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Iggy and The Stooges went into CBS studios in London in 1972 from the 10th of September until October the 6th to record Raw Power. That much is known for a fact but after that, details become less clear.

Iggy Pop produced the sessions and did an initial mix with James Williamson, who later admitted, 'we didn't really know what we were doing'. Tony Defries decided Bowie should remix it – possibly under pressure from CBS – and Iggy has implied that if he hadn't agreed to this it wouldn't have come out.

Bowie, busy promoting ...Ziggy Stardust... and constrained by time and budget, mixed it at Western Sound Recorders in Los Angeles reputedly in a single day, with Iggy in attendance, in October 1972.

Iggy has changed his stance on the album over time saying, 'It's not a bad job that he did... I'm very proud of the eccentric, odd little record that came out.' Nevertheless, he initially stated that his record was sabotaged by 'that carrot top'.

Some writers blamed the messiness of the mix on Bowie's use of the Cooper Time Cube, a delay system based on tubes. For example, on 'Penetration' he sharpened the snare drum compared to Iggy's original mix but then used this device to produce a 'flam' effect.

In 1996 Iggy got the last word, going to New York's Sony Music Studios with the 24-track tape and remixing it. He pushed the levels into the red, so the record sounds not unlike like the previous mixes but with added distortion. It was released the following year, inadvertently making clear there's only so much you can do with poorly recorded tracks. Williamson heard that mix and reckoned that it 'sucked'.