Dave Alexander (musician)


David Michael Alexander was an American musician, best known as the original bassist for influential protopunk band The Stooges.

Biography

After his family relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan from Whitmore Lake, Michigan, Alexander attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, where he met brothers Ron and Scott Asheton. "Zander" dropped out after forty-five minutes on the first day of his senior year in 1965 to win a bet. Later in 1965, Ron sold his motorcycle and they went to England to see The Who and to "try and find The Beatles".
Alexander and the Asheton brothers soon met Iggy Pop and formed The Stooges in 1967. Although Alexander was a total novice on his instrument, he was a quick learner and subsequently had a hand in arranging, composing and performing all of the songs that appeared on the band's first two albums, The Stooges and Fun House. He is often credited by Pop and was credited by the late Ron Asheton in interviews with being the primary composer of the music for the Stooges songs "We Will Fall", "Little Doll", "Dirt" and "1970".
Alexander was fired from the band in August 1970 after showing up at the Goose Lake International Music Festival too drunk to play.

Death

Alexander died of pulmonary edema in 1975, at the age of 27 in Ann Arbor, after being admitted to a hospital for pancreatitis, which was linked to his alcoholism.