Lou Reed Biography by Anthony DeCurtis

Overrated for sure. And such a nasty and mean person. A user. Nothing sexual about him. He'd want to see you naked so he could recite your body flaws back to you. He had some real problems with Phil Spector, probably jealousy

An interesting figure appearing at an interesting time.

I like some of the Velvet Underground, and I like some of his solo work, but I've never really understood how he cast such a long shadow in pop music with such a hit-n-miss and largely uncommercial career. Sure, he was an original, but I think a lot of it was just the convergence of "coolness" with the explosion of (incredibly self-indulgent) rock journalism. He was not David Bowie, ultimately.

And make no mistake, he could be quite an asshole at times. Laurie made a better man of him.

He had a really rough adolescence. Not that that excuses later bad behavior, but it does tend to create lasting problems. I'm glad he had a good relationship with Anderson. I like a lot of his music, but it's awfully sad.

I read a good biography of Warren Zevon a few years ago, which turned out to be depressing because I hadn't known he could be such a jerk. The Reed one sounds interesting too; thanks for posting.

We had a poster who used to start threads about biographies he was reading and he'd post quotes from them. I wonder what happened to him.

Anything worth reporting from the book, OP?

There's a funny Honda Scooter commercial Reed did in 1985 talked about in the book, worth seeing. If it was a motorbike advert, it would make sense, but seeing Reed on a red scooter looking 'tough' is funny.

There is a good mention of Reed's electroshock treatment as a young man, that makes you think of him in a different way.

There was an interesting take on the Rachel days. Does anyone know what happened to Rachel? Did she just disappear?

Is he the tranny chaser?

I think there was a genuine connection with Rachel, beyond the 'shock' of being seen out and about with her. They had a relationship, living together, for several years. It is safe to say she wasn't there for novelty factor.

I think Lou liked who he liked, probably bi, put more interested in relationships with women (or those that presented as female), as the biographer suggested.

It was interesting to read that Lou was into Tai Chi.

...so a tranny chaser then lmao.

[quote]I've never really understood how he cast such a long shadow in pop music with such a hit-n-miss and largely uncommercial career. Sure, he was an original, but I think a lot of it was just the convergence of "coolness" with the explosion of (incredibly self-indulgent) rock journalism.

Well said. I think there are a number of musical figures from the sixties and seventies just like this, whose reputations seem so disproportionate to their actual careers. Patti Smith comes to mind.

His legacy, as I took it from the book, was he was a key component to a highly influential band, that is, the Velvet Underground, proto-alt.rock, then was 'a band's band' that influenced countless; his Metal Machine album was proto-industrial rock, and in general he influenced garage rock, metal; he bought society's underground to the masses with Transformers; he was highly original and, whilst chasing commercial success to some extent, was also committed to developing his sound through the years and not following trends.

Lou and Rachel had a 'marriage ceremony'. He refers to her in Coney Island baby (one of his best songs in my opinion) hough apoarently he often referred to Rachel as male. R5 thinkthey just split up, Lou was probably violent likehe was with others. Rachel died years ago.

Patti Smith's career is fairly lightweight compared to her standing, I do agree with that.

Yes, Horses is amazing, but she tends to fixate on name dropping and believing she is just like the poets and writers. Gloria is a smart cover, but a cover, nonetheless. All the songs are co-works with others. She's not really a songwriter, maybe a lyricist? She is a lot of spin, and trades off her associations with Mapplethorpe, Fred 'Sonic' Smith, William Burroughs et al. She's someone that is constantly looking to the past, rather then then the now or future possibilities, which seems pretty anti-rock and anti-punk in that it doesn't shake things up for the sake of progression.

She does have talent, beyond mythologising, and I wish she would focus more on developing her work rather than traveling around and writing about the poets and writers she likes, such as Rimbaud and Camus.

Let her work stand for itself, instead of trying to insert herself into cultural history by association. It does seem anti-feminist, really.

I do love this song, though..........

R12 Plus Summer Cannibal, is funnily enough a cannibal of a song, in that it eats a song written by her late husband in the 70s, with her lyrics put over the top.

R11 Cheers, I did not know that. Rachel was self refer to themselves as male or female, depending on how dressed up they were - Reed, like others, went along with that.

I find Patti Smith unlistenable now, apart from Land/horses. I think she was just part of that time. Lou Reed owes at least some of his reputation and fanbase to Bowie.

R15 Yes, re Patti. Her 'Just Kids' book helps cements her to that time that is looked upon with great affection, especially now that New York is Disneyfied.

I love that commercial, the way it was shot and put together. The last shot of Reed is silly indeed. Thanks, OP.

Good thread. Some smart posts.

I attended a reading of Reed's poetry earlier this year at NYPL. Lots of love, affection, respect, particularly toward Laurie (who read a couple of poems).

His sister, who seems like a cool, intelligent woman, was there as well. But I don't understand why she and others in Lou's life actively disavow his bisexuality, and his relationships with Rachel and other binary people. It seems incredibly dishonest and/or homophobic to deny that Reed was a queer person, and/or a bisexual, and/or at the very least, not a completely heterosexual person. What's the point?

sorry, "non-binary people"

R18 I think, maybe as progressives, they view Rachel as truly a woman, so they don't see it as a testament to Lou's bi-sexuality?

[quote]proto-alt.rock

[quote]proto-industrial

We’re pretty full of ourselves, aren’t we?

R20 Rachel had a penis. Nearly everyone in the 70s would have seen that as a gay relationship, no matter how they dressed.

Lou’s bandmate called Rachel his”transvestite BOYfriend.” And Lou couldn’t have not at least tried sucking and sitting on Rachel dick.

