Lou Reed is a legend. He got his start with the Velvet Underground, a really influential band from the 1960's and early 1970s. Lou Reed's solo work is also unique. This song is probably the biggest hit he had. It's about certain people at Andy Warhol's place the Velvets hung out at.
The first verse is about Holly Woodlawn who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Florida before finding her way to New York City in the 1960's. The second verse was about Candy Darling who was from Long Island. They both were actresses in Warhol's films and were both transgender women. Little Joe was Joe D'Allesandro another Warhol actor who came to same mainstream fame in that field. It's Joe's, um, crotch that is the cover of Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album. Sugar Plum Fairy was the name of the character Joe Campbell in the Warhol film, My Hustler. He was also the one-time lover of Harvey Milk who was infamously assassinated in 1978.
David Bowie produced that record for Lou Reed. He hired his saxophone teacher to play that solo. Backing singers were often women of color back then, so the line follows, but they own the song and that's why the volume grows on their line after the last chorus to make them foreground singers. I remember hearing this on the radio when I was a kid in the seventies. The lyrics flew way over my head back then. I think they flew over the tops of many heads back then, either that or too few cared to make much of a fuss. All the people in the story were real people by the way.
I dont believe no ill intent.."color girls"..I believe he was paying homage to backup singers..who were looking for a break..being possible discovered..
That line honors them not anything else. Those girls made this song far better. And the line exactly how it was. You don't say white girls referring to them when they are poc. Be proud. Its a masterpiece.
This song hit when I was in middle school, and just like everyone else stated, the lyrics went over my head. Later on, when I was starting to hit the SF and NYC "scene" you could actually meet these people at underground clubs and just by hanging out. I'm talking Lou, Bowie, David Burn, Debra Harry, etc. They were accessible, unlike the stars of today. Having grown up in the blue collar neighborhoods of SF, it was our way of breaking out of the societal restrictions and just listening to the music. WE didn't give two shits about what you were about (that was your business and yours alone), only that the music was good. These topics were absolutely taboo and weren't ever brought up in polite conversation back then. So, Lou broke some glass ceilings. As to the "colored girls" comment, it was more of an accolade to the musicians and singers out there. Back in those days, it was still edgy to have mixed bands. Again, another topic not mentioned.
Read “Just Kids” by Patti Smith. A blinding biography. Already swept away by “Walk On The Wild Side”, I become obsessed by a song called Kimberly, by Patti Smith, after listening to it on a particular pirate radio station called Radio Caroline (Any old listeners still out there?) From which, I discovered “Horses” and then became obsessed with Patti Smith herself, buying every record she produced. The reason why I am saying all this, is that all of this was the sort of music and culture that a young East London teenager (more used to shoving six lace holes up a Millwall supporter’s arse on a Saturday evening) was born for. Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and even that tortured genius Mapplethorpe gave me a new perspective on “underbelly living”.
his song is about the superstars of Andy Warhol's factory - the transvesite superstars Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling and Jackie Curtis. Also included is Joe Dallesandro (Little Joe). The song is basically a biography about them.
Nah son. I'm from NYC, I'm older. That's NYC bro. That's what makes this song great even if you a hip hop fan. Stories. I grew up in the 90s cutting class discovering all of NYC on a train pass as a teenager. Dudes making out in Chelsea, dope fiend zombies in Tompkins Sq Park, fake Rastas with dirt weed in Washington Sq Park. C'mon you guys knew. Great time to be alive.
I'm from NYC, I'm older. That's NYC bro. That's what makes this song great even if you a hip hop fan. Stories. I grew up in the 90s cutting class discovering all of NYC on a train pass as a teenager. Dudes making out in Chelsea, dope fiend zombies in Tompkins Sq Park, fake Rastas with dirt weed in Washington Sq Park. C'mon you guys knew. Great time to be alive.
"Colored Girls" I'm pretty sure he was just being tongue and cheek. It was a different world back then. I wonder if they would even play this song on the radio today?
they play this song on the radio today? due to to fact it better then anything that is being written today even though it was recorded in1973, by the way the Album was produced by D Bowie and M Ronson and sax may of even been Bowie
I was 15 when this song came out & I went around singing it everywhere. I didn't know or care what the lyrics meant (imagine my surprise when I figured it out later) I loved the vibe. Great reaction Biz.
