Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Lou Reed dead at 71

Very sad...

The Velvet Underground was a seminal group in the avant-garde 60's rock scene.

A very influential and interesting group...and his death at only 71 is certainly premature.
 
I saw Lou Reed once at the Bottom Line in NYC back in the 70's. The guy was ultra cool and I loved his music. It's sad my generation is slowly dying off. Even though I'm "only 61", it makes me feel my own mortality :(
 
RIP Mr. Reed. Thanks for the music.


Mr. McMac said:
I saw Lou Reed once at the Bottom Line in NYC back in the 70's. The guy was ultra cool and I loved his music. It's sad my generation is slowly dying off. Even though I'm "only 61", it makes me feel my own mortality :(
Click to expand...

Spent many a night at the Bottom Line in the late 70s.
 
OllyW said:
The Velvet Underground & Nico is one of the most influential albums of all time, even though it was ignored when it was released.
Click to expand...

Never cared too much about that one, but "New York" is one of my favorite albums.
 
Yes, just heard this news from my brother. And 71 is young - too young to die - these days, notwithstanding the abuse some of these guys and that generation put their bodies, minds, (and who knows? Perhaps, their souls, as well) through back in the days when they thought they were immortal.

For my part, I have always loved the exquisite bittersweet song 'Perfect Day', and spent a lot of time listening to some of his albums, oh, many years ago, strongly influenced by an avant-garde French family who admired him.
 
He did have a liver transplant but it was earlier this year. Hadn't heard anything about him in a while. This was quite a shock.
 
I'm a shallow jerk.

How do I know this? The only two Lou Reed tunes in my 13,000+ iTunes collection: Perfect Day and Take A Walk on The Wild Side.

But then, you knew that already, didn't ya?

Lou Reed wasn't the easiest artist to warm up to. He famously released Metal Machine Music, an hour-long collection of guitar/amplifier feedback played at various speeds. (Even Lou Reed admitted to not having listened to it all the way through.) He walked out of an interview with Terry Gross of Fresh Air, for Pete's Sake! (The only other person to do that, I think, was FoxNews blowhard Bill O'Reilly)

Despite this, we're all a bunch musically richer for having lived in a world with Lou Reed in it. Rock On, my brother, wherever it may find you...
 
vrDrew said:
I'm a shallow jerk.

How do I know this? The only two Lou Reed tunes in my 13,000+ iTunes collection: Perfect Day and Take A Walk on The Wild Side.

But then, you knew that already, didn't ya?

Lou Reed wasn't the easiest artist to warm up to. He famously released Metal Machine Music, an hour-long collection of guitar/amplifier feedback played at various speeds. (Even Lou Reed admitted to not having listened to it all the way through.) He walked out of an interview with Terry Gross of Fresh Air, for Pete's Sake! (The only other person to do that, I think, was FoxNews blowhard Bill O'Reilly)

Despite this, we're all a bunch musically richer for having lived in a world with Lou Reed in it. Rock On, my brother, wherever it may find you...
Click to expand...

I guess people won't be looking so far down on that album Metallica did with him now.. :)

Seriously, one of the things I that I only put one and one together with yesterday was with his song Satellite of Love, and how that set the tone for Def Leppard's Rocket. Joe Elliot even mentioned it in their episode of Classic Albums: Hysteria. I only heard Reed's song for the first time yesterday, and finally got what Def Leppard was coming from!

41 years since Satellite of Love (granted, it came out 2 years before I was born) and 27 years since Hysteria, and I finally get it..

BL.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Yes, just heard this news from my brother. And 71 is young - too young to die - these days, notwithstanding the abuse some of these guys and that generation put their bodies, minds, (and who knows? Perhaps, their souls, as well) through back in the days when they thought they were immortal.
Click to expand...

71 is typical for this generation of men to be honest. Those born in early 70's we're looking at 10yrs more, 80's/90's another 10yrs more.

That said I, I didn't know of this person - I'm not that influenced by older Rock'N'Roll ... however I do respect his contributions and I'm very saddened that these innovators ... REAL MUSICIANS are dieing at an alarming rate ... leaving us with Mylie Cyrus, that fake rapper from Toronto (I'm always trying to forget his name as I'm also from and living in Toronto - he never came from the bottom and made it to the top - he was a child star on 2nd generation of Degrassi High), and the like.

Music is loosing quality talent and proper expression ... maybe it's because there is no real soul in music lately ... no real purpose behind the lyrics and too much focus on lights camera action and looks.
 
Supa_Fly said:
71 is typical for this generation of men to be honest. Those born in early 70's we're looking at 10yrs more, 80's/90's another 10yrs more.

That said I, I didn't know of this person - I'm not that influenced by older Rock'N'Roll ... however I do respect his contributions and I'm very saddened that these innovators ... REAL MUSICIANS are dieing at an alarming rate ... leaving us with Mylie Cyrus, that fake rapper from Toronto (I'm always trying to forget his name as I'm also from and living in Toronto - he never came from the bottom and made it to the top - he was a child star on 2nd generation of Degrassi High), and the like.

Music is loosing quality talent and proper expression ... maybe it's because there is no real soul in music lately ... no real purpose behind the lyrics and too much focus on lights camera action and looks.
Click to expand...

You may not have been influenced by old rock'n roll but rock'n roll was influenced by Velvet Underground.

Velvet Undergound, Patti Smith, MC5, The Stooges, The Dictators, New York Dolls, Television, and on and on. They sorta paved the way for what is rock now.
 
i was fortunate enough to see lou reed twice and both shows were of exceptional quality

such a unique personality & songwriter

he'll be greatly missed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back