Well, I think Reed's legacy is beyond him being in a relationship with Rachel, however you want to classify Rachel or Reed as.

Maybe his family omits Lou's bisexuality because he never told them it was OK to speak about it, or maybe he told them - I'm straight and my tranny girlfriend was a lady. Otherwise - I'm definitely straight. Or maybe he told them, while alive, I'm bi but please never talk about it publicly.

There, many good reasons his family might just skip over him being bi.

Lou Reed is OK but not a major artist: I can see some old coots still being fans. I think he'd be forgotten if not for VU and that band will never be well known again, just a niche thing from the Jurassic period, for young hipsters the feel pleased with themselves about knowing.

He was a proto alt-cock lover

R26 Yes, he was the first man to discover cock loving.

Poor Rachel died of AIDS.

Our family lived in Rome, where Lou was set to give a concert. Lou gave an interview where he said, "I love riots, man." When he got on stage the crowd rioted. Lou burst into tears and ran offstage.

Years later to see him around NYC, fretting, angry or bombed while Laurie Anderson tried to calm him down in a soothing, singsong voice like mommy.

Many commercial flops -- odd that he kept getting record contracts -- but died rich.

His sister says that his parents were liberals and did not subject him to electric shot. Her own feelings were hurt by the song Kill Your Sons, in which he mocked her husband as fat (was he a DLer?).

Rachel was last seen homeless and living on the streets. Long dead.

R27 whooooooosh

R28 It's interesting that the biographer didn't follow up on the outcome of Rachel.

R30 Wouldn't an alt-cock be an enlarged clitoris pumped with testosterone?

R29 I think his record sales were enough to cover the cost, plus the record label would have made money from the associated tours, maybe? Plus there was the prestige of having Lou Reed on the books, would help entice more profitable acts. Plus there was always a suggestion of more success, that didn't come.

It might be similar to Sonic Youth going with Geffen. There was commercial potential, but by Geffen having the respected Youth on their books, this helped Geffen get the likes of Nirvana and others on board, which really paid off well for Geffen.

If Katrina and the Wave's 'Walking On Sunshine' makes them a million a year, would 'Walk on the Wildside' pay something similar to the Lou Reed estate, or would it not be so profitable? What say ye, DLers?

R32 Nope, that would be an enlarged clitoris pumped with testosterone. But you are certainly entitled to your own faith-based system belief system

Genius.

I'm more interested in Lou Reed and David Bowie than Lou Reed and Rachel

Bump of ol' speed!

I was never a fan especially after hearing what a horrible person he was but that creepy video where the animatronic version of him gets ripped apart sure left an impression.

R39 It sure made an impression on Beavis and Butthead too.

In my waiter days, I started working at a 'locals' restaurant in the west village. Lou Reed lived near by & fairly regularly came in. For about 2 months he was a horror to wait on- and he always sat in my section. My co workers just said to ignore it & he'll change. Then one visit he didnt bark an order & mentioned the change in the weather. From then on perfectly fine - but not chatty. It's a fun memory now.

R41 I wonder if he had a habit of trying to assert himself wherever he was, like a dog pissing to mark its territory?

Not a bad theory, R42, but I think he was mostly just a grumpy cunt.

I think Lou Reed's music is hit or miss -- more misses than hits.

He had some really good songs spread over his career -- I like Coney Island Baby, Tatters, Walk on the Wild Side, NYC Man, Crazy Feeling, Pale Blue Eyes, Endless Cycle -- but he also had MANY duds. (See, eg, Lulu).

I find him more interesting as a person than a musician. I haven't read the DeCurtis bio but would be interested to check it out.

He had a lot of great songs--"Foggy Notion," "Andy's Chest," and about a dozen Velvet Underground songs that are classics.

It always amuses me that the lesser talented (or no talents) think they're fit to judge obviously brilliant people like Lou Reed.

I would have tried to fuck his filthy little Long Island butt when he was in his 20s.

Always loved the Velvets and loved his voice, delivery and lyrics. A real antidote to all that shitty overblown ‘rawk’ music that came out of the US from the Sixties onwards.

In Popism Warhol refers to Reed telling him about the sex clubs that are mostly just a bare bar and open jars of Vaseline. I think Reed did what he wanted and had little patience with the opinions of others.

A discussion of Lou Reed, and yet not one mention of John Cale - who was FAR more talented and versatile.

Related to the recent 6 degrees of celebrity thread, I was friends with Laurie Anderson’s last pre-Lou boyfriend (whom she left for Lou). He had been a successful, but troubled tv and music video director, and never really got over their breakup. It was actually quite sad.

That is sad, r48. I always liked Laurie but wondered how she tolerated Lou.

R28 - really? I did not know that

Interesting article (the comments are fascinating) about Rachel - the boyfriend.

Like many people in showbiz (like our current reality star president) he was a malignant narcissist who relied on his bankability and personal charm to con people into tolerating the intolerable. I think he preferred men sexually but went for women, cis and otherwise, as partners because women fell for his hurt little boy act and would mother him. That's the only explanation I can find for Laurie Anderson devoting herself to him during his declining years. She had to have had better things to do than to deal with that prick.

How the fuck do you know what Lou Reed was, asshole R52?

As for you, R48, in case you have difficulty reading, this is a thread about Lou Reed, not John Cale, who was not, in fact, far more talented than Lou Reed.

Another notable person buried on Hart Island is Rachel Humphreys, who in the mid-1970s was Lou Reed’s transgender partner and the inspiration for the music and artwork on Mr. Reed’s 1976 album “Coney Island Baby.”

