Kill City

Kill City is a studio album by Iggy Pop & James Williamson, both ex-members of The Stooges. It was recorded as a demo in 1975 but released in altered form in November 1977 by record label Bomp!.

Background

"Johanna" and "I Got Nothin'" were both performed live during 1973–74 by the Williamson-era Stooges.

Recording

Kill City was originally recorded in 1975 after the disintegration of The Stooges. It was to be used as a demo to give to record labels in hopes of getting Pop a new contract. His vocals were recorded on weekends when he received permission to leave a mental hospital he was staying in at the time for treatment of his long-standing heroin addiction.

The original 1975 "demo" mix of the album remains unheard, with the exception of three tracks which have been released on various compilations (including A Million in Prizes: The Anthology and Original Punks): "Johanna", "Consolation Prizes" and "Kill City". These tracks sound markedly different from those on the final version of the album, with different guitar parts and, in the case of "Johanna", no saxophone.

Kill City: Lower East Side Squatters 1992–2000

Kill City: Lower East Side Squatters 1992–2000 is a photography book by Ash Thayer, documenting the squatting scene in New York City's Lower East Side in the 1990s. Kill City was published in 2015 by PowerHouse Books.

Overview

Thayer, who is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, became homeless as a 19-year-old student at the School of Visual Arts in 1992, and joined C-Squat, part of the Lower East Side's community of squatters. The photographs published in Kill City document the lives of the squatting community in the years that followed. The pictures were taken partly in order to document the improvements the squatters made to the buildings, as the ability to prove that they had occupied the building for a long period of time and turned it into functional housing lessened the likelihood of eviction. Ownership of some of the buildings did eventually pass to their inhabitants, but most were demolished by the city.

Thayer describes the squats as as a form of housing activism related to issues including rent control. In the book's prologue, Thayer writes: "Together, my fellow squatters and I crafted a life out of New York City's throwaways."