[Samseau]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/l...1-20131027

Quote:

"Produced" by Warhol and met with total commercial indifference when it was released in early 1967, VU’s debut The Velvet Underground & Nico stands as a landmark on par with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde. Reed's matter-of-fact descriptions of New York’s bohemian demimonde, rife with allusions to drugs and S&M, pushed beyond even the Rolling Stones’ darkest moments, while the heavy doses of distortion and noise for its own sake revolutionized rock guitar. The band’s three subsequent albums – 1968’s even more corrosive sounding White Light/White Heat, 1969’s fragile, folk-toned The Velvet Underground and 1970’s Loaded, which despite being recorded while he was leaving the group, contained two Reed standards, “Rock & Roll” and “Sweet Jane,” were similarly ignored. But they’d be embraced by future generations, cementing the Velvet Underground’s status as the most influential American rock band of all time.

Pretty much one of the all time greats died today, Oct 27th. Post your favorite Lou Reed songs here!

[Marlfox]

RIP

[Kimber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ88oTITMoM

My net is fucking up so i can't access the embed codes.

Wild Side - spent a few good car trips across the Australian desert with my father listening to this song.

[Vaun]

bummer, vastly influential, one of the fathers of punk and alternative. I think in the next few days we will see how influential he actually was with tributes.

[Roadrunner]

What! I guess it was his time to take a walk on the wild side.

Maybe my band will cover a song of his out of respect.

[Pyre]

Very cool.!!!! RIP!!

[teh_skeeze]

Lou Reed was the shit. Mainlined many bags of dope listening to him. Probably a good thing he died a poetic death and died on Sunday morning because if it was yesterday, I'd be high as fuck right now.

[Quintus Curtius]

He was one of those milestone figures in rock history.
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is my favorite from the debut album...I assume Reed wrote it and Nico just did vocals.

[iknowexactly]

from one of his songs:

I am tired
I am weary
I could sleep
for a thousand years

[bodmon]

one of my top 5 favourite recording artists. his music kept me company during my college years.

[Therapsid]

My concern is, why did he die at 71?

71 isn't old enough to die of old age for most people in the West anymore.

It's almost kind of young.

My dad is Lou Reed's age.

Apparently he had a liver transplant recently. Just some months ago.

It's obvious that it wasn't a successful transplant. But why did he have liver problems to begin with?

The lesson is that alcohol and drugs killed the man, probably ten or more years ahead of schedule. Mourn but learn.

[Samseau]

^ Reed was mired in the junk

[AnonymousBosch]

(10-28-2013 12:13 AM)Therapsid Wrote:  

My concern is, why did he die at 71?

71 isn't old enough to die of old age for most people in the West anymore.

It's almost kind of young.

Average US male life expectancy is 76. Which means there's a great mass of men sitting to the left of it on the left of the bell curve. Has to be someone.

Carpe Diem.

[Vendetta]

Why couldn't it be good news? Like Justin Bieber killed in car crash.

See ya Lou....

[rhino]

Lou was great and all (R.I.P.)

BUT

his most famous song (Walk on the Wild Side) was in the Top-40 back in 1972.

That was 40 years ago.

And it was the very last time he was featured in the Top-40.

Recent article in the RS mag about the old rockers who are still performing in their 70s (unwittingly) exposed just how irrelevant these dinosaurs really are.

It's eye-opening in that they were completely unable to resonate with the successive generations of the contemporary audiences for really, really long time.

To borrow our dictionary, that's just bad game. But, unfortunately, "bad game" is the only game possible then.

Because it seems that any music acts can only be possibly mega-popular when they are young (in their 20s, and maybe 30s but only if they first had success in their 20s.) Middle-aged and after they just can't reach the mass-young audiences of the day no matter what. Sure, they may pull in some youth with their live concerts, but that's in thousands as opposed to millions if they had a Top-40 hit.

There's allegory to game here. In that you can only really slay young poosey when you are in your 20s and up to your mid-30s. After 40 the door is closed. Sure you can still get daddy freaks here and there, but that's an audience in thousands as opposed to millions.

Being Cool, Sex God, turns out, is really a sport designed and intended for the young.

*

Mick Jagger: Last Top 40 Hit: "Rock and a Hard Place" (1989)

Paul McCartney: Last Top 40 Hit: "My Brave Face" (1989)

Paul Simon: Last Top 40 Hit: "You Can Call Me Al" (1986)

Brian Wilson: Last Top 40 Hit: "Getcha Back" (1985)

Bob Dylan: Last Top 40 Hit: "Gotta Serve Somebody" (1979)

Art Garfunkel: Last Top 40 Hit: "Wonderful World" (1978)

B.B.King: Last Top 40 Hit: "I Like to Live the Love" (1974)

Lou Reed: Last Top 40 Hit: "Walk on the Wild Side" (1972)

Chuck Berry: Last Top 40 Hit: "My Ding-a-Ling" (1972)

Little Richard: Last Top 40 Hit: "Ooh! My Soul" (1958)

[Vendetta]

Who gives a fucking shit about being in the top 40? You know who's in the "Top 40"?

