Somebody linked a video titled "no money down" but it would not play due to some law. Usually I can find it on YouTube by somebody else uploading it. There are versions of the song on YT, but nothing that seems strange. People responded as if something extraordinary happened. One person said, Oh I forgot about that, another said it reminded him of the terminator scene where the robot operates on his own hand. I have no idea what they are talking about. A performance that doesn't go well or what?
After college, he worked as a staff songwriter for the novelty label Pickwick Records (where he had a minor hit in 1964 with a dance-song parody called "The Ostrich").
Reed never approached the commercial success of such superstars as the Beatles and Bob Dylan, but no songwriter to emerge after Dylan so radically expanded the territory of rock lyrics. And no band did more than the Velvet Underground to open rock music to the avant-garde — to experimental theater, art, literature and film, to William Burroughs and Kurt Weill, to John Cage and Andy Warhol, Reed's early patron.
Indie rock essentially begins in the 1960s with Reed and the Velvets; the punk, New Wave and alternative rock movements of the 1970s, '80s and '90s were all indebted to Reed, whose songs were covered by R.E.M., Nirvana, Patti Smith and countless others.
Hate to rain on your parade but he was a miserable junkie and an all around unpleasant son of a bitch. Besides being the epitome of the limousine liberal of the first water.
He had a few good songs. More than Tony Orlando but fewer than the Monkees. He did have much the same plasticized image. Only in his case it was heroin chic.
"Walk On The Wild Side" was Lou Reed's pean to his mentor Andy Warhol. Considered Reed's Meisterwerk the piece is really a pastiche, a veritable Sammlung of "Andy's Kids," the tortured young generation of Nixonian American found at Warhol's Factory. Each of the five archetypes Reed chose to immortalize was scorned in their day by know-nothing flyover Americans instead of being placed on a pedestal as they are today.
Kevin D. Williamson @KevinNR 7m L Reed on J Jackson: If I ran for President and once was a member of the Klan wouldn't you call me on it the way I call you on Farrakhan?
His fame is based on one song. One line really with the words "Colored Girls." Daring and so cool at the time it is the perfect epitome of liberal racism that is applauded for it's ironic audacity.
You know who had many more hits and who influenced just as many people?
Of course Lou Reed was another rich fuck who got a liver like Mickey Mantle and David Crosby while some poor kid probably died in agony. A kid who never did drugs or drank themselves to death.
Life is unfair. A lot of poor simple fucks are gonna find about that with Obamacare.
The Velvet Underground were my favorite rock band for a long time. The songs were an odd combination of surprisingly catchy tunes and melancholy drones, a result of Reed's background in Tin Pan Alley combined with the band's generally limited command of their instruments. Examples of each are 'Pale Blue Eyes' and the live version of 'Ocean'.
Ha! Love that "...the band's generally limited command of their instruments!"
About the only group that I can think of carrying the somber English major baton in rock that is even worse than the Velvet Underground and Reed was The Fugs.
In terms of sales yes but in terms of affecting the course of popular music not so much. And I do like pop music of that style, particularly Dusty Springfield.
Reed and The Velvet Underground had virtually no influence on musicians.
Dylan launched the English major folky craze. He's an original, and he's good at it. The rest of the English major guys, including Reed, are not of much consequence.
Outside of the one hit song, who cares about Reed?
(Well, I'm looking around the web, and the nerdy guys do. I'm not much of a fan of nerdy music.)
I like the way Coltrane's music floats around, like you're pleasantly stoned and disengaged from pain. Reed's druggy music is more like choking on aspirational vomit. It's not a quality high.
Hard to imagine the music played in meth labs doesn't beat out anything Katy Perry has ever produced. She seems sweet enough but corporate bland. The Carpenters were quite odd in their desperate, ultimately fatal, efforts to fit in.
"The songs you hear on the radio today by the likes of Katy Perry and other Top 40 artists are influenced by the style of the Carpenters."
I kissed a girl and I liked it The taste of her cherry chapstick I kissed a girl just to try it I hope my boyfriend don't mind it It felt so wrong It felt so right Don't mean I'm in love tonight I kissed a girl and I liked it I liked it
That sounds more like Reed's influence than Karen Carpenter..
The Carpenters led to the dulcet tones of people like Kenny G and Michael Bolton. Plus their ultimate achievement...the sublime mood music that you hear in elevators.
The Velvet Underground were my favorite rock band for a long time. The songs were an odd combination of surprisingly catchy tunes and melancholy drones, a result of Reed's background in Tin Pan Alley combined with the band's generally limited command of their instruments...
