Remembering Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942 at Beth El Hospital (now Brookdale) in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Reed was the son of Toby and Sidney Joseph Reed, an accountant. His family was Jewish; his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed. Reed later said that although he was Jewish, his real god was rock ‘n’ roll.
Lou was a troubled boy. He was diagnosed with mental conditions. Lou was depressed, anxious, and socially unresponsive, and those were his good points. He was given Electroconvulsive therapy ECT – to combat his homosexuality. Apparently they showed him pictures of naked guys and then shocked his ‘nads!
Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground were so far ahead of their time, we still haven’t caught up. In 1965 as the rest of the world was singing about holding hands and dancing, Reed was writing about heroin use and homosexuality.
After leaving the Velvet Underground, Reed moved to his parents’ home on Long Island, and took a job at his father’s tax accounting firm as a typist,-earning $40 a week. Imagine walking into get your taxes done and there is Lou Reed sitting at a desk typing away.
No one embodied the dark cool side of New York City more than Lou Reed. Heck he invented it. He was and always will be “The King of New York”. “The Godfather of Punk”. Cool AF in leather and dark shades. Lou Reed died on October 27, 2013.
Remembering Lou on his birthday! Thank You for the music Sir! We Love and Miss You!
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