Ms. Humphreys, whose birth name was Richard, died in 1990 at St Clare’s Hospital, which specialized in treating AIDS patients at the time, though Ms. Humphreys’ official cause of death is unknown.

For fans of Lou Reed's music it's definitely worth a read.

r53 = Laurie Anderson

Thanks r54

r52 that's an interesting theory. I've read accounts of Laurie and Lou out in public. He would be throwing fits or acting like a general ass and Laurie would be flitting around, tying to placate him, and making apologies for him.

It was disappointing to me that the ostensible feminist who produced this turned into that.

When he was good, he wrote songs that were as great as anybody's. The 3rd Velvet Underground might be my favorite record of all time. The enormous influence of the VU on all the "alternative" music that came in the wake of punk, in the 80s and beyond, really can't be overstated.

On a personal level, however, he seemed to leave a lot to be desired. I don't know if the shock treatment had a lasting negative effect or what. Laurie Anderson almost seemed like his opposite.

r59 is that the album with Pale Blue Eyes? That's probably my favorite VU song.

Yeah, R60

Listening to it now, r61. It's been a while.

Brings back memories -- it's one of those songs that I associate with someone, and in this case, my first love.

Pale Blue Eyes is on the second, self titled album. The 3rd album was "Loaded".

1st - Velvet Underground & Nico

2nd - White Light/White Heat

3rd - The Velvet Underground (the one with "Pale Blue Eyes")

4th - Loaded

[quote] It always amuses me that the lesser talented (or no talents) think they're fit to judge obviously brilliant people like Lou Reed.

Mary, get OVER yourself.

White Light/White Heat is my favorite. All of VU holds up well IMO. I am probably too much of a wimp to have survived in that era in NYC, but I wish I’d seen it.

I’ve never appreciated Reed’s solo stuff as much.

I’ve loved his music since I was a teen I’ll definitely have to read this. He was terrible at times there’s no denying it.

Lou Reed was the best thing to ever happen to trans women and genderfluid types. They love to claim that cis men are secretly wild for desire for them but hiding it by pretending to loathe them (if you don;t believe me, read anything written by Jacob Tobia or Alok Vaid-Menon), and no one ever believes them. But they can point to Lou Reed and say, "Well, here's a very cis and butch handsome guy who wanted trans people desperately."

Rachel was beautiful especially considering there wasn’t the same stuff so easily accessible to transexuals back then.

I always thought Candy Darling was beautiful too ... but such a tragic figure

Rock 'n' Roll Animal is my favorite live album.

Lou Reed was not handsome.

I found a blog post with some more information on Rachel. Her life was probably more interesting than Lous

I read somewhere that when he started dating Laurie Anderson he tried to cut her off from her old friends/old life.

It makes me wonder if he was actually abusive toward her.

Reading about him and his contemporaries makes me realise that rock music is now more dead than disco ever was.

He wasn't bad live

Interesting conversation about a later album

I like this one -- his newer albums had some gems.

R65, I'll get over myself if you go fuck yourself, Cunt.

[quote] Lou Reed was not handsome.

You say po-tay-to and I say po-tah-to...

Having trouble adjusting our meds this week, are we?

Young Lou was sexy, neither handsome nor a dog. He was a rock star, skinny, big dark eyes. He easily fucked any guy or chick he wanted to.

He was very fetching during is gritty glam phase. I'm sure women threw themselves at him. They loved that sort of look.

I liked him in the Velvet Underground, and some of his earlier solo albums like Transformer, and others but as a person I was told he was not nice at all. Did anyone here see him at the Mineshaft or Anvil bar or have sex with him? R52 I always heard he was bisexual and one bio I read about him published in the 1980s said he liked group sex with men and women, and TS/TV people but his band members said this. I don't doubt that he had mental illnesses as he did have anxiety/panic issues, depression, and substance abuse issues; but I have no idea if he was a narcissist or not? Basically if he did not like someone or something he would be honest about it, and would even tell off the press or people interviewing him and end interviews or give silly answers if they asked him questions that he had went over before in other interviews or that were common knowledge.

I wonder if Lou Reed, Bowie, and Iggy Pop had sex with each other, and with Mick Jagger?

Downtown deadpan - that way of speaking is so funny and of its moment. It was so easy to do. Warhol was the master.

Isn't there some story in Please Kill Me about Lou begging guys to shit on him? Am I making that up?

Oh, brother.

I stand corrected. Apparently Lou asked some guy to shit in his mouth

But was he being serious R89? What was the context?

r90

“So I'm thinking, Hey, I know about this, and I'm sitting with my hero, Lou Reed, and we're going to have an intellectual conversation about Raymond Chandler. Alright! …

“And he said, ‘Well, look, why don't you come back to my hotel with me?' I said, ‘And?' He said, ‘And you can shit in my mouth. How'd you like that?' I said, ‘I don't think I would like that.'

“I was really ashen. And Lou started whispering, like it was supposed to make me hot, and said, ‘Does that, does that repulse you?' I said, ‘Yeah.' And he said, ‘Well, I'll put a — I'll put a plate over my face, then you can shit on the plate. How'd you like that?'

“I said, ‘No, I don't think I'd like that, either.'”

Duncan Hannah, Please Kill Me

Dear Lord in Heaven?

He was ddfinitley sexy until he got Very old.

Yes that's my reaction R93. But I guess that was Lou's way of telling the guy to fuck off R91, that he did not like the whole 'hero worship' thing that came with being a rock star, or that Duncan Hannah is a phony?

New York was a great album

New York was probably his best post VU release.

