Don’t get me wrong, I like Lou Reed, but if I didn’t know who he was and listened to his stuff now, I might think this was some guy parodying a sleazy small-time lounge singer, singing schmaltzy lyrics and perhaps deliberately screwing up his voice and making it off-key for comedic effect. (I’m thinking of “Satellite of Love”, “Perfect Day”, “Caroline Says” and so on.)
So do people take him ironically (now or back then)? Did he intend to be ironic with those songs?
I am by no means a Lou Reed expert or even major fan, but “A Perfect Day” is one of my favorite songs, but I find it ironic and well-sung at the same time, not deliberately comedic. “Satellite of Love”, while not my favorite, does seem a little more tongue in cheek.
We can only hope.
I’ve never understand Lou’s appeal. He has, quite possibly, the most limited voice in music. It’s not a monotone, but possibly a duotone - he sings songs going back and forth between two notes. The most egregious example of this was his appearance on a project called “One World/One Voice” back in 1990. Various musicians would add their bits, and the song would jump through styles - Afrika Bambaataa, Laurie Anderson, Clannad - amazing music, and a tour of wonderful music from all around the world. Then Lou’s bit happens. And the melody, which had been played in all sorts of wonderful styles, becomes Lou sort of chanting, alternating between two notes (possibly more, but you’d need a spectrum analyzer to identify those notes).
Maybe he’s a great and talented songwriter, but I’ve rarely heard his songs covered by other artists. And his limitations are so painful that I’ve never been moved to want to explore his work.
Anybody who has the stones to release Metal Machine Music gets props from me.
Hell yeah!
I had to special order the CDs from Germany back in the 80s. I love this album!
Is that the one that’s literally nothing but feedback?
Yeah, that’s the one. It’s strangely compelling to listen to. It reminds me of John Coltrane’s avant garde phase when he was doing albums like A Love Supreme and Ascension.
No? Here’s where you can start:
All Tomorrow’s Parties: Siouxsie and the Banshees
I’m Waiting for the Man: Cheap Trick
Sunday Morning: Beck
Femme Fatale: REM
White Light/White Heat: David Bowie
Walk on the Wild Side: Vanessa Paradis
Perfect Day: Duran Duran
Rock ‘n’ Roll: Jane’s Addiction
Sweet Jane - The Cowboy Junkies
Sister Ray - Joy Division (heh)
Caroline Says - The Soft Boys/Robyn Hitchcock
Heroin: Mazzy Star
Venus in Furs: Smashing Pumpkins
Pale Blue Eyes: Counting Crows
Here She Comes Now: Nirvana
Satellite of Love: U2
Oh thanks for the reminder- Sweet Jane is my other favorite song, but I admit I like the Cowboy Junkies version better.
I think Lou Reed’s ‘style’ is intended to be very much that of a storyteller, and so he can get away with sing-song stuff since the lyrics are more to the front. I like a lot of his songs, but more in the I-love-when-he-comes-up-on-Shuffle sense than the I-could-listen-to-his-albums-all-day sense.
It’s true that he has a very limited voice, but despite this fact he’s able to express a wide range of emotions like anger, despair, rage, despise or ennui with it in a sometimes perfect way. (Yes, it’s his lyrics too, but there’s more to it).
And don’t forget that he is a songwriter in the first place, and also a sound obsessed guitar player.
Just to add: Concerning cover versions of his songs, almost everybody has at least covered one Velvet Underground song. His solo work, not so much.
Heroin: Roky Erickson
Satellite of Love: Grant-Lee Hill/Robyn Hitchcock
Femme Fatale: Big Star
There She Goes Again: R.E.M.
I Found a Reason: Cat Power
Perfect Day: Kirsty Maccoll
I’m Waiting For The Man: David Bowie
Rock and Roll: The Runaways
I think that the OP was being too generous in praising LR’s range. I don’t think he really even has two tones, but I think the confusion is in the fact that LR does, indeed, have two, or possibly more, volume levels.
I love his banana album, tho.
hh
Maybe not technically a cover, since it appears on a Lou Reed album, but there’s a stunning remake of “Perfect Day” sung by Antony Hegarty on The Raven.
The “Classic Albums” DVD on Transformer has some fascinating sequences where the engineer highlights David Bowie’s backing vocals from the multitrack tape, demonstrating what a huge contribution Bowie made to that album. Meanwhile, Reed himself croaks out rough acoustic renditions of a bunch of the songs, demonstrating that he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.
He was a hipster before you were a hipster. 