Lou Reed passes away

[JoeSmith1721]

I couldn't find a music thread in the Superbar to put this in, but anyway, in case any of you didn't see, Lou Reed passed away tonight. Dude had such an enormous influence on music and was part of one of the greatest bands of all time IMO.

RIP to a legend.

[keefe]

A genuine innovator. His work with J.J. Cale in Velvet Underground is still relevant today. I think Transformer stands as his most celebrated work but Berlin is probably his most definitive statement. He was one of a kind. 

[LAZER]

A genuine innovator. His work with J.J. Cale in Velvet Underground is still relevant today. I think Transformer stands as his most celebrated work but Berlin is probably his most definitive statement. He was one of a kind. 

John Cale, not JJ Cale. 

I'm completely obsessed with Transformer, I love that album.  Mick Ronson, David Bowie and Lou Reed was quite a crew.

[keefe]

John Cale, not JJ Cale. 

I'm completely obsessed with Transformer, I love that album.  Mick Ronson, David Bowie and Lou Reed was quite a crew.

Brain fart on my part. Although it is amusing to think of JJ Cale playing Heroin in a Soho punk club. Or Lou Reed playing Hank Williams in an Oklahoma Road House.

[real chili 83]

NM

[tower912]

My favorite song of his was "Dirty Boulevard."    True iconoclast and visionary musician. 

[brewcity77]

Huge loss, I loved Lou Reed. Listened to one of his compilations while I was writing my independent study screenplay at Marquette. Brilliant musician who, along with quite a few cigarettes and bottles of booze, got me through a ton of long, lonely nights.

[MUBillsTil2017]

Walk on the wild side.  Who does music like that today?  Miley? Gaga?

[keefe]

Walk on the wild side.  Who does music like that today?  Miley? Gaga?

The music has died, my friend

[Spotcheck Billy]

I had just listened to the VU: Peel Slowly and See boxset last week before reading the sad news Sunday, coincidence?

Great poet, not many of those left it seems.

[NavinRJohnson]

http://youtu.be/HcNzU1u2QZc

[keefe]

I had just listened to the VU: Peel Slowly and See boxset last week before reading the sad news Sunday, coincidence?

Great poet, not many of those left it seems.

Reed's passing made me think of another great Rock Poet whose art was inspired by John Cale, Patti Smith. Her collaborations with Lenny Kaye and Fred Sonic Smith were seminal. Smith was a fixture at Max's Kansas City and was deeply influenced by the Beat poets and Arthur Rimbaud. Many consider Easter her best work but I personally think Radio Ethiopia most genuinely reflects her angst, rage, and fervent hope for some sort of redemption. She and Cale had a tempestuous relationship but both were the better for their collaboration.

Patti Smith was married to Fred Sonic Smith, an originator of the Detroit sound and one of rock's greatest guitarists. Fred Sonic Smith was a founder of the Motor City 5/MC5, which was inspired by White Panther Party founder John Sinclair. Sinclair's platform called for, "Revolution, Dope, and F#cking in the Streets!" He was a leading voice in Ann Arbor's Free Speech Movement.

The MC5 were cited by Spiro Agnew in testimony before the Senate as the leaders of a "Communist conspiracy to corrupt the youth of America." Malcolm Russell wrote of MC5 in his Rough Guide to Rock,

"MC5's incredible live album, Kick Out The Jams , captured the band at their most powerful and confrontational. Recorded on their home turf, the album kicked off with a radical rap from Brother J. C. Crawford and then exploded into some of the most demented high-octane rock'n'roll ever made. Also included was an example of the band's wrecking crew approach to rock/free-jazz fusion, a razed, white noise version of Sun Ra's Starship. MC5 defined music for two generations yet remains largely forgotten. Without MC5 there is no Punk, Wave, or Rap."

[LAZER]

Walk on the wild side.  Who does music like that today?  Miley? Gaga?

You're looking in the wrong places.  There's a lot of good stuff out there, you just have to find it.

[brandx]

You're looking in the wrong places.  There's a lot of good stuff out there, you just have to find it.

Agreed - you just have to look

[brandx]

Reed's passing made me think of another great Rock Poet whose art was inspired by John Cale, Patti Smith. Her collaborations with Lenny Kaye and Fred Sonic Smith were seminal. Smith was a fixture at Max's Kansas City and was deeply influenced by the Beat poets and Arthur Rimbaud. Many consider Easter her best work but I personally think Radio Ethiopia most genuinely reflects her angst, rage, and fervent hope for some sort of redemption. She and Cale had a tempestuous relationship but both were the better for their collaboration.

