The King Of New York

With all due respect to Joy Division, Peter Gabriel, and The Cure, there is no greater omission of an eligible artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame than Lou Reed. While this has been a long standing opinion of mine for over a decade (Lou's been eligible since 1995), it was brought back to the front of my mind during the broadcast of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert on HBO last Sunday. Along with such extraordinary artists as U2, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Aretha Franklin, there was Lou Reed being backed up by--- of all people--- Metallica (who scored several thousand cool points with me). There they were, the five of them roaring through Lou's deathless rock anthem "Sweet Jane" in front of a packed crowd chanting "Lou" at Madison Square Garden in Lou's hometown of New York City.

So why isn't Lou Reed in the Hall of Fame? There are a few weak arguments in his disfavor.

First, many would argue that since he's already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the groundbreaking rock band, The Velvet Underground. However, this is a little like saying that Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison needn't be inducted as solo artists since they are already in as a part of The Beatles. Hell, Eric Clapton has been inducted three separate times (as a member of the Yardbirds, Cream, and for his solo work)! I think the same standard should be applied to Lou. And yes, I did just compare Lou Reed to Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Some might also say that Lou's best work was with The Velvets and therefore his solo recordings alone don't merit induction. This argument doesn't hold water either. Even if you prefer his V.U. work to his solo career, his own work merits inclusion. Don't believe me? Then go to allmusic.com (the critical bible of recordings) and you will find that 12 of his albums have been awarded 4 star ratings. A few years ago RollingStone Magazine released a list of the 500 greatest rock albums of all time. Lou was represented twice. Once for his glam rock, David Bowie produced masterpiece, Transformer, and again for his dark, doomed romantic song cycle, Berlin. His solo work has been covered by artists as varied as U2, John Doe of X, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, The Cure, and Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, just to name a few. He is revered by punk rockers (New York Dolls), glam rockers (David Bowie), industrial rockers (Nine Inch Nails), heavy metal rockers (Metallica), and just plain old regular rockers (pretty much everybody else). David Bowie---who needs to look up to no one--- worships Lou. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails considers Lou's 1975 album, Metal Machine Music, to be the foundation for industrial rock. So I'm not buying that Lou's solo stuff isn't good enough.

The last argument is that Lou simply never sold enough records. That his music never permeated the popular culture to a great enough degree that would warrant induction. I understand that Lou only had one top ten album (Sally Can't Dance), just three gold albums (Transformer, Rock and Roll Animal, and New York), and only a single top 40 hit (the wonderfully profane, bohemian, transvestite anthem "Walk On The Wild Side"), but I can tell you at least two artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that have none of those things: The Sex Pistols and Lou's own Velvet Underground. So, if you accept my argument that he was good enough, influential enough, and successful enough, then clearly Lou should be in.

I have to say that I take Lou's exclusion very personally. Other than U2, Prince, and David Bowie, no one's music has been as inspiring and influential to me. It was during my college years when I was running a record store that I truly discovered Lou Reed. I was performing an inventory of our stock early one morning when I popped in a used cd of Lou's classic 1989 album New York.

On that day I learned that Lou Reed was a genius. The album, a poison penned love letter to the city that defines him and vice versa was a revelation to me. New York is a concept album about the seedy underbelly of his beloved New York City. Covering everything from the struggle of its immigrant population to the corrupt politicians at city hall, New York is a landmark album.

After that day, I had to get everything he ever released. Many of his albums were out of print at the time so I had them all imported from Germany a little at a time. If one of these great albums came into the store and there was a choice between buying lunch or purchasing the latest imported arrival, then I went hungry. These records changed the way I look at music. They are the reason why I love Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and Elvis Costello. Singers with imperfect but singular voices. Artists whose words were every bit as important as the way they delivered them. Lou Reed is the reason why I read the lyrics in the liner notes.

First and foremost, Lou Reed is a storyteller. There is no better illustration of this ability than my favorite Lou Reed song, the 11 minute title track from his 1978 album Street Hassle. A three movement tone poem that combines elements of classical music, opera, rock and roll, and even a spoken word performance from Bruce Springsteen, "Street Hassle" is Lou's "Stairway To Heaven" and one of my two or three favorite songs ever. "Hassle" tells the story of a drug addled couples' last night together. After the girl overdoses at a party and dies in the second movement of the song, these are the words sung from the point of view of the host of that fatal get together:

You know, I'm glad that we met man
It really was nice talking
And I really wish that there was a little more time to speak
But you know it could be a hassle
Trying to explain myself to a police officer
About how it was that your old lady got herself stiffed
And its not like we could help
But there was nothing no one could do
And if there was, man, you know I would have been the first
But when someone turns that blue
Well, its a universal truth
And then you just know that bitch will never fuck again
By the way, that's really some bad shit
That you came to our place with
But you ought to be more careful around the little girls
It's either the best or its the worst
And since I don't have to choose
I guess I won't and I know this ain't no way to treat a guest
But why don't you grab your old lady by the feet
And just lay her out on the darkened street
And by morning, shes just another hit and run
You know, some people got no choice
And they can't never find a voice
To talk with that they can even call their own
So the first thing that they see
That allows them the right to be
Why they follow it, you know, it's called bad luck

Simply staggering.

I had the good fortune to see Lou Reed in 1996 on his tour for his terrific album Set The Twilight Reeling. I don't mind telling you that when the house lights went down I was as giddy as a 13 year old girl at a New Kids On The Block concert circa 1990. And during the encore when me and my three buddies bum rushed the stage during "Satellite Of Love," the thought crossed my mind that if this night went on forever then that would be fine with me.

I will also share that when it came time to ask my girlfriend to marry me that Lou Reed was the soundtrack to my proposal. For this nerve-wracking moment in my life I chose Lou's "Think It Over" from his 1980 album, Growing Up In Public. It may be the most tender (although not sentimental---never that) song of Lou's career. "Think It Over" is about a guy who asks a girl that he knows he probably doesn't deserve to marry him. As Lou put it:

And so, he woke, he woke her with a start
to offer her his heart
for once and for all, forever to keep
And the words, that she first heard him speak
were really very sweet
he was asking her to marry him, and to
Think it over
baby, think it over
Think it over
baby, why don't you think it over

I was that guy. In fact, in a lot of ways I still am. Although Lou certainly didn't write that song for me, it sure felt like he did. Isn't this why we love music in the first place? Songs like this that seem to live inside you?

So, although my argument for Lou's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is---I believe---a sound one, I am far from impartial. Maybe you've had the occasion to talk to one of those former hippy, age of Aquarius types from the sixties, and heard them wax poetic about Bob Dylan. Well, Lou Reed is my Bob Dylan. In fact, he's more than that. He's the bard of the city streets, Shakespeare in a leather jacket, the King of New York. Let him in Hall of Fame, let him in.

Sumo-Pop
December 6, 2009

P.S. The song worked, she said yes. :)