Some of his later stuff was pretty dark:

He dreamt that his father was sunk to his knees

His leather belt tied so tight that it was hard to breathe

And the studs from his jacket were as cold as a breeze

As he danced to a rock minuet

He pictured the bedroom where he heard the first cry

His mother on all fours, ah, with his father behind

And her yell hurt so much, he had wished he'd gone blind

And rocked to a rock minuet

I get him confused with Lou Rawls.

I forgot about his collaboration with Quine.

A song in which he tries to convince us he is totally straight (I think this is around the time he married Sylvia)

R99 Quine taped some early Velvet Underground shows in the 1960s. Rest in peace.

r85, I don't know but I'm guessing that celebrities don't enjoy fucking other celebrities so much as lower-status people they can feel superior to and don't have to worry about satisfying.

Reed is an asshole who used his celebrity/money to get a liver he didn't deserve b/c he was still using/drinking. No regular Joe would've been approved. It ended up killing him, & John Cale confirmed it point blank in an interview.

R102 it's like that whenever a rock star, musician, Politician, or very wealthy person gets an organ transplant. Larry Kramer did this, as did Phil Lesh, David Crosby, and others, and no they should not be allowed to do this as there are people who have been on those waiting lists years/decades. Do you have a link to the interview? I know for a fact that Gregg Allman was never sober or did not stop using drugs; but neither did Crosby or Lesh despite having liver transplants.

R29 so did Lou ever perform for the fans in Rome who had paid to see him play? Why was he so uptight about the riot or very excited fans? Hadn't he ever heard of football riots or football hooligans? Or how even in North America you will have sports or music fans go wild and crazy or riot at events?

Here's the Cale link. Starts a 3:52

It's strange ... until he died, I was under the impression Lou had been completely clean since the early 1980s.

It really made me rethink his relationship with Laurie. I didn't see her as the type of person to put up with that.

If you don't like Lou Reed, your taste is garbage.

I would NEVER, EVER expect Datalounge to know or like him.

One of his better songs from the 90s.

And then ... this crap fest.

R102 confirms what R107 says. R102, you're an asshole and a cunt. Where are you greatest hits, loser?

r110 is fun at parties

I am, R111, especially when I eviscerate fools like R102 who deserve it. My favorite party trick.

r112 = the ghost of Lou Reed

r112 I deserve it because I actually provided the receipts the guy's an asshole?

He was a piece of shit; a horrible performer with a shitty voice who treated everyone around him like garbage, including beating his partners, because he couldn't deal with his own sexuality. He wrote a few good songs whose luster has faded now because they relied on the shock value of bringing downtown, uptown then selling it to Main street. And even then, who knows how much was a collaboration, especially with Cale. Anything he did that hit has someone else like Bowie or Cale behind him. In another era, he would've been a minor Beat Poet.

How many people in the industry really like his shit, and how many just claim it because his "fuck you" attitude is admired in rock circles? He's like Patti Smith: over-rated lyrics & shitty performance but it shows a lot of the real artists coming up behind them that you actually can have a career being ugly & marginally talented.

r114 = John Cale

They were kind of adorable.

Link that works:

Anyone can pose for a cute picture, r117. Doesn't make them admirable.

Well it's an adorable picture r118

I see your point, r117, r119.

r118 I'm more of a Laurie fan than a Lou fan, and my opinion of their relationship kind of vacillates. On one hand, I think maybe he mellowed in his old age and they were truly happy together. On the other, I wonder if he treated her like crap like he did most others in his life. Who knows.

Ah, I see Godwin's law appeared rather early in this thread r120

That was a great read, R51.

Who was The Magician referred to by Fabian Jolivet, and who apparently comments there too? I don't know enough about Lou Reed and his entourage to know who the magician could be.

Fuck off, R118, you tiresome cunt.

What's your damage, r124?

Listening to tiresome, judgmental cunts who have NO CLUE what they're talking about, yet speak as if they knew the man. Besides which, who the fuck cares? This might be a news flash to some of the dumb twats on this thread, but there are a lot of significant artists who weren't the greatest human beings. Who gives a fuck except some of the the Marys on this thread?

Well, r126. This is the only thread you're posting on. I find that....odd.

No, it isn't, actually, R127. I've posted on a few threads just a few minutes ago. You're not nearly as clever as you think, I guess, huh?

Not only was Lou Reed a bitchy queen while alive, but even his posthumous thread elicits the finest of DL cuntery.

Not really, R129--a quarter of the thread are just banal SJW cunt posts.

r126 even accepting your argument, as the old sports saying goes, he didn't have enough talent to excuse his behaviour.

Picasso yes, a marginally talented, cunty closet case? No.

Trolldar doesn't like, r128. What a sad life you live.

[quote]How the fuck do you know what Lou Reed was, asshole R52?

[quote]go fuck yourself, Cunt.

[quote]you're an asshole and a cunt. Where are you greatest hits, loser?

[quote]Fuck off, R118, you tiresome cunt.

[quote]tiresome, judgmental cunts

[quote]the dumb twats on this thread

[quote]SJW cunt posts.

After you have a juice box and a nap, come back to the thread and we'll patiently explain to you how you're not cool or hardcore by shouting "cunt" repeatedly over the course of a couple of days.

Fuck you, cunt R133.

What would you know about talent, R131? Cleary not very much. And I don't give a fuck what you "accept." Enough people recognize Lou Reed as a major artist., so what you think really doesn't matter. You clearly have a bug up your ass about him and are deeply biased against him. And you're also a cunt.

