You, Me and Lou Reed - Television Personalities

You, Me and Lou Reed - Television Personalities

2:57

You, Me and Lou Reed E.P., 1993

Written by Dan Treacy

Who's Lou?

Yet another band I've never heard of, TVP is a post-punk outfit influenced by, pace Wikipedia, Jonathan Richman and the Sex Pistols (what a lineup).  This song is a jangly, lo-fi exercise in nostalgia (it also cites Hendrix and the Rolling Stones).  Over a VU-style riff, singer Dan Treacy delivers the lyrics in a half-spoken, desultory nasal style, ironic yet intimate. 

Shoulder Pads 1 - The Fall

Shoulder Pads 1 - The Fall

1:56

Bend Sinister, 1986

Written by Mark E. Smith and Brix Smith

Who's Lou?

The Velvet Underground's influence is pretty clear on this driving post-punk track, although it's even more apparent on "Shoulder Pads 2," appearing later on this album.  I like the whistling motif, which is not very Velvety.   The song seems to be a diatribe against people the narrator finds uncool: "Walked, at shoulder, down the street, ridicule / They couldn't tell Lou Reed from Doug Yule."  The shoulder pads of the title might refer to the silly fashions of the '80s or possibly the pads worn by jocks.  It's not clear to me if Smith is being ironic and also targeting the uber-hipster who puts everyone down.

I've Been Tired - Pixies

I've Been Tired - Pixies

3:00

Come On Pilgrim, 1987

Written by Black Francis

Who's Lou?

Amid a primitive beat and feedback (until the loud part two minutes in) Black Francis yelps a crazed dialogue between a man and a woman in a bar.  It's not much of a meet-cute.  "I said, 'I want to be a singer like Lou Reed' / 'I like Lou Reed,' she said, sticking her tongue in my ear."  It's a wild, lurching blast of alt-rock with demented pickup lines, jagged riffs, and basement-show energy.  It’s brash, messy, and weirdly charismatic.

Hugo! - Too Much Joy

Hugo! - Too Much Joy

2:23

Son of Sam I Am, 1988

Written by Tim Quirk, Jay Blumenfield, William Wittman, Sandy Smallens, and Tommy Vinton?

A sort of proto-emo power pop with a sly wink and a sneer.  They remind me of Sum 41.  The Hugo of the title here is Hugo Burnham, the drummer for the Gang of Four.  The song is about the disappointment the narrator feels in artists that make money, specifically citing Lou Reed and the Clash.  "Another hero has failed me / He's a guest VJ on MTV / Jack's in his corset, Jane's in her vest / Lou's hawking scooters and American Express."  I have no patience for starry-eyed idealists who believe in the ridiculous concept of "selling out," but it's a fun tune I guess.

Summer Girl - Haim

Summer Girl - Haim

3:25

Women In Music, Pt. III, 2020

Written by D. Haim, E. Haim, A. Haim, Rostam Batmanglij, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Lou Reed

Who's Lou?

An ethereal soft jazz-pop track, with a nice saxophone line and based off of the "Walk On the Wild Side" riff, for which Reed got a songwriting credit.  The song was inspired by Rechtshaid's cancer diagnosis and is meant to be sunny and positive despite the bleak news.  "Walk beside me, not behind me / Feel my unconditional love."  

Hey Lou - Liz Phair

Hey Lou - Liz Phair

2:42

Soberish, 2021

Written by Liz Phair and Brad Wood

Who's Lou?

A not entirely light-hearted jab at Lou Reed.  "What's inside that heavy head? / Are you on the junk again? / Your eyes look dead / But your mouth keeps moving on and on."  She accuses him of "acting like an asshole" and "talking shit about Warhol again."  Phair's vocals are great and the peppy melody, with handclaps and echo, keep it from being too heavy-handed.

Rock And Roll Heart - Lou Reed

Rock And Roll Heart - Lou Reed

3:06

Rock And Roll Heart, 1976

Written by Lou Reed

Lou Reed gets anthemic, sort of.  It's a low-key groove that trades Reed's usual grit and snarl for a smooth, almost loungey vibe.  He's just looking for a good time, you know?  It has one of Lou's corniest couplets: "I guess I'm just dumb, 'cause I know that I ain't smart / But deep down inside, I got a rock 'n' roll heart."  He's staking out a new identity on a new album, with a sly shrug.  Maybe it's really Lou Reed this time, or maybe it's just "Lou Reed."

Charley's Girl - Lou Reed

Charley's Girl - Lou Reed

2:39

Coney Island Baby, 1975

Written by Lou Reed

One of Reed's more cheery-sounding songs, this has a simple but very catchy riff (it has a faint echo of "Walk On the Wild Side"), a reserved vocal, and even cowbell.  The narrator bemoans the fact that someone, possibly the law, has come down on him.  They said to watch out for Charley's girl: "Man, she's going to turn you in."  And how here they come trying to break up the band.  Somehow Sharon is at fault.  It's not entirely clear.  I would prefer another verse from Reed instead of an ad nauseam chorus, but at this length everything is all right.

