pierson)

Iggy Pop is a scary-looking dude. Not literally frightening, but just really difficult to look at.

And thus, the subject of today’s post. (Well, as you’ll see, he’s not really the subject of today’s post, but anyway…)

I don’t have a lot of Iggy Pop’s music. I have “Real Wild Child.” And “Funtime” (but I only know about it because The Cars covered it once upon a time). And “Candy.”

This was recorded in 1990, when Kate Pierson (of the B-52’s) was all over the place. The B-52’s album Cosmic Thing seemed to put her on the map, and she ended up recording with Iggy Pop, R.E.M. (The B-52’s and R.E.M. were both from Athens, Georgia) and a little bit with Matthew Sweet.

But now that I look, not really anyone else.

I guess since she was on three songs on R.E.M.’s Out Of Time (one of my favorite albums of the 90s), I was overcompensating.

So, um… yeah. Heh.

Let’s do this. For the sake of this post, let’s pretend she was all over the place so I can make one of my original points: Where was Cindy Wilson? What the hell happened to her during this time?

For those who don’t know, Cindy Wilson was the other chick with the beehive hairdo in The B-52’s. And for all of Kate Pierson’s exposure, Cindy Wilson seemed to get much less.

Who knows? Maybe she was content to take her B-52’s earnings and sit home? Maybe she was asked but didn’t like the people who asked? Maybe she’s a bitch and no one likes her? Maybe Kate Pierson locked her in a tornado cellar so Kate could get all the exposure? All questions that should be answered. Where’s a 60 minutes exposé when you need one? Mike Wallace, why have you forsaken us?

Iggy Pop is quoted as saying “I wanted a girl who would sing with a small-town voice, and Kate has a little twang in her voice that sounds slightly rural and naïve.” (What? Cindy Wilson didn’t have a twang? She’s from friggin’ Athens, Georgia, of course she has a twang! Kate Pierson is from New Jersey! That’s not a twang it’s a… a whatever you call that weird New Jersey accent sound.)

Cindy Wilson supporters unite!

Now, from all of this, you may think I’m a big Cindy Wilson fan. I’m not. I probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. I couldn’t identify her voice (although I can identify Kate Pierson’s). No, this is about equality. And fairness. And recognition for a job well done. And an appropriate revenue split.

Ah, who am I kidding? This is about getting up to a reasonable word count so the post doesn’t look too small. How’d I do?

No, but seriously, I’m truly curious why Kate Pierson got all the gigs. Anyone know?

Oh yeah, and “Yay! Iggy Pop!” Good song. Blah blah blah.