Time Machine Tuesday - Lou Reed

Lou Reed

His career was directly inspired by the works of Bowie, his Rock & Roll lyrics were notoriously expanded towards the prohibited zone of drugs, homosexuality, sex, decadence and suicidal depression. Lou Reed rose to the music scene in the 60’s when he moved to New York City to work as a songwriter for Pickwick records before forming The Velvet Underground. They broke the silence on taboo subjects which are still to this day discussed at length by many people. Their songs “Sweet Jane”, “What Goes On” and “Heroin” are the some of the innovative songs Reed write with the band at the helm.

The Velvet Underground

Although The Velvet Underground helped his career develop, he achieved a greater success as a solo artist. In 1971, he released his self-titled debut album which didn’t achieve the status and longevity it should’ve done, resulting in moving back to his parents’ house in Long Island. Even though his family were not very musical, Reed said: “Although he was Jewish, his real God was Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Growing up, he was mainly focused on music and established an interest in Rhythm and Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll, teaching himself how to play the guitar from the radio.

Moving on, the infamous second album “Transformer” was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. With hits such as “Walk on the Wild Side”, “Perfect Day” and “Satellite of Love” it was said to have influenced Glam Rock. Lou Reed had a total of 22 studio albums, 13 live albums and 15 compilation albums during his career. He has been a pivotal presence in the Rolling Stone and the NME with both disastrous and legendary rave reviews about his music.

His third studio album “Berlin” had a critical reputation, telling the story of a couple’s struggle with abuse and drugs. It had been disliked by many critics for Rolling Stone and Creem. When asked if he ever felt vindicated, he responded: “For What? I always liked Berlin.”

In the 2000s he collaborated with Metallic to create the album “Lulu” as well as adapting poems by Edgar Allan Poe to create his album “The Raven”, inspired by the poem. In April 2013, Reed underwent a liver transplant and although had all the intention of returning to music afterwards, he died in his Long Island home later that year at age 71.

Many artists and bands such as the Arctic Monkeys were influenced by the songwriter’s skills and were influenced by him. The Who took to Twitter and posted “R.I.P. Lou Reed. Walk on the peaceful side.” As well as John Cusack tweeting “Lou Reed RIP – always inspired by him – terrible news – only knew him through his art –a great – a singular poet” and contemporary artists such as Miley Cyrus tweeting: “noooooooooo notttttttttt LOU REED.”

Lately, the NME broke news that Lou Reed’s interviews will be compiled for a new book which was released last year. The book will consist of 30 interviews compiled together called My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed.

Listen to the best of Lou Reed here on Spotify.