Dave Michael Alexander (“Zander”)

Born: June 3, 1947, in Whitmore Lake, Michigan
Died: February 10, 1975, in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Band: The Stooges

Dave was the original bassist for the proto-punk band The Stooges. Like the rest of The Stooges, he was a fairly unseasoned player in the early days of the band, but their attitudes foreshadowed the punk movement by a few years. Zander first met the Asheton brothers in high school, but dropped out after 45 minutes of his senior year to win a bet. Eager to go to Liverpool, he recruited Ron Asheton to come along. In England the duo sought out the Beatles and caught a show with The Who. Once they made it home, they founded The Stooges with Iggy.

Dave Alexander played bass on The Stooges and Fun House, and is credited as the primary composer of “We Will Fall,” “Little Doll,” and “Dirt.” Inspired by Jim Morrison, Iggy took stage antics to unprecedented levels, smearing peanut butter on his chest, cutting his arms with shards of glass, and pioneering the art of stage diving. Drugs were out of control, and although Dave isn’t likely to have been any worse than the rest, his interest in practicing dwindled, and he left during the infamous Goose Lake International Music Festival in 1970. He died of pneumonia at an Ann Arbor hospital in 1975.