Rachel Humphreys died on January 30, 1990 at Saint Clare’s Hospital, Hell’s Kitchen , Manhattan from HIV/AIDS. She was buried in a paupers grave out on Hart Island.

Saint Clare's, Cabrini and Saint Vincent's were all hospitals that provided huge amounts of medical care for HIV/AIDs patients. Each also provided tons of research (medical, nursing, etc..) into methods of treatment and care for HIV/AIDs patients. Sadly all have long since closed and former hospitals turned into luxury housing.

Autopsy of Lou Reed and or search of his medical records did not turn up he was HIV+, so either he and Rachael didn't have sort of sex that caused transmission, or the former was infected after she split with Lou Reed. Then again Lou Reed was taking Interferon, a drug often used in treating Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus.

From FB

quote

DL doesn't like FB hotlinks so fuck it.

"Rachel Humphreys was a transgender woman and Lou Reed’s partner, in the mid-1970s, who died on January 30, 1990 at Saint Clare’s Hospital, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.

Although Saint Clare’s specialized in treating AIDS patients at the time of Humphreys’ passing, her official cause of death is unknown.

Humphreys was buried on Hart Island, Bronx County, New York, where ceremonies have not been conducted at the burial site since the 1950s, and no personal markers are set. Adults are buried in trenches with 3 sections of 48 individuals to make disinterment easier

Reed and Humphreys were together for over 3 years having met in 1974 at Club 82 in the East Village. She was the inspiration for the music and artwork on Reed’s album Coney Island Baby (1976) and also appears in the photos on the cover of his 1977 "best of" album, Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed.

There is scant information available regarding Humphreys’ life other than she was a “hustler” who originally hailed from Philadelphia and was referred to at the time as a “half-Mexican transvestite” even though, from 1975, she lived as a woman and took hormones. It appears that Reed was not entirely sensitive to his partners preference to identify as a woman. In 1976, Andy Warhol wrote in his diary —

“Lou Reed called and that was the drama of the day. He said Rachel had gotten kicked in the balls and was bleeding from the mouth and he wanted the name of a doctor. Lou's doctor had looked at Rachel and said that it was nothing, that it would stop [the bleeding?] but Lou wanted another doctor to check. Lou called back and said he got Keith Richard's doctor to come over. I told him he should take her to the hospital. I was calling Rachel 'she' because she's always in drag but then Lou calls him 'he.'”

Reed got “clean and straight” and went on to marry his second wife “British designer” Sylvia Morales in 1980. The couple divorced 10 years later. In 2008, Reed married musician and performance artist @laurieandersonofficial, who he remained married to until his death on October 27, 2013."

/quote

Have loved this song since first hearing it in college. Hearing it reminds me of old Greenwich/West or East Village. Back when you could spend an entire day just hanging out with friends or even just by yourself and everything was chill.

There is plenty out there about Lou Reed and Rachael. He apparently adored her and the couple were deeply attached for a while.

From a NYT piece on Hart Island posted in another thread (about covid-19 burials on that island).

"Another notable person buried on Hart Island is Rachel Humphreys, who in the mid-1970s was Lou Reed’s transgender partner and the inspiration for the music and artwork on Mr. Reed’s 1976 album “Coney Island Baby.”

Ms. Humphreys, whose birth name was Richard, died in 1990 at St Clare’s Hospital, which specialized in treating AIDS patients at the time, though Ms. Humphreys’ official cause of death is unknown."

It would be so much nicer if you could just name the song r138, rather than force us to click on a YouTube link and sit through an ad, once we've found a spare moment when we can put the sound on.

I mean r137, of course.

R140

I'm gong to tell you fucking old people for last GD time; I don't see half the shit that plagues your internet searches/clicks on links, nor have any of same problems. That YT video as with every other one watches on same channel plays without adverts, delays, or any other nuisances. I don't hit paywalls or have any other of those issues as well.

I don't know what ancient browsers some of you are using but you need to up your game into 21st century. Virtually all modern browsers can be set to block ads automatically. That and or you either find out how to do it yourself, get something that does.

Now be told.

r142 is channeling Lou Reed's cuntiness.

R142 has never heard of anyone going onto the Information Superhighway (tm) while at work, apparently.

You can't always update your idiotic company's work browsers, R142, and they often don't have adblockers or allow you to use then. Plus, you can't have link previews active on DL if you're here while at work, because the previews are NSFW, and you can't have the sound on, either.

You don't have to be a cunt about everything, for god's sake.

I don’t know if he completely lost contact or he simply didn’t care, but you’d have thought he’d have at least paid for Rachel’s funeral.

r145 did they end on really bad terms? Iirc, he never talked about her in later life -- that was kind of his MO. He didn't talk about his past personal life at all, and didn't acknowledge his gay/bi tendencies

R107, how old are you? The velvet underground's sister ray while being a drug song was known to be a song about bisexual and gay men and drag queens sucking off a sailor, and the Lou Reed Transformer album and the single from it walk on the wild side were anthems for bisexual and gay men in the 1970s and other songs on the album like viscous and makeup, and Andy's chest all have lyrics about being gay.

Even a Gen X'er like myself knew Lou was bisexual and it was never some secret.

Is Anthony D gay?

Rachel/Richard Humphreyes apparently was a hairdresser, and was far from some random street hustling trans. More to the point it seems the main cause of friction in her relationship with Lou Reed was Rachel's plans for full gender reassignment surgery, something Lou Reed strongly opposed.