Cunts like:

Justin Bieber, James Arthur, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, James Blunt, Jason Derulo, Jason Mraz, Kanye West

AKA

The most talentless group of wankers ever to claim the title of musicians and artists.

FUCKING PATHETIC!

One Lou Reed song would destroy the output of that entire group's life careers combined!

Fuck the "Top 40" of nowadays.... Real music ended in the 90s.

[rhino]

Obviously my point went over your head.

[michelin]

Inspired my street game...one of the greatest songs ever.

[Vendetta]

(10-28-2013 03:25 AM)rhino Wrote:  

Obviously my point went over your head.

How's that? Because you claim it's an "allegory to game"?

It's a notion based on shoddy foundations so I don't agree with it.

Youth is relative - 40 is young to a 60 year old. 30 to a 50 year old and so on.

Let's say 15 years is acceptable to a large number of females.

That's 24 to a 39 year old - easily achievable

30 to a 45 year old - easily achievable


So it's not that your point went over my head. Rather, that I considered it a moot point to begin with.

[Teedub]

Shame he survived long enough to make that woeful Metallica album.

IT'S A JOKE, FRIENDS!

Although that album was appalling.

[bodmon]

(10-28-2013 12:13 AM)Therapsid Wrote:  

My concern is, why did he die at 71?

71 isn't old enough to die of old age for most people in the West anymore.

It's almost kind of young.

My dad is Lou Reed's age.

Apparently he had a liver transplant recently. Just some months ago.

It's obvious that it wasn't a successful transplant. But why did he have liver problems to begin with?

The lesson is that alcohol and drugs killed the man, probably ten or more years ahead of schedule. Mourn but learn.

lettuce be cereal, the dude should've ODed in the early 70s lol. he lived 40 years past his expiry date.

[ColSpanker]

I'm going to play "Sister Ray" all day. Popa Lou might've been an absolute asshole in real life, but he was a great artist.

[Roustabout]

As to Rhino's point, I think the issue with older artists not scoring top 40 hits goes more to the age and gender of the the buying market as opposed to the ability of artists to produce work that is relevant to younger generations. Aren't teenage girls the biggest buyers of music? If true, naturally a guy like Lou Reed is not going to score a top 40 hit. Plus, he and other artists such as Dylan and Springsteen aren't writing for that market (thankfully!). So, I agree with Vendetta, who gives a fuck about the top 40. Hell, even a guy like John Mayer, who was all over the top 40 not so long ago, seems to have trouble scoring hits now (and he's a damn talented guitar player). But, as we all know, talent does not equal top 40 success.

Lou Reed probably didn't give a shit about the top 40, and the people putting artists into the top 40 don't give a shit about him. So, Reed's record buying market will grow smaller and smaller over time as his fanbase dies off, quits buying music (i dont' buy as much music now as I did when I was a teenager or in my 20's). In my mind, the reason older artists can consistently draw crowds on the touring market is that a lot of fans such as myself will always go to see an act live regardless of whether or not they like the new music being put out by that artist. Fore example, I like the Rolling Stones' early 70's music enough that I will always pay to go see them live regardless of whether or not I like any of the new songs.

As to my favorite Lou Reed song, "Rock N Roll."

[rhino]

(10-28-2013 03:23 PM)Roustabout Wrote:  

As to Rhino's point, I think the issue with older artists not scoring top 40 hits goes more to the age and gender of the the buying market as opposed to the ability of artists to produce work that is relevant to younger generations.

That's sort of what I'm saying.

You can have a hybrid megastar made up of Jagger, Morrison and Hendrix, with the side of Lou Reed, but if he's older he still wouldn't be able to reach American youth widely. Obviously it's not because the genius is incapable of coming up with great stuff, but because the youth of the day is unable to recognize the genius. Or rather, the youth is unable to care about it, because it's never really about genius, but about age + look paradigm of the music act. The Beatles of the day went massively popular despite the initial lack of genius ("She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah") and they did it because they were 21-years-old + cute. Do we really believe they'd have the same success if they were singing She Loves You starting at age 41?

Look at that magazine list: none of them had a top-40 hit after the age of 40. There's a reason for that. American youth doesn't like to associate with the "old".

1.) Biologically it really isn't compatible.

2.) Coolness factor isn't there: 40/50-year-old rocker to a 20-year-old chick is something that her mom listened too (ewww factor.)

(10-28-2013 03:23 PM)Roustabout Wrote:  

As to Rhino's point, I think the issue with older artists not scoring top 40 hits goes more to the age and gender of the the buying market as opposed to the ability of artists to produce work that is relevant to younger generations.

Hence, what I said about the game. It's not that some 50-year-old player can't be cool. It's that most young chicks will systemically not be able to recognize it as such.

[Samseau]

Rhino, I do know of a good counter example, although what you say is generally true.

Flaming Lips. Pulls a young crowd every time.



Lead singer is 52. Wayne Coyne. Been making music for decades, and he's one of the rare ones who has gotten better with time. Reported to still use heroin!