If people insist on noting skin color, I don't see how 'colored' is somehow more "offensive" than 'black' -- if anything, 'colored' sounds more inclusive/diverse .... ( yes, yes, I forgot that someone decided that 'colored' was offensive and the sheep followed ... )
@@watchbizmatik "No one can tell someone else what to be offended by" Exactly -- and since there is no way to have a definitive standard that we all agree on, then either we allow everything (all speech) or we allow nothing. ( and by 'we', I mean our society )
Makes me laugh that no reactors notice the line "Looking for soul food AND a place to eat." He even emphasizes it mentioning the Apollo theater in Harlem.
Andy Warhol had a hang out / gallery called The Factory....it was a hang out for artists (music and fine) and bohemians in NYC. "the island" is Long Island. Lou Reed hung out there. BTW. the term "colored girls" was an acceptable term in America at this time period.
Lou Reed was way ahead of his time with trans acceptance. I was in high school in the 70's when this came out, and we accepted and grooved with it. We got it, and it was fine.
The famous twin bass line was played by Herbie Flowers: he played both a stand-up bass and an elecric bass to create that massive sound. The sax solo at the end was played by Ronnie Ross, David Bowie's sax teacher when he was a kid. (the album was recorded in London because Bowie was a huge fan of Lou's). The backup vocals were by Thunderthighs, a trio of women who had some success on their own later on in the '70s on UK pop charts. BTW, none of them were "colored." LOL.
This is a song about real people who were part of Andy Warhole's factory in the New York art and music scene of the late sixties, early seventies. Each segment is a true story.
This came out when I was 12 and I loved it even though I didn't know what some of it meant. lol My friends and I would sing it at the top of our lungs whenever it came on the radio. It's good that none of the moms were cool enough yet to get it either. 😂 I think you'd love "Temporary Thing". It's my favorite Lou Reed song.
Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced the album this song is from (Transformer), and Bowie added his backing vocals, acoustic guitar, and keyboards here..The bass is played by Herbie Flowers who had played on an estimated 500 hit recordings by the end of the 70's!
Lou in my estimation, was a storyteller, who was based from his time in NYC, policy aware, called out hypocrisy from politicians and religious zealots. Thanks for the listen. 👍👍
I was 13 when this song came out. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t censored. I now have all Lou Reed’s albums, along with the Velvet Underground. Thanks for reacting to this.
Holly Woodlawn,Candy Darling, & Jackie Curtis were transgender Warhol Superstars.. Little Joe Dellesandro was a Warhol actor & his character in one of his movies was a hustler. The back room was the back room of Max’s Kansas City a famous bar, restaurant music club ( upstairs) of the 60s & 70s… Lou was a writer of the streets, a great champion of people who are marginalized in society. Sadly he died in 2013, but he did song & “the girls go” later at his live shows.
This is from the early 70’s, Biz. “ Colored” was the commonly used term at the time . It’s definitely questionable to say it now for sure!! Lou was describing the Andy Warhol followers in NYC. Biz, you are one cool and open minded dude!❤
The song came out in the Fall of 1972 as a single. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, Candy was a transvestite as well. People still used to say "colored" during this time period.
"Walk On The Wild Side" got a ton of airplay on the radio throughout the 70's and 80's. I don't think that would be the case if it was released today in 2023.
About the group of transvestites that were the entourage of Andy Warhol back in the late 60s, early 70s. Somewhere online you can read the history of everyone named in the song.
Joe D'Alessandro and all the others I always thought of Andy Warhol´s crowd as a group of people who found a real family with each other, a place where they were accepted and not judged for who they were. Heard this when I was 13, 14 am 60 now it is timeless. About the colored girls there was a time where nobody would spend a single day looking for things to be offended about...
It would not be banned in FL. Stop believing the political hype. I moved from NYC in 2004 to South FL. This is the mostly openly gay state I've ever lived in. There are whole gay neighborhoods. You can tell by the gorgeous landscaping, great restaurants, clubs. Bars, gyms and stores. We all get along here. Turn off the news and come and see for yourself. Dont forget AOC visit during the lockdown to South Beach. What bar did she go to? How about the CNN anchor with his husband down here too.
1972. I remember singing along to this as a little kid, having no idea what any of it meant. I think, unfortunately that lyric does reflect a reference that was used fairly commonly in that time that is felt as a derogatory term to contemporary ears. I was curious as to its use historically. This is kind of interesting (from Wiki): The term came in use in the United States during the early 19th century, and it then was adopted by emancipated slaves as a term of racial pride after the end of the American Civil War until it was replaced as a self-designation by Black or African-American during the second part of the 20th century. I enjoyed your reaction. All the best.
