With mannequins in a comic book shop in Boston, 1980 On February 21 of this year the well-regarded German newspaper Die Zeit ran an exclusive interview with Esther Friedman, who was Iggy Pop’s girlfriend for seven years, from roughly 1976 to 1982. They met while Iggy was living in West Berlin with David Bowie, where the two rock stars were hoping to dry out after a period of heavy drug use. Iggy and Bowie lived at Hauptstrasse 155 in Schöneberg. At that time, Friedman was a prolific photographer, and she took many revealing photographs of Iggy Pop in various locales. The cover photo for Iggy’s 1982 album Zombie Birdhouse was taken by Friedman during a 1981 vacation to Haiti. At Hansa Studios near the Berlin Wall, Iggy recorded The Idiot and Lust for Life, both produced by Bowie, while Bowie cut his three legendary “Berlin period” albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger during the same period. In the interview, Friedman spoke openly about her life with Iggy. He comes across as rather different from his public image—shy instead of outgoing. Friedman discusses the origins of one of Iggy’s greatest songs, “The Passenger,” as well as the sharp differences between Iggy’s frenetic...