Iggy Pop says he thought about becoming a politician – but changed his mind when JFK was shot in 1963.
And he reveals it wasn’t the shock of the assassination which caused him to pause, but the politicians who came to the fore after the president’s death.
He tells the BBC’s Newsnight: “I did want to be a politician – until JFK got shot. Not because he was shot, but because suddenly you had Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon B. Johnson. A kid can look at these people and think, ‘These people are not well.’”
Pop will deliver this year’s BBC John Peel Lecture on October 13 – an annual event where figures from the world of music speak about the industry and music-related media.
His speech is titled Free Music In A Capitalist Society and the frontman says he’s written it as the system in place is too successful and he wants to “beat it back a bit.”
He adds: “When I started I was unaware of my fiduciary duty to make money for the record company. I was thinking about other things. A few years in that became a problem because I was a disgrace to the industry.
“I wanted to talk about the spirit of freedom and the idea of giving freely in a society which is getting dominated by one system which is beginning to threaten other systems. That’s because ultimately, you’ve got to make a quick investment return for somebody that’s sitting somewhere collecting interest. And that’s fine – that’s a good system but maybe it’s a bit too successful and sometimes somebody should beat it back a bit.”
The John Peel Lecture takes place at The Lowry, Salford and will be broadcast on 6Music live on October 13 at 7.30pm and will be screened on BBC Four on October 19 at 8pm.
Pop’s weekly BBC Radio 6 Music show airs on Sunday afternoons at 4pm.
