{"id":272764,"date":"2025-11-09T07:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272764\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T07:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T07:26:12","slug":"on-this-day-in-1972-lou-reed-released-the-landmark-glam-rock-album-that-petrified-david-bowie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272764\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in 1972, Lou Reed Released the Landmark Glam Rock Album That \u201cPetrified\u201d David Bowie"},"content":{"rendered":"

With his conversational lyricism, deadpan delivery, and refusal to ignore those on the fringes of society, Lou Reed has inspired everyone<\/a> from Lana Del Rey to the Killers\u2019 Brandon Flowers. Getting his start as the guitarist and singer for the Velvet Underground, Reed was alt before alt entered the public consciousness. After leaving the band in 1970, the \u201cVenus in Furs\u201d singer went on to enjoy an enormously impactful solo career, releasing 20 studio albums before his death in 2013 at age 71. On this day in 1972, Lou Reed released the album that would come to define his post-Velvet Underground era.<\/p>\n

Why Lou Reed Intimidated David Bowie<\/p>\n

Despite the buzz surrounding it, Lou Reed\u2019s self-titled solo debut ultimately fell flat. Even Reed admitted that while it contained<\/a> some of his best songwriting, \u201cthe production sucks.\u201d However, the New Yorker found a cure for what was ailing his music. That cure\u2019s name was David Bowie, who had been a longtime fan of the Velvet Underground.<\/p>\n

The pair met through their record company, RCA, at a time when Bowie was at his pinnacle following 1972\u2019s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Although Bowie was objectively more famous than Reed at this point, the \u201cStarman\u201d crooner initially balked<\/a> at their label\u2019s suggestion that he produce the ex-Velvet Underground member\u2019s next album.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was petrified that he said, \u2018Yes\u2019, that he would like to work with me in a producer capacity,\u201d Bowie told Classic Albums. \u201cI had so many ideas and I felt so intimidated by my knowledge of the work he had already done\u2026Lou had this great legacy of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overcoming his initial hesitancy, Bowie teamed up with guitarist Mick Ronson to produce a \u201cgritty, realist\u201d<\/a> depiction of downtown New York City, Reed\u2019s hometown. In addition to producing the album, Ronson also played lead guitar and piano and wrote string arrangements<\/a>, including on Reed\u2019s signature song \u201cWalk on the Wild Side.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Controversial Lyric Reed Had to Change<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, Lou Reed\u2019s Transfomers illuminated the often grimy corners of downtown New York. \u201cI just wrote about people I knew and where I come from,\u201d he told Classic Albums.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: 3 Times Lou Reed Put Other Musicians in Their Place]<\/a><\/p>\n

This is especially true in \u201cWalk on the Wild Side,\u201d which touched on topics such as gender identity and substance use. However, it wasn\u2019t the line, Shaved her legs and then he was a she, that fans took issue with. Reed would eventually change the original lyric, And the colored girls go \/ Doo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-doo, removing the word \u201ccolored\u201d at the behest of his fans.<\/p>\n

Pink Floyd\u2019s Roger Waters recalled discussing<\/a> Reed\u2019s decision with him when their paths crossed in the Caribbean. \u201cI said, \u2018Don\u2019t you think your fans know you well enough to know that you\u2019re not racist?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWell, you know what Lou\u2019s like, he was very phlegmatic. He said, \u2018Well, these people, they wanted me to change it\u2026\u2019 and he felt he should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured image by Gijsbert Hanekroot\/Redferns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With his conversational lyricism, deadpan delivery, and refusal to ignore those on the fringes of society, Lou Reed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7514,64,63,24740,134,158520,158521,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-272764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-1970s","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-david-bowie","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-glam-rock","14":"tag-lou-reed","15":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}