This was on the radio a lot back in the day. I was actually pretty young and didn't quite get what he was talking about until I heard it much later. It's still a great song and I don't turn it off if I happen to catch it playing. I'm glad you liked it.
"Walk on the Wild Side" is a song about REAL people who populated Andy Warhol's NYC art studio known as "the Factory". The people named were all born men, but it was a gender-fluid environment. Side Note: Lou Reed was a member of the band The Velvet Underground, which was basically the Factory's 'house band'. Essentially, Billy Joel wrote a song portrait of the real life piano bar patrons he observed; he called it "Piano Man". Lou Reed did the same a year or so earlier with this song, painting a portrait lyrically with the people Lou knew at the Factory.
My best friend's sister back in the late 60's and early 70's was part of the Warhol Gang and I met some of them like Jackie. Try listening to Reed's Vicious and Sweet Jane.
Hi @BizMatic, the Transformer album was produced by David Bowie, a very good friend of Lou Reed. I think you can hear his influence very well. Anyway, transformed on the way across the states from he to she says he felt in the wrong body. That in '72 Lou Reed already sings about transsexuality is only the second time someone has done it. Before that, only the Kinks did it with "Lola" in '68. Best regards @all from hamburg (germany)
I love your analysis. So few reaction videos take a deep dive into the lyrics. Especially punk pioneer Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. And as for “the colored girls”…. What year did this come out and what does NAACP stand for?
I like how the song is counter culture, in the most casual manner imaginable. That one term about the ladies isn't popular now, but it didn't offend anyone at the time.
"Walk on the Wild Side" is from Lou Reed's classic 2nd solo album "Transformer". The album is ranked as #109 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Other great tracks are "Vicious", "I'm So Free", "Hangin Round", and "Perfect Day". Great, great album.
I grew up with this song, and "the colored girls" was common vernacular. I would feel uncomfortable saying or singing it today and would probably replace it with "and the other girls sing..." Because THIS SONG IS TOPS.
it is remarkable to remember this song was played on AM radio and became a huge hit.... there was a time when the mass commercial culture was very open to creative things... largely because of the influence of the Beatles... but it didn't last that long and eventually accountants and other dullards turned radio into just another boring thing
3:40 - remember, this is 1972. "Colored girls" was about as politically correct as it got back then. I was on active duty at the time. Most of the restaurants at that time still had 4 bathrooms. We've come a long way. But we had to start somewhere, and you can't change a country in a day, or a month, or a year. It takes generations.
Also look at what we say now. People of color. In 20,30 40 years will people look at that say "wow I can't believe they said that" Also back then black female back up singers were in huge demand. So he was commenting on the fact that they were who everyone wanted to sing backup on songs.
PICTURE SOMETHING FOR ME IN YOUR MIND, please. Do you know what New York City was like in the 70’s? It was a burnt out Wild-West with a completely broken police system - Where the COOLEST MUSIC AND COOLEST PEOPLE were invented and hung out. The 1970’s in New York changed the world. Almost every genre of music came from that little spot of space and time. Hip hop, punk, disco… it is where WE are all from. NOW PICTURE THIS FOR ME, please… Lou Reed walking down the street the way New Yorkers do, in the middle of the night in a city that NEVER sleeps. With a relaxed,, PACED, but absolute and resolute gait, just noticing the world, smoking a cigarette, Now picture what he’s thinking with that pace.. with some subconscious guitarist following with that pace. There were hookers and addicts on every corner. AND YA KNOW WHAT, we ALL get to where we are somehow. And you cannot judge SH*T, if you own humility. This was recorded in 1972. Lou Reed was ahead of his time.
AND “An the colored girls go… Doo duh do foot duh do do foot do do doooo…….” THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM. Picture Motown, picture the choir in a church that says what it means. The soul of the pace in the eyes of God AND the Sinners…. We are all here. Please try to take it in the proper context. IIT WAS A COMPLIMENT IF ANYTHING.
In one of the first takes of A Day In The Life, John Lennon counts in the song by saying, "Sugar Plum Fairy, Sugar Plum Fairy". Was that drug available back then and was that what John was referencing?
That heavy groove is an aggressively played upright bass fiddle, what makes it so cool is the electric bass part playing cool slides and harmonic counter melody. Rather unusual to need 2 bass players to cover a tune. Had the pleasure of being in a band in the 80’s that covered it a few times. I was playing rhythm guitar and auxiliary keys with them 5 nights a week and the bassist suggested that I learn the electric bass parts. We didn’t have a regular sax player so we rarely played it. Within a year we started having more of and more horn players pop in just to play this song. One of them shows up one 😅night with a couple friends and they joined us for a couple of Skynyrd songs. Fun times.
