“There’s No Hits on This Record at All”: The Hitless 1970s Album Jack White Considers Quintessential Rock ‘n’ Roll

Jack White knows rock and roll, so it’s a no-brainer that he has a high-quality opinion on the most rock and roll album of all time. Is it Elvis? The Beatles? The Doors? None of the above. The real answer may be a surprise.

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“I really like The Stooges album Funhouse,” he said, per a report from Far Out. “There’s no hits on this record at all, but it contains to me all the elements of what rock ‘n’ roll is really about.”

What does Jack White consider an element of what rock and roll is really about, exactly? Lead vocalists who changed the landscape of the genre, of music itself. Nothing too flamboyant, but also with a sense of style, agency, and passion for the artistry of rock. There’s a certain attitude to true rock and roll—it’s heavy, non-conformist, and doesn’t try to be palatable for mainstream consumers.

“I mean, it’s hard when you get into rock ‘n’ roll because it’s so, I mean, there’s Little Richard songs and Jerry Lewis songs, Gene Vincent songs that are so important and that people don’t realize how important they are and how they just changed the world,” said White. “They changed the world in a kind of, a flashy way, but also in an underground way where they’re being played in people’s bedrooms and in garages.”

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Jack White Shares His Opinion of the Epitome of Rock and Roll Records

For Jack White, those elements of rock and roll fit Iggy Pop like a glove, and especially on Funhouse. Pop isn’t called the godfather of punk music for no reason, after all. Listening to the 1970 record, it’s true that there wasn’t really a hit there, not like on The Stooges’ 1969 self-titled album which featured “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”

Funhouse also closes with the track “L.A. Blues,” which is four minutes and 53 seconds of guitar noise and Iggy Pop screaming and carrying on. Not quite what you’d think of as particularly palatable or mainstream. However, it’s one of the many pure rock and roll moments from The Stooges.

The remainder of the album is loud, messy, and unrefined, and that’s exactly as it should be for a rock record. The Stooges were good at that—face-melting explosions of sound and stressing the limits of the human voice. While there’s really no definitive rock and roll paragon, as it’s so diverse and ever-changing, The Stooges still remain pillars of the early evolutions of the genre.

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