Goodbye Iggy
“Everybody wants to be special here. They call your name out loud and clear.” –The Replacements, “Here Comes a Regular”
I never actually met Will Hall. I can count the number of times we messaged each other on one hand. He spoke in giant blocks of blue text. I didn’t even know his real name until last Friday night. The name Will Hall meant nothing to me, but the persona he created certainly did. I haven’t spoken to Iggy in almost five years. I moved on from the message board where we “met.” It’s not a real physical friendship, but I got a lump in my throat when I heard the news that he passed away. I went back to my old stomping grounds at Metal Sludge and everyone was saying the same thing: “This is really hard to explain to people who aren’t on this board.” I don’t know if I can, but I’m going to try.
I got to know IggyPopWillEatItself in 2006. I was writing a paper on vinyl collections, and he was one of my interviews. Iggy was a music journalist disguised as a message board poster. I’ve met anyone with more musical knowledge or passion. His tone was conversational, but he always got his point across. He didn’t have an elitist attitude. He liked what he liked, and wanted to help people discover it too. It was the purest form of rock criticism. He turned me onto a lot of bands that I wouldn’t have given a chance otherwise. The Replacements, John Coltrane, Elton John and Pretty Boy Floyd were on the same level. He liked them, and that was the only thing that mattered.
He told me his name was Rob, a sly nod to Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. A couple of days after our conversation, I got a message in my box:
“Thanks for the interview John! I had a lot of fun!”
We didn’t talk much after that. I was removing myself from message boards because I was tired of petty arguments. When I got hired by 411Mania, I sent him the link and told him to apply. He thanked me and complimented me on an article I had written. It was the last time I heard from him.
I continued to lurk around Metal Sludge, just to catch up on the gossip, feuds and flame wars. Iggy was the one constant. Things would change, but he was always in the thick of it. Metal Sludge gave him his voice. It was his blog, his domain.
I hadn’t thought of Iggy in a long time, but I was stunned by the news of his death. He was the heart and soul of that website. He was also a major influence on my writing because he showed me that you could be critical of something and still be a fan. I’m going to miss the big blue font.
Rest in peace Will. I’m cranking Tim in your honor.