That bit of news lends credit to Lou Reed being same as majority of guys into trans; they want a "girl with a dick" so to speak, and have no interest in post-op trannies. After splitting up with Rachel Lou went cold turkey with cis-women (or so we all are lead to believe). Lou knew Sally Maggio who managed Sally's Hideaway and 220 Club (an after hours spot), both of which were infamous trannie bars that LR frequented.

Whatever anger flowed between them after breaking up obviously continued after Rachel/Richard died because Lou Reed couldn't be bothered to save his ex from a paupers grave.

[quote]Lou Reed couldn't be bothered to save his ex from a paupers grave.

That's sad r149

Just looked things up.

Rachel/Richard Humphreyes died on 01-30-1990, and wasn't buried out on Hart Island until 02-16-1990. Thus city ME's office (doubt Saint Clare's held an unclaimed body that long) held the body for about two weeks before deeming it unclaimed and sending it to Hart Island.

Now we've seen what happens when people die "alone" in another thread. Saint Clare's Hospital and or City of New York would have tried to reach any next of kin, friends or someone regarding not just Rachel's remains but any estate. Don't know how long RH was admitted to hospital before expiring, but would like to think someone went to visit. More importantly word would have gotten out about her death to at least anyone who went to visit, and or as the hospital or city began searching around for next of kin.

My guess is even if Lou Reed did know about his ex passing (since cannot prove it one way or another) he like many other guys into trans (or once were) put a lot of gone between themselves and that part of their lives. Thus didn't see any need to be bothered about Rachel's death at least in any known way.

People like Lou Reed move on pretty quickly, he's not going to go to the trouble of burying someone he'd split up with 12 years earlier.

R152

True, but it also seems Lou Reed was a piece of work. Not "nasty" per se, just very complex and this includes dealing with various issues of his own.

Turns out LR did bump into his ex some time after Rachel had left his orbit.

"This is Reed at his best, a troubadour for all the Lous and Rachels, once kids too. Kids grow up; some become rock stars. Sounes’s contribution to the Rachel story is information from a friend of Reed’s who says that, some time after Rachel disappeared from Reed’s circle, he bumped into her on the street; she looked sick, he said, and told him she was living under the West Side Highway."

If one of my exes died, I don't think I would want to be bothered with seeing they were properly buried.

Exactly, R153. I knew I wouldn't, either. I feel in no way obligated to pay for any of my exes in death or in life.

Truth is, there's no love lost between many exes.

If I had the means, I think I would, r154.

(This thread made me consider the question.)

R156 Same here. If an ex of mine died and they were to be buried in a pauper's grave, I would also see that they had a proper grave if I had the means.

Haven't listened to this in many years.

This thread sent me down a Laurie Anderson rabbit hole.

He had some great music, but his influence and perceived NY “coolness” caused him to be more celebrated than his talent warranted. See also, Patti Smith.

R160, that's ridiculous. Patti Smith doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Lou Reed, and you're wrong about minimizing his talent, too.

He's actually looking good in OP. Back then.. I just remember him as skanky looking.

Young Lou Reed wasn't a bad looking guy.

He wasn't that bad later on either. But at some point the life we all lead catches up with us I suppose.

R162 considering he was on lots of heroin/opiates, meth-did not sleep for days or bathe, lots of coke, and then later became an alcoholic or thought drinking would cure him of using opiates and meth, I am amazed he lived as long as he did.

The screaming kids in this always bothered me

R165=the "Faux-Amazed" Troll

Why so over-defensive r142?

R161, there are plenty of reasons for mentioning Lou Reed and Patti Smith in the same sentence, if you know anything about either of them.

R169, I know a lot about both of them. And anyone with even a modicum of intelligence and taste knows Lou Reed has a catalogue of iconic songs that far surpasses hers.

Taste is subjective R170 and is not related to intelligence. Some people are even evolved enough not to judge people based on their music taste.

But you have no musical taste, R171, if you equate Reed with Smith.

Has Laurie Anderson discovered DL?

Good thing I don’t care about your opinion, R172. I’ll grant you Reed was better than Smith, whose only notable song was covered better by 10,000 Maniacs. (Speaking of overrated vocalists... what happened to Natalie Merchant? One good solo record then kaput)

"I’ll grant you Reed was better than Smith"

So you admit what I said all along, R174, after you said before they were practically the same.

That is all.

You showed me R175!

I said they were both overrated compared to their talent due to being NY scenesters, which does not preclude me thinking Reed was the better of the two. But I’m curious about why you care so much about my opinion. Are you related to Reed or just put too much weight on your perceived advanced musical taste?

Reed is far from overrated, but again, you're obviously stuck with that opinion, R176.

I don't care about your opinion. I'm merely arguing on behalf of an artist who deserves better treatment than what can obviously be expected from catcalling queens on DL.

So basically you are the alt-rock version of the queens arguing over whether Janet or Madonna is better and feeling very passionately about it,

No, I'm not, R178. I don't traffic in hacks like Madonna and I don't care about Janet Jackson. But two-bit DL queens who think they're equipped to trash Lou Reed or anyone of his proven stature need to have their shit called.

Your response and its tone suggest otherwise.

Also, comparing Patti Smith and Reed on a very superficial level (time period, critical acclaim) is hardly trashing Reed.

My responses are clear and I haven't heard any coherent or legitimate arguments against what I've said, in defending Lou Reed as a musician and singer; my tone is impatience at fools, but that's the hazards of DL. Most of the tedious queens on this thread go after Reed for his personal defects, as if that's a mark of anything. It isn't.

I agree, R181, it's on a very superficial level.

Ok, Reedbot

No insult there, R184. Beats being a Madonnabot or Janetbot.

This thread is hilarious.

Being hysterical about an artist you have no connection to makes you no better than them.