I'll point out that John Cale actually had classical training on viola -- much of the droning aspects came from his work with composers of the time such as La Monte Young.
While Reed had the notoriety I think Cale had the more interesting later career.
And for those who might think it would be more variations on noise I suggest a listen to his album "Paris 1919". Title song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5YHqWqhFkU
Even Trooper might like it. Or not hate it. Or not.
The Monkees were robbed by that mendoucheous Jann Wenner. He has blocked them from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then again, they dodged having to go to Ohio so maybe that was a blessing.
54 comments:
RIP.
I had just thought of one of his songs last night in relation to a Retweet...
Barry Obama @Barry_O44 (16h ago)
Somewhere in China... A ChiCom hacker is pissing his pants in laughter at http://healthcare.gov #ObamaCare$
"Somewhere there's a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants"
Dirty Blvd
"Somewhere a landlord's laughing till he wets his pants"
corrected.
Somebody linked a video titled "no money down" but it would not play due to some law. Usually I can find it on YouTube by somebody else uploading it. There are versions of the song on YT, but nothing that seems strange. People responded as if something extraordinary happened. One person said, Oh I forgot about that, another said it reminded him of the terminator scene where the robot operates on his own hand. I have no idea what they are talking about. A performance that doesn't go well or what?
We have our "Riddler" WTF are you talking about??
Sweet Jane is one of my favorite songs.
A good music video:
A Walk on the Wild Side
Satellite's gone up to the skies
Things like that drive me out of my mind
I watched it for a little while
I like to watch things on TV
"One chord is fine," he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. "Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz."
A minimalist?... the Larry David of Rock?
A Walk on the Wild Side.
A song I remembered for the "colored girl" line impression as much as the musical quality of the tune.
I wonder if it "raised eyebrows" when it first aired/played on the radio.
After college, he worked as a staff songwriter for the novelty label Pickwick Records (where he had a minor hit in 1964 with a dance-song parody called "The Ostrich").
Well that sucks.
PHX - where are you? We lost our guy.
After some prodding and cajoling Lou Reed tells Charlie Rose what he was going for with his music.
"The pursuit of writing a great line".
What's Good?
Not much at all.
Reed never approached the commercial success of such superstars as the Beatles and Bob Dylan, but no songwriter to emerge after Dylan so radically expanded the territory of rock lyrics. And no band did more than the Velvet Underground to open rock music to the avant-garde — to experimental theater, art, literature and film, to William Burroughs and Kurt Weill, to John Cage and Andy Warhol, Reed's early patron.
Indie rock essentially begins in the 1960s with Reed and the Velvets; the punk, New Wave and alternative rock movements of the 1970s, '80s and '90s were all indebted to Reed, whose songs were covered by R.E.M., Nirvana, Patti Smith and countless others.
link
Hate to rain on your parade but he was a miserable junkie and an all around unpleasant son of a bitch. Besides being the epitome of the limousine liberal of the first water.
He had a few good songs. More than Tony Orlando but fewer than the Monkees. He did have much the same plasticized image. Only in his case it was heroin chic.
Trooper-
He was a punk rocker. I'd expect nothing less than a foul attitude.
I went through a punk rock stage.
go ahead. Point and laugh.
"Walk On The Wild Side" was Lou Reed's pean to his mentor Andy Warhol. Considered Reed's Meisterwerk the piece is really a pastiche, a veritable Sammlung of "Andy's Kids," the tortured young generation of Nixonian American found at Warhol's Factory. Each of the five archetypes Reed chose to immortalize was scorned in their day by know-nothing flyover Americans instead of being placed on a pedestal as they are today.
Kevin D. Williamson @KevinNR 7m
L Reed on J Jackson:
If I ran for President and once was a member of the Klan wouldn't you call me on it the way I call you on Farrakhan?
Not one of my favorites. Didn't pay much attention to what he did.
RIP.
Your half right April. He was punk.
His fame is based on one song. One line really with the words "Colored Girls." Daring and so cool at the time it is the perfect epitome of liberal racism that is applauded for it's ironic audacity.
You know who had many more hits and who influenced just as many people?
The Carpenters.
I mean Shouting Thomas and the Old Dawg's were really influenced by the Carpenters. Just sayn'
You ever hear the Carpenter's version of Masquerade, Troop?
That girl had a horn.
I think Lou Reed rejected Trooper in a gay bar back in the 70's.
That girl just needed to eat a sammich now and then.
She could sing that's for sure Shouting.
Of course she wasn't cool junkie like Lou Reed.
AprilApple So sad. Thanks for being there. Was thinking of you earlier.
