You go, Lou:



"What are you, a f*****g a**hole? I'm here telling you the truth about music and you want to know if I have stock in the f*****g radio? You f*****g piece of s**t. What did I do to deserve that?

Awesome.

Is he yelling at transvestites to get off his lawn?

"And I also wanna know what happened to the PICTURES I was supposed to see this week!"

Lou Reed: I'm here telling you the truth about music

Goodnight, funnyman.

"and you get off my g*d d*mn lawn too, you punk reporters...."

Lou Reed: I'm here telling you the truth about music

No you're not, Lou. You're pimping your product to the press -- in this case it's a radio show. You make good music, but your shiat stinks just as much as mine so come down off your high horse and quit acting like a giant douchebag just because your Lou F*cking Reed.

Answer the damn question or don't and move on.

Lou Reed is awesome, more people need to get told to fark off and he's happy to head this task.

ha ha ...just remember, last year Lou was playing some private corporate event here in SF, and pasrt way through the set he starts yelling at the sound guy to turn him up since everyone was so busy talking....

there was a clip on boingboing or something....

So...

What is the truth about music?

For someone who can't sing too well and can only play basic chords on guitar, he sure is full of himself.

Ok, to his credit, he has written a few good tunes. Big farking deal, so has Neil Diamond.

Lighten up Frances

serialkittenkiller: Lighten up Frances

When they invented the phrase "Lighten Up, Francis", they had Lou Reed in mind.

At least he is consistent.

dereksmalls: Ok, to his credit, he has written a few good tunes. Big farking deal, so has Neil Diamond.

Go back and listen to the first Velvets album, and then listen to everything else happening at that time. Really nothing like it. But I agree, Lou needs to get over himself and always has. He's not really well. You see when his parents found out he was a homosexual they sent him for shock treatments to cure it. He's never been the same since...

And yes Neil Diamond has written some very good songs.

Shorty Longstrokin: Answer the damn question or don't and move on.

Make no mistake, this reporter knew exactly how Lou would respond to the question and how it would make a much better read than Lou talking about the sound effects records he plans to play on the radio. I am sure he was actually thrilled about the answer. It's the frog and the scorpion, doing what they do.

John Cale's biatch.

dereksmalls: For someone who can't sing too well and can only play basic chords on guitar, he sure is full of himself.

Ok, to his credit, he has written a few good tunes. Big farking deal, so has Neil Diamond.

Yeah. It's not like he's Steve Vai or that Groban guy or anything.

Lou Reed is a douchebag who still hasn't gotten over the fact that in 1966, Verve Records put more promotion money into a group called The Mothers Of Invention than The Velvet Underground.

Boo-farkin'-hoo.

SOunds a bit tense.

I guess Laurie Anderson doesn't suck cock.

Should he have or shouldn't he have? And who's the "he"?

Doesn't matter. Taken all together, the article paints a pretty full picture of Lou Reed in a short space. Kudos to both.

Radio station wise, I'll trade Lou Reed to have John Peel back any day. No one will ever be as awesome as John Peel.

Lou Reed is a talented but surly man, so choose your questions very carefully


FTFY

Reed is a well known d-bag.

"Lou finds your list of questions inappropriate... he will not discuss either his music or his lyrics."

davynelson: Lou Reed is a talented but surly man, so choose your questions very carefully


FTFY

DIAF

Lou benefits from the emperor's new clothes syndrome. Critics are afraid to say his music is overrated and that he is basically an asshole. Hey Lou, you are no longer relevant. Why don't you go bother your son, Joe Piscopo?

ftfa: It's not out of New York anymore; it's all out of Brooklyn.

I'm not questioning his usage, since Lou Reed may as well BE New York, but really, can some NY Farker enlighten me -- when did Brooklyn de-incorporate from New York City? Or is this just Manhattan-centric bigotry on Lou's part?

I saw him in Knoxville about a month ago. Seemed like a good guy to me.

It was a fine question. The platform is still new enough, and Lou Reed is an investor in it. It has to do with the business side of the art. I'm sorry if Lou thinks he's too good, or too artistic to discuss it, but it is part-in-parcel of why he is being interviewed in the first place.

I'm a fan, but I wish he'd develope some class. It shows a certain lack of intellectualism on his part. It's sad and he should be ashamed of himself.

What an asshole.

MonkeyAngst: ftfa: It's not out of New York anymore; it's all out of Brooklyn.

I'm not questioning his usage, since Lou Reed may as well BE New York, but really, can some NY Farker enlighten me -- when did Brooklyn de-incorporate from New York City? Or is this just Manhattan-centric bigotry on Lou's part?

