“I Got Nothin’” was originally composed and performed during the end of the Stooges’ (early 1970s version) tenure in 1974 (it appears on their infamous live album “Metallic K.O.”)  It was re-recorded by Iggy Pop and James Williamson in 1975 for a series of demos that was later released in 1977 as the “Kill City” album.  The songs were originally supposed to function as a demo to get Iggy a new recording deal after the demise of the Stooges and a recent stay in a metal hospital.  In fact, these demos were recorded during weekend passes from Iggy’s mental hospital. A record deal based on these songs didn’t happen at the time, but after Iggy found some success with his official late 1970s comeback with David Bowie, Bomp Records offered some money to remix and overdub the original tracks, releasing the final product as “Kill City.”

This is my favorite song off the album and it’s one of Iggy’s best.  Despite it’s very raw sound, it sounds like it wouldn’t have been out of place on the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street.”  A very nice mix of hard rock, punk, and blues and a very underrated song in Iggy’s oeuvre.  Used to great effect during a disturbing scene in Penelope Spheeris’s 1985 serial killer melodrama “The Boys Next Door.”