~~She said honey, for just one little smile
I'll sing and play for you for the longest while~~
Of course Lou Reed was another rich fuck who got a liver like Mickey Mantle and David Crosby while some poor kid probably died in agony. A kid who never did drugs or drank themselves to death.
Life is unfair. A lot of poor simple fucks are gonna find about that with Obamacare.
Sorry too, phx.
lol- ndspinelli.
The Velvet Underground were my favorite rock band for a long time. The songs were an odd combination of surprisingly catchy tunes and melancholy drones, a result of Reed's background in Tin Pan Alley combined with the band's generally limited command of their instruments. Examples of each are 'Pale Blue Eyes' and the live version of 'Ocean'.
Ha! Love that "...the band's generally limited command of their instruments!"
About the only group that I can think of carrying the somber English major baton in rock that is even worse than the Velvet Underground and Reed was The Fugs.
Now, those guys are wretched!
Pale Blue Eyes is also one of my favorites ARM, used to remind me of someone I used to like.
Never heard of him before now. "Pale Blue Eyes" is a nice song, a little long though. Should be 3 minutes tops.
The Carpenters were much bigger.
ST, it wasn't meant as a put-down. They produced more influential and loved music than most professional 'musos' ever will. NTTIATWWT.
I thought everyone was talking about Lou Rawls, but he died in 2006.
rcocean said...
The Carpenters were much bigger.
In terms of sales yes but in terms of affecting the course of popular music not so much. And I do like pop music of that style, particularly Dusty Springfield.
I gotta disagree.
Reed and The Velvet Underground had virtually no influence on musicians.
Dylan launched the English major folky craze. He's an original, and he's good at it. The rest of the English major guys, including Reed, are not of much consequence.
Outside of the one hit song, who cares about Reed?
(Well, I'm looking around the web, and the nerdy guys do. I'm not much of a fan of nerdy music.)
I like the way Coltrane's music floats around, like you're pleasantly stoned and disengaged from pain. Reed's druggy music is more like choking on aspirational vomit. It's not a quality high.
The songs you hear on the radio today by the likes of Katy Perry and other Top 40 artists are influenced by the style of the Carpenters.
The music you hear in Meth labs is influenced by Lou Reed.
Hard to imagine the music played in meth labs doesn't beat out anything Katy Perry has ever produced. She seems sweet enough but corporate bland. The Carpenters were quite odd in their desperate, ultimately fatal, efforts to fit in.
"The songs you hear on the radio today by the likes of Katy Perry and other Top 40 artists are influenced by the style of the Carpenters."
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
That sounds more like Reed's influence than Karen Carpenter..
It's the light bouncy pop sound that I was talking about.
The droning drug addict industrial guitar whine that was Lou Reed is heard on Angela Merkel's ringtones.
Just ask Obama. He can tell you.
The Carpenters led to the dulcet tones of people like Kenny G and Michael Bolton. Plus their ultimate achievement...the sublime mood music that you hear in elevators.
You never heard Lou Reed in an elevator.
You never heard Lou Reed in an elevator.
Untrue. Whenever I hear someone say "going down?" on an elevator I think of Nico and the Velvet Underground.
BTW, Troop. Would Nico make a good "whose that girl"?
Inga said...
"Pale Blue Eyes is also one of my favorites ARM, used to remind me of someone I used to like."
No one knows what it's like
To be the bag man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
I would certainly second Lou's nomination in the Overrated Hall of Fame.
Re: AReasonableMan said...
The Velvet Underground were my favorite rock band for a long time. The songs were an odd combination of surprisingly catchy tunes and melancholy drones, a result of Reed's background in Tin Pan Alley combined with the band's generally limited command of their instruments...
I'll point out that John Cale actually had classical training on viola -- much of the droning aspects came from his work with composers of the time such as La Monte Young.
While Reed had the notoriety I think Cale had the more interesting later career.
And for those who might think it would be more variations on noise I suggest a listen to his album "Paris 1919". Title song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5YHqWqhFkU
Even Trooper might like it. Or not hate it. Or not.
The Monkees were robbed by that mendoucheous Jann Wenner. He has blocked them from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then again, they dodged having to go to Ohio so maybe that was a blessing.
I was lucky to see John Cale perform alongside The Creatures in the late 1990's.
It was fantastic. By then, it was the beginning of the end with my love affair with that type of music.
Listening to him, he seems like a Dylan clone only less talented.
People seem to like him for lyrics, as his singing voice is mediocre and his "sound" is forgettable.
But then I like CCR, R&B, and Frank Sinatra.
He obviously had a big impact on the senior citizens.
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