LOU REED - TRANSFORMER @ 50

 

Celebrating half a century of walking on the wild side, it’s the sophomore solo LP from Velvet Underground main man, Lou Reed, with Transformer being released on this day, November 8th, 1972. It’s the album which would secure his place as a rock ’n’ roll legend and break him out from the shackles of cult obscurity into the realm of commercial accessibility.

After his years fronting The Velvet Underground, Reed had become infamous in certain circles, though his record sales would belie the far reach of his influence on the next generation of music makers who were starting to shape the decade of the 1970s. Principal among these was no less than the “Starman” himself, David Bowie, who had embraced Lou’s work and incorporated a number of VU songs into his live repertoire, including White Light/White Heat and I’m Waiting for My Man. Bowie had made reference to Reed on the liner notes for Hunky Dory and had struck up a friendship with him on his visits to NYC. After the failure of Reed’s eponymous debut to make any kind of commercial impact, Bowie and fellow Spider from Mars, Mick Ronson, offered to produce Lou’s next album and duly packed him off to London to record.

The duo proved to be the perfect conduit for Reed’s music and Ronson, in particular, ended up offering much more than production as he contributed session guitar, keyboards, recorder and, along with Bowie, backing vocals. Their prowess at the studio console was equally matched by the quality of the songs Reed brought to the table, several of which had been lurking around since the VU days. Andy’s Chest, Satellite of Love, New York Telephone Conversation and Goodnight Ladies had all been performed or demoed by the Velvets before they found their place on Transformer.

Overall, the album boasts a host songs which would become quintessential for Reed like Satellite, Vicious & Perfect Day, but the most significant of all has to be Walk on the Wild Side. It was released as a single and became a major hit and Lou’s most successful single ever. Over the years, it’s been used repeatedly in soundtracks for feature films and TV and become the most iconic piece of music Lou ever produced. It’s also one of his most controversial and prophetic songs. Given the evolution of transgender identity in the last 50 years, it can legitimately be seen as a flashpoint for igniting awareness of the culture within the minds of the mainstream. It’s gender bending was so unsettling for some that the single was edited in some markets and outright banned in others because of its reference to what was perceived as sexual depravity.

The cover for the album utilizes an image by legendary photographer, Mick Rock. The look of the photo was a total accident, however, as it came about when Rock overexposed the negatives. Lou loved the look and it ended up becoming the perfect image to represent the album.

At the time of its release, it became an immediate pillar within the “glam rock” scene of the early 1970s. Along with Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Bolan’s Electric Warrior, it was an album that was a must-have if you were part of that movement. Since then, it has become one of Reed’s most essential albums. Personally, my opinion is that, if you’re gonna have two Reed albums, you should have Transformer and Metal Machine Music though for entirely opposing reasons.