Legendary Hearts - Lou Reed

Legendary Hearts - Lou Reed

3:25

Legendary Hearts, 1983

Written by Lou Reed

This song addresses conflicts between an idealized world of love and fidelity (the "good" Lou Reed), and the reality of struggling with weaknesses like drugs, rage, and selfishness (the Lou Reed of the albums).  It's a pretty and stately tune built around Fernando Saunders' bass, with a slow, almost country sound.  The narrator tells us that one must fight for love, fight for what's right.  "No legendary love is coming from above / It's in this room right now."

Some Kind Of Nature - Gorillaz featuring Lou Reed

Some Kind Of Nature - Gorillaz featuring Lou Reed

2:59

Plastic Beach, 2010

Written by Lou Reed, Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and Remi Kabaka Jr.

A song, like its album, that evokes an environmental apocalyptic wasteland.  An unusually dry and lugubrious-sounding Reed rattles off fragment-visions of an artificial, toxic world over a deceptively bright beat.  "Well, me, I like plastics and digital foils / Could wrap up the sound and protect the girls."  Reed's detached, could-not-give-a-shit vocals really sell the whole package.  Indifference is what will get us in the end, until all we have is misplaced hope.  "It's got to come and find us / All we are is dust."

Iced Honey - Lou Reed & Metallica

Iced Honey - Lou Reed & Metallica

4:35

Lulu, 2011

Written by Lou Reed, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo and James Hetfield

The album this song is on was panned on its release and time has not softened the reception, although it's obviously perfectly of a piece with previous Lou Reed experiments like "The Murder Mystery," "White Light/White Heat," "The Gift," and "Like a Possum."  I think people who reviled this album were more Metallica fans than Lou Reed junkies.  The lyrics are, as is often the case for Lou, somewhat abstract: "No matter what you say, no matter what you do / A butterfly heart flies right past you / There's nothing to say, nothing to do / See if the ice will melt for you."  But Reed's guttersnipe sneering vocal delivery and the pounding, ferocious music give this project a real punch.  I love to hear Reed and Hetfield's voices blending on the last lines.

Devil Or Angel - The Clovers

Devil Or Angel - The Clovers

2:26

The Clovers, 1956

Written by Blanche Carter

A gentle doo-wop ballad.  The narrator is infatuated with a lady, but can't figure her out.  "You look like an angel / Your smile is divine / But you keep me guessing / Will you ever be mine?"  Not sure what makes the lady a possible devil, other than not being interested in him?  This encapsulates the teenage, puppy love mindset of pop music of this era.  The group's signature vocal blend is on full display here: smooth, rich harmonies framing the tender, questioning lead. There's a gospel-rooted emotionality here, with the call-and-response style lending intimacy to the push-pull theme.  The sparse arrangement, led by soft piano and brushed drums, keeps the focus squarely on the vocals. 

The Love Me Or Die - C.W. Stoneking

The Love Me Or Die - C.W. Stoneking

3:54

Jungle Blues, 2008

Written by C.W. King

Stoneking is a modern artist mining the old, old delta bluesy jazz traditions.  In his vocal pitch and delivery in this song, he reminds me a bit of James Mathus, who obviously draws from the same well.  This track's also got a Calypso vibe.  I was somewhat bemused to find out that not only is Stoneking white, he's Australian!  But genre is free, and Stoneking rides that freeway like a gothic riverboat captain.  In this song, amid a primal beat and swaying trumpets, the narrator performs a bad hoodoo on a hapless lady named Matilda, and she dies.  "I studied evil, I can't deny / Was a hoodoo charm called a Love Me or Die / A fingernail, a piece of her dress / Apothecary, devil's behest."  

Come Rain Or Come Shine - Ray Charles

Come Rain Or Come Shine - Ray Charles

3:43

The Genius Of Ray Charles, 1959

Written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, 1946

This song comes from the musical St. Louis Woman, which closed after 13 performances, but had a couple of songs that became standards.  Here it's a languid, string-backed ballad with a full choir of backing vocals.  It begins with soft, muted trumpets and gradually gets louder and more brassy.  Charles' perfect phrasing delivers those vocals like no other.  "Days may be cloudy or sunny, yeah / We're in, or we're out of the money, yeah / I'm with you always."

