An Appreciation of Lou Reed
Lou Reed, one of the towering figures in rock and roll passed away Sunday, October 27, 2013. Reed’s contributions can be felt throughout the history of rock ‘n’ roll: glam, punk, industrial noise and electronic music, alternative rock, grunge and the avant-garde all owe some measure of gratitude and debt to Reed.
The first Velvet Underground record had it all: sex, drugs, S&M, whips and chains, death, an ice-cold German chanteuse and Andy Warhol. It reeked of New York City. That’s heady stuff for a 16 year old to discover. It’s fair to say 1972’s “Walk on the Wild Side” changed radio forever, touching on transsexuals, male prostitution, drugs and oral sex in a scant three and a half minutes. Parents everywhere must have loved their kids singing that one at home.
I followed Lou Reed through the pages of CREEM magazine. Specifically, Lester Bangs’ love/hate relationship with Lou and his work fascinated me. Any exploration of Lou needs to start with Lester’s writing. His historic Psychotic Reactions and Carburator Dung is essential, as is the posthumous collection Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste. Skimming the compilation CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine wouldn’t hurt either.
The definitive bio of Lou Reed has yet to be written. I really enjoyed Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell and would recommend that wholeheartedly. Growing Up In Public by the esteemed Peter Doggett is likely a good bet and there’s always Victor Bokris’ Transformer: The Lou Reed Story. I would also highly recommend Clinton Heylin’s All Yesterdays' Parties, which is a collection of almost all of the published writings contemporary with the Velvet Underground’s existence. It is fascinating.
Yesterday, a friend of mine asked rhetorically “How do you even begin to measure his influence?”
You don’t.
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