Talk:Lou Reed

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Contents 1 The Ostrich 2 Shock therapy 3 Lost Highway 4 Faraway, So Close 5 Birthplace 6 Needs image 7 PFFFFFFT 8 birthplace, shock treatment 9 Congratulations and thanks... 10 Velvet Underground 11 Nico 12 Busking? 13 Updating this article 14 Laurie Anderson 15 Recent Photo

[edit] The Ostrich

I think describing this as a "hit" is overstating things. It didn't chart. Pickwick liked it, it got a very small amount of airplay and a band was formed to perform it at low key events but that's about it. Tigerman 2005 15 Oct 06

[edit] Shock therapy

Wasn't Lou Reed, as a teenager, submitted to electroconvulsive therapy by his parents, who feared he was homosexual? David.Monniaux 11:56, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Yes, i read this in a few music magazines (rather from the "Rolling Stone" shelf) that this is true.--M. Alexander 15:44, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Doesn't he sing about it in "Kill Your Sons" as well? Also, he is mentioned in the list of famous people who have undergone ECT. I have not enough information besides this to add it, so I'll leave it to some one else, though.

Absolutely he did. The top paragraph has it right. I have a Lou Reed bio which has the details so if I find it I will edit. Technically it was for "anti-social behaviour/characteristics" which was code for his parents fearing he might be gay and other rebellious things like joining a rock band.

[edit] Lost Highway

Lou Reed has a song on the Lost Highway soundtrack (1997) ("The Magic Moment") Sajt 00:52, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

If you've seen the movie "Prozac Nation" (Which, in fact, has Lou Reed in it). You'll notice the main character writing a paper on Lou Reed, in which she states that the song "White Light/White Heat" was loosely based on his shock therapy treatment. Whenever he had to endure the therapy, he would see a white light.

[edit] Faraway, So Close

Some mention should probably be made of his appearance in Wim Wenders's Faraway, So Close!--Squiddhartha 22:20, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Birthplace

According to Victor Bockris' "Transformer", Reed was born in Brooklyn, and his family moved from Brooklyn to Freeport in 1955.

[edit] Needs image

I didn't know much about Reed (embarassed myself the other day about his race), so it would help me, at the least. An album crop might do, or a free publicity still. -- nae'blis _(talk) 17:19, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Here are some pictures of him already existing, the cover of Street Hassle might be a fair choice.

Added a small one from one of the fan sites linked from his official site so that it shouldn't be a problem. Could certainly find him looking more outrageous, but that should probably be placed in context within the article. --Ccoll 08:52, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] PFFFFFFT

When did lou reed sing punk or anything resembling punk?! This article is severely WRONG in many things. First: The Godfather of Punk is Iggy Pop's NICKNAME.

Well, he is on the cover of Punk #1. That said, I would rather the article focus on what Lou Reed himself did, rather than immediately jumping to what he influenced. And it should be obvious that a nickname is hardly formal. It could be said rightly or wrongly about anyone. So I don't mind losing it from the article, but not because Iggy or someone else "is" the Godfather. Ccoll 01:29, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] birthplace, shock treatment

Wasn't Lou born some where out on the island (long island)? I thought not in brooklyn but somewhere in long island, and yes, according to a concert brochure at wolf trap where I saw Lou perform, he was subjected to schock treatment as a kid for suspected homosexuality.

Born in Brooklyn, however his family moved to Freeport, Long Island when he was 12.

[edit] Congratulations and thanks...

...to everyone who contributed on what seems (to this non-expert) to be one of the better articles we have. --bodnotbod 21:16, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground "gained relatively little notice during its life" ?? I thought it gained plenty of notice -- just didn't sell many albums.

relatively. Joeyramoney 20:50, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nico

Someone recently edited the text about Nico to point out that he and Reed were "gay lovers" rather than "lovers" as it said before. Anyone else think this is just gratuitous and should be removed? Aguerriero (talk) 13:19, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

It's a true fact. Frankly I think that without the mention the text is misleading to those who don't know who Nico is. --Sindri 14:03, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

I know it's a fact; it just seemed like someone was going in there and saying, "They were not standard lovers, you see. They were gay lovers." as if it's something different. It is already mentioned earlier in that paragraph that Nico was a male model. No biggie, it just struck me as borderline "commentary" rather than just stating the fact. Aguerriero (talk) 14:13, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Nico was a woman. I've never seen anything to suggest she was ever anything other than female - she had a son with Alain Delon. --ajn (talk) 14:28, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

My bad, I assumed it was true sinche someone posted a complaint about mentioning gayness instead of just removing vandalism. --Sindri 14:31, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Heh, sorry about that misunderstanding. I am a member of the Counter-Vandalism Unit and not all that familiar with Lou Reed. I had actually just looked up Nico and was coming back here to fix the vandalism. Aguerriero (talk) 14:58, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, with Reed's bisexuality and his circle of cross-dressers and transsexuals it's never easy to tell (Lester Bangs writes about meeting Reed's "girlfriend" Rachel, and noticing a five-o-clock shadow). Nico had a fairly deep voice, but I think that was due to cigarettes rather than male hormones. My recollection is that Reed doesn't believe in bisexuality - he thinks you're either gay or straight, and that he was gay for several years in the seventies and is straight now. I can't remember if I own Victor Bockris's biography of Reed, or if it's discussed in VB's biography of Warhol. --ajn (talk) 15:09, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Nico was undisputibly a woman. Wwwhhh 08:30, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Busking?

The latest edit mentions Lou Reed having been a busker during "his formative years." Is there any source for this? And as the article is written currently, I think we need a more specific date; I'm not sure the point fits where it was placed. Ccoll 18:53, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Reed and Cale did busk during the early days of their friendship but it isn't overly relevant IMHO. Tigerman 2005 15 Oct 06

[edit] Updating this article

This article could use a good and a clean re-editing and some proof reading. It would be great if this article could further expand on the time from 1990 or 1991 for when Lou Reed got around to writing Magic and Loss concerning Doc Pomus. It would be great if it could all lead up to The Raven for 2003. Lou Reed has seemed to have a tremendous and a focused spike of new inspiration and talent during all of this time.
www.geocities.com/berniethomas68 14:17, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Laurie Anderson

Someone added an unsourced statement to the Laurie Anderson article that she and Lou are now married. I cannot find any source to verify this so I removed it from that article. I assume if Reed and Anderson had married there would be some press coverage of this fact. If anyone can offer a reputable source confirming this, however, please feel free to add it to Laurie's article. (PS. an IP is showing up in my signature as I got logged off; this message was left by User:23skidoo.) 23skidoo 15:07, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Agree with removal - I looked around and could'nt find anything either. Though he was married previously, the claim is probably false - Coil00 12:24, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recent Photo

Is there not a more recent and a permissible photograph of Lou Reed from 2006 to use rather for than what was 32 years ago at the top of the article to use ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Berniethomas68 19:19, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and have written at least one note about it in the edit summaries. I had an 80s head shot, much more representative of what the man has actually looked like for most of his career, at the top of the page for some time, until it was replaced by the "animal" look, which is appealing but not really as informative.Ccoll 05:33, 9 December 2006 (UTC)