You Or Your Memory - The Mountain Goats

You Or Your Memory - The Mountain Goats

2:15

The Sunset Tree, 2005

Written by John Darnielle

Tha narrator is in a hotel room, seemingly afraid.  Nervously peering out the curtains.  Preparing for somehing, but what?  "Lord if I make it through tonight / Then I will mend my ways and walk the straight path to the end of my days." He's got some aspirin and some liquor.  Is he trying to come off the meth and up for a hard night of DTs?  Or just a long dark introspection of the soul?  The song is sorrowful, but calm, somehow optimistic despite it all.

Tu veux ou tu veux pas - Marie France

Tu veux ou tu veux pas - Marie France

2:58

Marie France visite Bardot, 2009

Written by Pierre Cour and Carlos Imperial, 1969

This song is adapted from a Portuguese song and first recorded in 1969; I haven't heard the Bardot version.  France is a transgender singer who started recording in the 1970s.  This song is a burst of campy glamour and cheeky attitude. Her delivery, both sung and spoken, is playful and assertive, riding the bouncy, retro-pop arrangement with cabaret flair and knowing charm.

Coney Island Baby - The Excellents

Coney Island Baby - The Excellents

2:09

single, 1962

Written by Peter Alonzo and Vincent Catalano

An archetypical doo-wop number.  It's a love song.  "Just the two of us here on a blanket of love

Writing love letters in the sand."  Lou Reed played this song when he was still college kid and named his 1975 album after it.  It's sweet, it's sentimental, it's a classic of the genre.

When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Charlie Rich

When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Charlie Rich

2:52

I'll Shed No Tears - The Best of the Hi Recordings, 1988 (recorded 1966)

Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter

The title says all you need to know about the lyric.  It's an expression of love: when the narrator's baby is upset, he can't be happy.  "If she's got a problem, I'd know / You'd know I've gotta help her solve it."  Rich's vocal is full of feeling; he sings it like he's got hurt on his mind.  I think of Rich as a country artists, but here the music is swelling and orchestral, with an ascending drum line that could be on any soul record, sweet background vocals, and the occasional blues guitar riff.

Baby It's Hot - The Olympics

Baby It's Hot - The Olympics

2:06

single, 1962

Written by Dewey Terry and Don Harris

A doo-wop song with a fast-paced talking vocal that crams each line with a lot of syllables.  The lyrics are a goofy play on how hot it is outside.  "My wife told me to go out a cut the grass / I thought I'd lay down a bit just to let the sun pass / I saw an ant carrying a piece of bread as big as me / He was sweatin' so hard, so I put him out of his misery."  It's not exactly earth-shaking music, but it's a fun song.  Not everything can be U2 or Pink Floyd.

Cherry Oh Baby - Eric Donaldson

Cherry Oh Baby - Eric Donaldson

3:20

Eric Donaldson, 1971

Written by Eric Donaldson

This song was the first and biggest hit for the Jamaican singer, and was covered by both the Stones and UB40.  I never took notice of it, though I'm sure I must have heard the Stones version at some point.  The original is great!  It's got a terrific, impassioned vocal by Donaldson, and a tight, midtempo reggae beat built around organ and bass, that gets your head bobbing.

Are You Lonely For Me, Baby - Al Green

Are You Lonely For Me, Baby - Al Green

3:58

Al Green Gets Next To You, 1971

Written by Bert Berns

This guy is getting on the last train for Jacksonville.  Or maybe a bus.  Some kind of vehicle, anyway.  Look, it doesn't matter.  What's important is that he wants his baby to be there when he steps off the bus.  Because he's sorry.  And he's got to say he's lonely.  "Let me tell you that I'm lonely, baby / I want to fool around all night long."  Al Green is a funkier Sam Cooke here, serving all this loneliness up with a majestic R&B horn section and ornate organ flourishes while the background singers repeat the title over and over.

Hey Hey Hey - Michael Franti & Spearhead

Hey Hey Hey - Michael Franti & Spearhead

3:46

The Sound Of Sunshine, 2010

Written by Michael Franti

I've followed this guy since the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy Days.  It's been quite the musical journey.  I'm glad he's past his faux-gangster days.  This song has a sort of Cali-reggae beat.  It's an infectious, fist-pumping anthem of positivity.  Even though there are gangs and guns and drugs, "There's a crack in the gutter where a flower grows / Reminding me that everything is possible."  And "Don't let nobody ever tell you that it couldn't be done / Don't let nobody ever tell you that we couldn't be one."

Hey, Look Me Over - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney

Hey, Look Me Over - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney

2:09

recorded for radio, 1962

Written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, 1960

This song was written for Lucille Ball for the musical Wildcat, but I only know it through Louis Armstrong's perfect version.  This one uses bright, metallic percussion, cymbals and probably a xylophone or one of its cousins, and an organ, as a backdrop to Clooney's brassy, expressive voice and Bing's laid-back charm.  It's a fine demonstration of their talents, but they don't exactly make the song their own.