Patti Smith was married to Fred Sonic Smith, an originator of the Detroit sound and one of rock's greatest guitarists. Fred Sonic Smith was a founder of the Motor City 5/MC5, which was inspired by White Panther Party founder John Sinclair. Sinclair's platform called for, "Revolution, Dope, and F#cking in the Streets!" He was a leading voice in Ann Arbor's Free Speech Movement.

The MC5 were cited by Spiro Agnew in testimony before the Senate as the leaders of a "Communist conspiracy to corrupt the youth of America." Malcolm Russell wrote of MC5 in his Rough Guide to Rock,

"MC5's incredible live album, Kick Out The Jams , captured the band at their most powerful and confrontational. Recorded on their home turf, the album kicked off with a radical rap from Brother J. C. Crawford and then exploded into some of the most demented high-octane rock'n'roll ever made. Also included was an example of the band's wrecking crew approach to rock/free-jazz fusion, a razed, white noise version of Sun Ra's Starship. MC5 defined music for two generations yet remains largely forgotten. Without MC5 there is no Punk, Wave, or Rap."

If you get a chance, check out the book Just Kids by Patti - mainly about her longtime friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.

[Silkk the Shaka]

You're looking in the wrong places.  There's a lot of good stuff out there, you just have to find it.

Yep. Step #1 = ignore 99% of what's on the radio

[brandx]

Yep. Step #1 = ignore 99% of what's on the radio

I guess I meant closer to 100%

[Silkk the Shaka]

I guess I meant closer to 100%

Haha yeah I know what you're saying, but every once in a while something decent falls through the cracks and makes it to the airwaves

[JoeSmith1721]

If you're in Milwaukee 88.9 always has good stuff on. Sometimes a little too out there but still great and for Chicago 93.1 XRT has always been a go to, but all in all the radio is just a complete disaster.

[keefe]

If you get a chance, check out the book Just Kids by Patti - mainly about her longtime friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.

Will do. If I recall she and Mapplethorpe were lovers. I know he did her album cover art. She is one of the most enigmatic artists. She was actually asked to sing lead for Blue Oyster Cult but viewed them as too milquetoast for the message she wanted to send.

John Cale played a pivotal role in her emergence as a leading voice in punk then wave. It is interesting to trace Cale's influence in the lineage from MC5 to the Underground to Iggy Stardust to Talking Heads to Bob Marley. Cale and the CBGB gave rise to such bands as The Ramones, Mink DeVille,  Blondie, New York Dolls, etc... It was an interesting time for music.

If you want an interesting read on rock do give Malcolm Russell's Rough Guide to Rock a read. He chronicles that era rather well and connects the dots on just how incestuous the punk and wave scenes were.

[Spotcheck Billy]

If you want to see more about the NY scene esp. CBGB watch the dockumentary on Showtime about Bob Gruen's photography, covers plenty on CBGB including Smith, Television, Ramones, Blondie etc. after the huge section about his relationships with John & Yoko

[brandx]

Will do. If I recall she and Mapplethorpe were lovers. I know he did her album cover art. She is one of the most enigmatic artists. She was actually asked to sing lead for Blue Oyster Cult but viewed them as too milquetoast for the message she wanted to send.

John Cale played a pivotal role in her emergence as a leading voice in punk then wave. It is interesting to trace Cale's influence in the lineage from MC5 to the Underground to Iggy Stardust to Talking Heads to Bob Marley. Cale and the CBGB gave rise to such bands as The Ramones, Mink DeVille,  Blondie, New York Dolls, etc... It was an interesting time for music.

If you want an interesting read on rock do give Malcolm Russell's Rough Guide to Rock a read. He chronicles that era rather well and connects the dots on just how incestuous the punk and wave scenes were.

Kick Out the Jams from MC5 was one of the albums I wore out when I really got into music. Their next album was terrible, I thought. Sounded like a studio exec's version of themselves.

[keefe]

Kick Out the Jams from MC5 was one of the albums I wore out when I really got into music. Their next album was terrible, I thought. Sounded like a studio exec's version of themselves.

No question that Kick was their definitive statement. Anyone who has not listened to it really needs to. It helped frame a generation's conversation.

[brewcity77]

If you're in Milwaukee 88.9 always has good stuff on. Sometimes a little too out there but still great and for Chicago 93.1 XRT has always been a go to, but all in all the radio is just a complete disaster.

Every now and then 102.1 has decent stuff, usually early weekend mornings or overnights. But the longer that station goes, the more it has drifted over to mainstream. 91.7 is also worth a listen sometimes, but you definitely have to figure out the schedule in terms of finding what you like. Sometimes you'll find gold, other times your ears will bleed (and not in the good way).

[hairy worthen]

No question that Kick was their definitive statement. Anyone who has not listened to it really needs to. It helped frame a generation's conversation.

Kick out the jams brothers and sisters!!

That's all I remember.  Damn you are old.