Just a perfect day for Lou Reed
Rarely does a musician reach the height and boundaries of stardom that Brooklyn-born Lou Reed did, who passed away last Sunday, Oct. 27, at the age of 71.
Resulting in complications from a liver transplant back in May, Reed’s junkie-journey was notoriously full of ups and downs, from alcoholism and drug-abuse to fame and reclusion. His sheer talent touched on all genres in the art world, from literature to sound and vision, and arguably pre-empted the multi-media world we now live in.
Perhaps best known for songs like “Walk on the Wild Side,” and “Sweet Jane,” Reed’s capricious contribution to pop culture can be traced back to Andy Warhol’s “Factory” studio in New York, where the local transients conjugated in art, drugs, orgies, and music. It was here, in the mid-sixties, where Reed cut his teeth in forming the avant-garde band, The Velvet Underground.
Reed’s counter-culture subject matter delved into themes of heroin, homosexuality, misogyny, murder, sadomasochism, and suicide. The punk poet also conjured up melody with wit in “Satellite of Love,” and informal lyrics in songs like “Walk on the Wild Side.”
Album sales were never as accredited as his cult status in the art world, especially with having such a peerage as Keith Richards, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Nico. Despite Reed’s dark sound, he reached an iconic resonance with subsequent generations of musicians, such as Roxy Music, Talking Heads, R.E.M. and Metallica. Some would argue that this curmudgeonly sarcastic rock god shall be remembered for “Heroin” and “Femme Fatale,” but in the end, Lou Reed is all rock ‘n’ roll.