Some people who can't defend themselves in an argument always accuse the other person, who can strenuously defend their arguments, as hysterical. They used to accuse women who asserted their opinions of the same, R187. It's a very tired accusation.

I’m not the one in a huff because someone said Patti Smith and Lou Reed in the same sentence. You’ve now used homophobic slurs, insults and an implication that I’m a misogynist because I stated an opinion. That, in my opinion, makes you hysterical.

I have nothing to defend. I have an opinion and you have one. You just have a much more personal investment in your opinion, causing you to disparage me (and gay men in general) with your language.

As a Reed fan, you are likely too old for these shenanigans. Grow up and learn to discuss things like an adult.

Gay men disparaging other gay men on DL, can you IMAGINE??? R189 is shocked by this!

Using Patti Smith and Lou Reed in the same sentence, unless it's to say he's obviously greater, should be strenuously commented upon. As for the hysterical remark, it was, in fact, what they said to use against women. If the shoe fits, Cinderella, it's all yours, R189.

More insults and misogyny from our very distinguished music critic. Too touchy to allow a sentence equating two artists from the same scene...

Because the sentence saying, essentially, they were both overrated, was a stupid sentence. Sorry if that's too much for you to accept. But it was.

My opinion may be stupid, but I’m not the only one.

Waiting for the response that NME is overrated in 3...2...1...

R193, you're right that many people like you can share stupid opinions.

Lou Reed is described in that biography, btw, as being "an artist of incalculable significance." Time has certainly backed that up.

Watching you contort yourself to prove that your opinion is superior is fun.

I never said he wasn’t an important artist. I said he was overrated. The most significant, overrated artist of his generation is Bob Dylan. The two categories are not mutually exclusive. Madonna is incredibly overrated by talent, but she has been significant, like it or not.

Opinions are opinions. We all think our youth idols are the best, but most are able to discuss them critically and objectively as we grow older.

R195, you're full of shit--you never said Reed was an important artist, only overrated. Talk about contortions.

And what could be a more contorted assertion than to refer to Dylan as the "most significant, overrated artist of his generation." Smell you!

And Lou Reed was not a youth idol of mine. So sorry to disprove all your "theories."

That’s the thing about opinions, they aren’t facts.

I don’t deny Reed was important, obviously this thread is on a book about him, 35 years after his heyday. Whether I think he’s as good as you do is a difference of opinion.

Smell me? You’re the one sneering at opinions different than yours. If he wasn’t your youth idol, I guess your just an argumentative, garden variety music snob. Reread your past posts. If you don’t see the derision and elitism of stating that people who don’t revere Reed as stupid, you have a stunning lack of self awareness.

R167 do you even know how many drugs Lou Reed was using all of his life from a teenager until his death? He would oftentimes combine drugs that kill people such as heroin and alcohol, uppers and downers, or benzos with opiates.

R165/R198 has personally kept track of ALL the drugs Lou Reed did. She's the Lou Reed Drug Zsar.

R197, I don't need to reread my posts. "I guess your just" requires an "Oh, dear" but beyond that, everything you suggest is obvious--yes, I do see that you are being derided by me as stupid because you are. No "stunning lack of self awareness"--I've said it previously--you're a moron.

“yes, I do see that you are being derided by me as stupid because you are. No "stunning lack of self awareness"--I've said it previously--you're a moron.“

Yes, I am a moron for not liking Lou Reed as much as you do. /s

Earlier in this series: “ As for the hysterical remark, it was, in fact, what they said to use against women. If the shoe fits, Cinderella, it's all yours, [R189].”

You are hysterical and can’t argue with logic or facts, only insults. And since you are likely not a woman, quit using that.

Here’s how a non-hysterical response would sound: “I disagree with you. Lou Reed has influenced so many people by [add argument here]. “

Hysterical/Your take “You don’t agree with me so you’re a dumb queen”.

I think you can’t even explain your own opinion. Sign of an insecure person and frankly, a not very intelligent one.

Can we please just get back to discussing Lou Reed? I love his music and I don’t care that not everyone agrees.

Sorry, I just like winding up nasty blowhards. I’ll stop since you asked politely.

"Sorry, I just like winding up nasty blowhards."

Which makes you a blowhard as well, R202.

r48 your post reminded me of Lou Reed's song about throwing her former boyfriends to their death

In one of her songs from Homeland, Laurie Anderson includes the following lyrics:

[quote]And when the tears fall from both my eyes

[quote]They fall from my right eye because I love you

[quote]And they fall from my left eye 'cause I cannot bear you.

I always wondered if this sentiment reflected her relationship with Lou

R205, that reflects how every wife feels.

For some reason this song popped into my head this morning.

Lou Reed strikes me as the ultimate poseur. Inauthentic. Like that kid in high school who wants to "fit in" with the cool kids and starts smoking pot with them after school, but remains on the fringes, because, deep down, he really doesn't have what it takes to fit in.

To me, that's Lou Reed in a nutshell, from his Velvet Underground/Warhol days, to his "Bowie"/glam rock/"Rachel" days, to his "clean and sober and happily married" days, to his "edgy experimental musician/Laurie Anderson" days.

Maybe he was a borderline in constant search of an identity.

He also detested talking about earlier times in his life. He was famous for it in his bitchy interviews. I feel like he was (as is typical of borderlines) filled with shame when he thought back on his earlier personas.

Siouxsie Sioux did a nice cover of Lou's song Caroline Says II. Siouxsie & The Banshees also covered This Wheel's On Fire, All Tomorrow's Parties and - as The Creatures - Venus In Furs. Siouxsie collaborated with Velvet Underground's John Cale on the album The Rapture and - as the Creatures - Siouxsie & Budgie did a little tour with John Cale.

