Just woke up to the news Lou Reed has passed.  End of an era.

Will be much missed. 

wow, so sad, such a great artist, thanks for the music and memories Lou RIP.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed. The loss of another musical legend.
 

The Velvet Underground

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
This article is about the band. For its self-titled album, see The Velvet Underground (album). For the book, see The Velvet Underground (book).

The Velvet Underground
Also known as	The Warlocks The Falling Spikes
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Art rock, experimental rock, protopunk, avant-garde, psychedelic rock, drone, noise
Years active	1964–1973, 1990, 1992–1994, 1996
Labels	Verve, Atlantic, Polydor, MGM, Mercury, Cotillion
Associated acts	Nico, Theater of Eternal Music
Past members	Lou Reed John Cale Sterling Morrison Angus MacLise Maureen Tucker Doug Yule Walter Powers Willie Alexander

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band, active between 1964 and 1973, formed in New York City by Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists.

Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited by many critics as one of the most important and influential groups of the 1960s.^[1] In a 1982 interview Brian Eno made the often repeated statement that while the first Velvet Underground album may have sold only 30,000 copies in its early years, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."^[2]

Andy Warhol managed the Velvet Underground and it was the house band at his studio, the Factory, and his Exploding Plastic Inevitable events. The provocative lyrics of some of the band's songs gave a nihilistic outlook to some of their music.^[3][4]

Their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (which featured German singer Nico, with whom the band collaborated), was named the 13th Greatest Album of All Time, and the "most prophetic rock album ever made" by Rolling Stone in 2003.^[5][6] In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band No. 19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".^[7] The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, by Patti Smith.

Hell we're all getting old.....71 ain't too shabby.

Hi Blitzen.......:)

Hey, Moons!!
 

Hope your well.........

I am thanks. Just taking a break from the PDB .

I was waiting for your input Blitzen! Maybe even hoping you had a Rolling Stones cover! I have been missing you!

I don't know if Reed ever made the cover, but this is a great shot of him in his younger years.

In the book "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk", Reed recounts being subjected to electroshock treatment as a teenager, which was prescribed in an attempt to 'cure' him of his bisexuality.  He said the effect was loss of memory, and described himself as "a vegetable" afterward, saying, "You can't read a book because you get to page 17 and have to go right back to page one again."  

Given that experience, I am even more appreciative of Reed's songwriting skills... 

"One fine mornin', she puts on a New York station
And she couldn't believe what she heard at all
She started dancin' to that fine-fine-fine-fine music
Ooohhh, her life was saved by rock 'n' roll
Hey baby, rock 'n' roll"

Indeed.  Bet he never thought he'd see 71 back when he wrote that.