Lou Reed

Lou Reeds solo career basically carried off where the Velvet Underground ended. Lou was a complex character and it is no suprise that a bloke who was a total asshole should have been given this talent for music! Lou is a bit of a mystery who started sucking knobs, married his press agent, went out with and married a transvestite, went straight, allegedly f***ed Bowie and so on and with a healthy dollop of drugs added at various times.

His sexuality was as confused as his music which ranges from the crap to the sublime – to the white noise of Metal Machine Music to the anger of Blue Mask with Robert Quine from the Voidoids on guitar to the epic Street Hassle with Bruce Springsteen to the perfection of Transformer to what some would argue was his best album the harrowing Berlin. In later years our Lou recorded the critically panned Lulu with Metallica but he didn’t give a shit. Lou was challenging.

Jordan, the punk celebrity from the shop SEX went to one of his gigs and was so dissapointed that she wrote the scathing song Lou that she would sing onstage with Adam & The Ants.

Lou also rocked up to Dingwalls with transvestite wife Rachel in tow and checked out Eater who mangled two of his songs but he graciously spent time with them and talking to Mr Blade.

His fashion sense was also critical and he looked fucking cool whether bleached cropped hair, make up and S&M studded leather jacket or the leather and panda eyes for Transformer or the aviator shades and leather.

Lou Reed – the original king of New York – the original punk.

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