No, it's completely normal to refer to Manhattan as New York and call the boroughs by name. The movie "As Good As It Gets" had a perfect line of dialogue where a woman who lives in Brooklyn attempts to impress Jack Nicholson by saying "She works as a waitress...in the City".

Also, I love Lou Red's music but he is a legendary a-hole. Met him backstage at a show a couple years ago and he did not dissapoint. Cruel, insulting, and rude.

Go shill for your stupid scooter, douchebag

This is par for the course for Reed. I remember seeing him interviewed on The New Music (a Toronto-based tv show) many years ago. He and his band had no interest in answering the interviewer's (Daniel Richler) questions. He gave surly, pithy answers. Finally, Richler asked Reed if he'd just prefer to go back to rehearse for that evening's show. He said "yeah", and he and the band abruptly walked away.

MonkeyAngst: ftfa: It's not out of New York anymore; it's all out of Brooklyn.

I'm not questioning his usage, since Lou Reed may as well BE New York, but really, can some NY Farker enlighten me -- when did Brooklyn de-incorporate from New York City? Or is this just Manhattan-centric bigotry on Lou's part?

All 5 boroughs for New York City, but each borough is also a city/county onto itself:

Bronx = Bronx County
Brooklyn = Kings County
Queens = Queens County
Staten Island = Richmond County
Manhattan = New York County

ClemsonChili davynelson: Lou Reed is a talented but surly man, so choose your questions very carefully


FTFY

DIAF



Honestly dude, he's been riding on his rep for 35 years.
Every time a new album comes out and people say how good it is, it winds up sucking.

The only reason he CAN ride on his rep for 35 years is that morons continue to clap every time he takes a shiit.

Moving on. You've got a film out, you've got your radio show, you've got a new book of photography coming up - sand, vagina, much?

60% of you guys are morans. lou reed's a genius. he's a great artist. he invented punk. he wrote a whole mess of really awesome songs. he hasn't gotten anywhere near the respect he deserves. if you're interviewing mark twain, do you ask him about his coffee or the situation in sudan? lou reed's one of the very few people in this world whose opinion about art and music valuable, and i like seeing him remind idiot money-obsessed reporters about that.

"What are you, a f*****g asshole? I'm here telling you the truth about music and you want to know if I have stock in the f*****g radio? You f*****g piece of s**t. What did I do to deserve that?


Translation: I have lots of stock in the f*****g radio.

mrEdude:

The only reason he CAN ride on his rep for 35 years is that morons continue to clap every time he takes a shiit.

who contributed more to post-hippie music than lou reed? its a really short list. i don't think all his stuff is good, but honestly, who can compare to his body of work?

Lou Reed is not very good. It is a well known fact that his father fought for the Nazis in WWII and actually tortured Jews in Warsaw. When the young lou reed was being tucked in bed as a child, he would giggle and be delighted as his father recounted those stories to him. I think that speaks volumes about the guy right there.

pubes: Lou Reed is not very good. It is a well known fact that his father fought for the Nazis in WWII and actually tortured Jews in Warsaw. When the young lou reed was being tucked in bed as a child, he would giggle and be delighted as his father recounted those stories to him. I think that speaks volumes about the guy right there.

is it all trolls?

from wiki:

Reed was born into a Jewish family in 1942 at Beth El Hospital in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, New York.

jewish, in america, during the war

goodbomb: is it all trolls?

Geebus, no kidding. First it's the guy posting links to Stormfront-related sites in the Detroit thread, and now this crap.

Someone must have left a terminal unlocked at the 'tard home.

It's nice to occasionally refresh your memory on the joy and love that is Lou's relationship with the press. Maybe I'll go put on Live: Take No Prisoners and listen to his Robert Christgau harangue for old time's sake.

goodbomb: 60% of you guys are morans. lou reed's a genius. he's a great artist. he invented punk. he wrote a whole mess of really awesome songs. he hasn't gotten anywhere near the respect he deserves. if you're interviewing mark twain, do you ask him about his coffee or the situation in sudan? lou reed's one of the very few people in this world whose opinion about art and music valuable, and i like seeing him remind idiot money-obsessed reporters about that.

Look, I am a total Lou fanboy -- I even chose to go to college at Syracuse because Lou went there (couldn't think of a better reason to pick a college, didn't want to go but glad I did now of course) and even I think this is a bit much. Lou is a douchebag, and anyone who has met him, even for a moment, will probably agree.