Hey Little Girl - Dee Clark

Hey Little Girl - Dee Clark

2:15

Dee Clark, 1959

Written by Otis Blackwell, Bobby Stevenson

This is an example of the unfortunately large number of early rock 'n' roll songs about young co-eds that the singer wants to date.  "Hey, little girl in the high school sweater / Gee, but I'd like to know you better."  Perhaps, you hope, the school girl in question is in college despite the sweater?  "A-wearin' that crazy skin-tight skirt / And that crazy Ivy League shirt."  So, maybe?  Still pretty creepy.  Over a Bo Diddley shuffling beat, Clark croons the lines in a playful, high tenor, making it easy to nod along rather than cringe at the content.

Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - Lionel Hampton and his Ochestra

Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra

3:19

single, 1946

Written by Lionel Hampton and Curley Hamner

According to Wikipedia, despite the writing credit, this song is essentially a rewriting of Helen Humes' 1945 R&B hit "Be-Baba-Leba", which in turn was closely related to "Ee-Bobaliba" by Jim Wynn.  What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.  Anyhoo, this is a bouncy big band jazz with the title repeated at least twenty times, along with a couple of nonsense couples about King Tut or "mama on the cot."

Hey Tomorrow - Jim Croce

Hey Tomorrow - Jim Croce

2:46

You Don't Mess Around With Jim, 1972

Written by Jim Croce

In this gentle acoustic ballad, the narrator apostrophizes tomorrow, vowing to really change this time.  "Hey tomorrow you've gotta believe that / I'm through wastin' what's left of me."  Set against a sparse acoustic guitar, Croce's voice is tender and weathered, delivering each line with the quiet gravity of someone who's been through it.  He just needs a little more time to begin again, and don't we all?

Meaningless - Jon Brion

Meaningless - Jon Brion

3:23

Meaningless, 2001

Written by Jon Brion

Over lush power-pop à la Big Star or Matthew Sweet, with a few quick rock guitar lines, Brion sings of the memories that form around otherwise meaningless things when you experience or see them with a loved one, and how those memories linger after the love is gone.  It's a tightly-written pop gem that packs a big punch lyrically and probably should have made more of an impact on the charts (or been released in 1968).

Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds

Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds

2:23

single, 1958

Written by Jody Reynolds and Dolores Nance

This was a top-ten hit in 1958.  I had never heard of Jody Reynolds and was, I guess, not very surprised to find out he is a dude!  He's mostly a rockabilly artist, I gather, but this song is a slow dirge with echo-flooded vocals, accompanied by a desultory guitar strum.  The narrator had an argument with his lady, and she ran to the sea.  It's not clear if she meant to kill herself.  "Why did we quarrel, why did we fight? / Why did I leave her alone tonight? / That's why her footsteps ran into the sea / That's why my baby has gone from me."  Bleak.  But the record company made him tack on a happy ending.  Sellout!

Endless Wire - Gordon Lightfoot

Endless Wire - Gordon Lightfoot

4:05

Endless Wire, 1978

Written by Gordon Lightfoot

"I ain't got nothin' to hide / My mind is an endless wire," asserts Lightfoot in his pleasant, well-modulated baritone.  I'm not sure what this song is all about — a failed love or a pined-for lover? — but it builds tension over its runtime.  There's drama and imagery at least, if it is all a little rote, with a not-especially interesting guitar solo in the middle. The three verses are lyrically very similar, as well.

Another Sleepless Night - Jimmy Clanton

Another Sleepless Night - Jimmy Clanton
2:12
Jimmy's Blue, 1960
Written by Neil Sedaka

Apparently Clanton is the king of "swamp pop," a genre I had never heard of until now; it's a pop influenced by Cajun country and rhythm and blues.  However, I hear very little of that in this particular track, which is a pretty straightforward late-1950s style teen heartthrob pop.  There's a faint Fats Domino swing to it, but not enough to put this in its own genre.  Anyway, it's a lost love song.  "Shadows fall, and I recall / The love that you once had for me."  Simple but touching lyrics by Sedaka.  And a quick peek into the studio by way of a few phrases of studio banter at the beginning.  Did they sneak an H-bomb in there on the original pressing?

Breathless - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Breathless - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

3:13

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus, 2004

Written by Nick Cave

When Cave writes a love song, he damn well makes everyone on Earth join in.  "The sky of daytime dies away / And all the earthly things they stop to play / For we are all breathless without you."  Over a blend of baroque pop and tunes from timeless English ballads comes a flow of images tumbling over one another and tumbling straight out of Romantic Age Christian hymns.  "The happy hooded bluebells bow / And bend their heads all a-down."  Come to think of it, is this song delivered to a woman or to a child or to God?  Maybe yes.