He was also a self-hating Jew, apparently:

[quote]According to a new interview in The Daily Beast, Lou Reed was anything but a stand up guy. The Velvet Underground frontman is the subject of Howard Sounes’ latest biography, Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed. Sounes reports that Reed was “a monster” who regularly abused women and casually used harsh racial slurs.

[quote]The accusations stem from interviews with more than 140 of Reed’s friends, past girlfriends, wives, family members and associates. “He would, like, pin you up against a wall,” his ex-wife Betty Kronstad explained. “Tussle you. Hit you… shake you… And then one time he actually gave me a black eye.” An old friend from school furthered the allegations, speaking about an incident in which he brought a girlfriend to dinner. “She would say something. He’d get pissed off at what she said and smash her around the back of the head,” he said.

[quote]Other aggressive acts came in verbal form. An old friend of Reed’s told Sounes that he had called Bob Dylan a “pretentious kike.” He had also openly told a journalist “I don’t like n—-rs like Donna Summer.”

I can't remember the interviewer (Terry Gross?), but Lou Reed once reduced a female journalist to tears.

I've also read stories of him abusing employees at venues and Laurie calling to apologize for him.

I wonder if Laurie has the self-awareness to be embarrassed by the way she enabled him.

R210 Lou would flat out end interviews by walking out if someone asked the wrong question, and shut them down, or get super angry if the journalists asked him questions he had answered before or that were common knowledge such as questions about drugs, Andy Warhol, other members of the velvet underground, VU reunions, etc. It did come across as being a cunt; but I guess this was his way of controlling an interview or what the media or music biz said about him? Or he just gave zero fucks at all? I understand this sort of behaviour is common in people who are addicted to hard drugs, relapse, etc.

R209, this should not be shocking or a surprise. He wrote a song making fun of Bob Dylan-Sally can't dance-and I believe Joan Baez who Dylan dated in the 1960s and made fun of folk singers even when he was in the velvet underground, and wrote songs that would have been career suicide today as a joke such as "I wanna be black", and the line in the VU's waiting for my man about a heroin dealer and going to Harlem and the black men wondering why someone who is not black is there., etc. He also made an entire instrumental album in the 1970s metal machine music as a fuck you to the record label he was on as they wanted another album due to his contract and basically forced him to put an album out. But it was all sort of punk or proto-punk but that's what the kids at live for live music at the link above forget or were never around for.

To 99% of people, he is only known for one thing, his moderately successful single "Walk On The Wild Side". That's it.

He was never very popular or particularly liked. And, to be honest, he wasn’t much of a talent. The only reason he’s known somewhat now to the public at large is due to “walk on the wild side” being featured in a fairly successful advertisement campaign in the 1990s.

I don't know what made me think of it, but this is one of Lou Reed's songs that I really enjoy (and it reminded me of this thread):

I absolutely hate everything The Velvet Underground did.

They had a few good songs

Couldn't vote, no category for me. I vote he was a cunt, a closeted, nasty, abusive count. But the good news he finally hooked up with an even bigger phony & also a cunt, Laurie.

Lour Reed was a damaged person, but he made a lot of really good music.

This is one of my favorites versions of his songs, Candy Says, which he performs were with with Antony.

[quote]But the good news he finally hooked up with an even bigger phony & also a cunt, Laurie.

MARY!!!

If I saw Lou Reed and Bryan Ferry walking towards me on one side of the street I'd run to the other side and risk getting hit by a car just to get out of their line of sight.

The only good music was the first Velvet underground with Nico. His steady decline album by album to crapola land often made me wonder who was the real talent in the original group.

His New York album is probably the best album of 1989.

R 222 Thanks Laurie for the opinion. yes, we all have them & a**holes as well & they all smell.

Who's Lou Reed? Charlie Nobody, that's who!

Surprised at all the dislike for Lou Reed on here because was an "asshole." Of course he wasn't a nice person, he was a crazy heroin addict! What's up with this new need for artists you enjoy to be morally pure? He made fantastic music because he was so fucked up.

I think he mellowed out towards the end. I have friends who met him close to his death and said he was just a typical grouchy old guy.

Also, Berlin is an incredible album, you blathering fraus and queens. As is Transformer.

The Velvet Underground album is seminal. I love his various collaborations with John Cale.

[quote]Lou Reed strikes me as the ultimate poseur. Inauthentic. Like that kid in high school who wants to "fit in" with the cool kids and starts smoking pot with them after school, but remains on the fringes, because, deep down, he really doesn't have what it takes to fit in.

He remained on the fringes because the "cool kids" are the poseurs. Lou Reed strikes me as the kind of person who thinks a group of people might be interesting and worth getting to know, but soon gets bored with their inanity, whether they were the "cool kids" in high school or the "cool kids" at the Factory. He was singular and not an easy fit anywhere. I'm not saying this as a compliment, just how he struck me as a person.

And yeah, like R225 just wrote, he created some great music, alone and in collaboration.

Hi Laurie /r225!

[quote]Surprised at all the dislike for Lou Reed on here because was an "asshole." Of course he wasn't a nice person, he was a crazy heroin addict! What's up with this new need for artists you enjoy to be morally pure? He made fantastic music because he was so fucked up.

I might have bought the "asshole genius" rhetoric when I was in my 20s. But I've lived some more, and dealt with assholes in various professional settings, and I've decided there is NO level of genius that justifies treating people around you like shit, which is what Reed did his entire life.

Interesting cover