Lou didn't invent punk, but he did bring rock an avant garde/urban chic aesthetic it had lacked before. When he wrote "Heroin" (1966), these were the top 10 songs of the year:

1. The Ballad Of The Green Berets, Sgt. Barry Sadler
2. Cherish, Association
3. (You're My) Soul And Inspiration, Righteous Brothers
4. Monday, Monday, The Mama's and The Papa's
5. 96 Tears, ? and The Mysterians
6. Last Train To Clarksville, The Monkees
7. Reach Out I'll Be There, Four Tops
8. Summer In The City, Lovin' Spoonful
9. Poor Side Of Town, Johnny Rivers
10. California Dreamin', The Mama's and The Papa's

So he was one of the first rockers to go against the grain and push the envelope of what was acceptable as rock art. And many of the early punks (Television, Patti, Ramones, Dictators, etc) viewed him a a major influence, along with The Stooges and The Dolls.

You can say Lou Reed invented The Pixies. And I will never forgive him for that!

The Dynamite Monkey:

oh come on. the pixies are cool.

you're basically right about lou. I'm sure he's an asshole, and really this was kind of ridiculous behavior. he could have made his point without being a baby.

but its not just hip urbanness. its realistic songs, distortion, anti-hippieness. the velvet underground, who inspired the stooges and were the dolls' new york forefathers, are the moment in music when hip optimistic sixties idealism lost momentum and hip dark pessimistic seventies badness became the real art form.

the 'sixties' style died out and the velvet underground style survives to this day though in an embarrassingly crappy form (indie rock?).

ROFLMAO. God, I farking love Lou Reed. LOVE him.

Plus he's married to Laurie Anderson, whom I also love.

downtownkid: MonkeyAngst: ftfa: It's not out of New York anymore; it's all out of Brooklyn.

I'm not questioning his usage, since Lou Reed may as well BE New York, but really, can some NY Farker enlighten me -- when did Brooklyn de-incorporate from New York City? Or is this just Manhattan-centric bigotry on Lou's part?

No, it's completely normal to refer to Manhattan as New York and call the boroughs by name. The movie "As Good As It Gets" had a perfect line of dialogue where a woman who lives in Brooklyn attempts to impress Jack Nicholson by saying "She works as a waitress...in the City".

Also, I love Lou Red's music but he is a legendary a-hole. Met him backstage at a show a couple years ago and he did not dissapoint. Cruel, insulting, and rude.

Sounds like my kinda guy. No patience for idiots.

/Magic and Loss

I think Lou has just earned himself a spot high on the list of http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/

goodbomb: 60% of you guys are morans. lou reed's a genius. he's a great artist. he invented punk. he wrote a whole mess of really awesome songs. he hasn't gotten anywhere near the respect he deserves. if you're interviewing mark twain, do you ask him about his coffee or the situation in sudan? lou reed's one of the very few people in this world whose opinion about art and music valuable, and i like seeing him remind idiot money-obsessed reporters about that.

You understand little anout journalism, and evidentally only appreciate "low art." Which is fine, but take off the blinders.

Also, to suggest that anyone is exempt from ansering a fair question is exceptionally retarded. You are in this camp.

/Again, I am a Lou Reed fan.
//Again, he's shown himself to have very, very little class.

The more things change, etc... Here are the founders of Punk Magazine recounting their interview with Lou back in the 70s:

Legs McNeil: So I went up to Lou and I said, "Hey, we're gonna interview you for our magazine!" You know like, "Aren't you thrilled?" I had no idea of what we were doing. Then Holmstrom said to Lou, "Yeah, we'll even put you on the cover!" Lou just turned around, real deadpan, and said, "Oh, your circulation must be fabulous."

Mary Harron: They would ask, "What kind of hamburgers do you like?" Like student journalism, and I thought, Oh god, who are these guys? What are they doing? What are you asking these stupid questions for? Then Lou Reed started showing some of his famous nastiness. He was mean to Legs. Very mean. And I was upset about that, actually. I thought he was quite devastating really. But Legs and John didn't seem to mind.

There's more stuff like this in Legs McNeil's book "Please Kill Me", including Lou meeting Amos Poe and asking him if he would like for him (Lou) to shiat on his face. Good way to break the ice, I guess.

I'm a huge Lou Reed fan. His more recent stuff has been sort of so-so, but damn, he wrote some classic songs. The best concert I've ever seen was Lou Reed in a soccer stadium in Madrid during the "New York" tour. Encore was "Satellite of Love". One of my fondest memories.

But yeah, even though he's a great artist, all indications are that he's a huge douchebag of a human being.

One of those artists I've never cared for or about. I honestly don't think the music world was enriched by his existence nor would it be diminished by his disappearance.

The only emotion I feel about Lou Reed is the fear that if I heard "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" one more time I will fillet the person closest to me with a dull paring knife.