Just to give a vignette of my own, when I came to San Francisco in 1982, I was good friends with a "African-American" Breakdancer (very popular at the time). My English was shit, but getting better but growing up in Italy, I didn't know many black people. One day I asked him something, don't remember what, about black people. He looked down on me and told me, "i am not black, I am colored". I was duly castigated ,when one of his friends made fun of him for coming from (the midwest/east coast? It was a lifetime ago) and still using "colored". He said, "man, we black, the italian dude is right" (or something along those lines, again, a lifetime ago). I was more confused than ever but we remained good friends until he moved out of town. Lou Reed used of "colored" was the accepted term in that time and place. I know it sounds terrible to our modern ears, and there are things we did and said that were never OK at any time, but the use of "colored" is not one of them. Spell out NAACP for fun. For the record, if you want to learn more about Lou Reed's "Take a walk on the wild side" Polyphonic did a video on it. Each of those people were real people. They lived (and some died) among us, they are not just poetic devices. Here is the video: th-cam.com/video/y0fFpwHSAvg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HAkEa31iB_rLlSNr I was alive but a child when this shit was going down, but "wild side" was one of the soundtracks of my adolescence. I went to see Lou Reed and Patti Smith at a venue outside Rome when I was in high school. Pretty epic.
Candy "Cane" Darling was a transvestite; there is a very sad documentary about her. Little Joe starred in several gay films made by Warhol; Holly was also part of the scene
there's a documentary about the song and all the characters , interviews with Holly , Little Joe etc , watched it years ago worth watching if yiu can find it
Dude -- If our parents had known what this song is about they would have freaked out! transgenders, prostitutes, gay sex. They didn't really try to understand rock lyrics. To them it was just "noise." This song came out when I was a kid, and I didn't really get a lot of the sex references until I became an adult. I just knew the song had a very cool beat and flow, and Lou Reed was just the coolest. I get that "...and the colored girls sing" is questionable, but honest, "colored" wasn't a slur then. it was a widely used, informal term ("Negro" was more formal). But colored wasn't taboo, for instance consider the NAACP. Nowadays it's no longer used except by extremely old (over 85) people. And, of course, the NAACP! Peace.
All the people named in this were real people who were hanging out at Andy Warhol’s factory. Andy had taken an interest in Lou’s band the Velvet Underground so the transvestite hookers would have been around a lot. For another winner of the era, check out Heroin for another gritty Lou Reed song.
Lou Reed is a legend. He got his start with the Velvet Underground, a really influential band from the 1960's and early 1970s. Lou Reed's solo work is also unique. This song is probably the biggest hit he had. It's about certain people at Andy Warhol's place the Velvets hung out at.
The first verse is about Holly Woodlawn who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Florida before finding her way to New York City in the 1960's. The second verse was about Candy Darling who was from Long Island. They both were actresses in Warhol's films and were both transgender women. Little Joe was Joe D'Allesandro another Warhol actor who came to same mainstream fame in that field. It's Joe's, um, crotch that is the cover of Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album. Sugar Plum Fairy was the name of the character Joe Campbell in the Warhol film, My Hustler. He was also the one-time lover of Harvey Milk who was infamously assassinated in 1978.
@@acostiablown Joe Dallesandro's top half is on the cover of the Smiths' first album. Put that above the Stones album and you'd have a full guy.
6:15 "People doing crazy things for happiness and people doing crazy things just to get by, don't judge them" ... Right on, Biz.
🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
Some of those things that they were doing were self-destructive, but I agree with your point.
David Bowie produced that record for Lou Reed. He hired his saxophone teacher to play that solo. Backing singers were often women of color back then, so the line follows, but they own the song and that's why the volume grows on their line after the last chorus to make them foreground singers. I remember hearing this on the radio when I was a kid in the seventies. The lyrics flew way over my head back then. I think they flew over the tops of many heads back then, either that or too few cared to make much of a fuss. All the people in the story were real people by the way.
I dont believe no ill intent.."color girls"..I believe he was paying homage to backup singers..who were looking for a break..being possible discovered..
That line honors them not anything else. Those girls made this song far better. And the line exactly how it was. You don't say white girls referring to them when they are poc. Be proud. Its a masterpiece.
This just made my heart sing. Thankyou for sharing that information - I wouldn’t have known otherwise xx
You can say to anyone raised in the 70s “the color girls go”…. And they will answer “Do do do do dooo”
This song hit when I was in middle school, and just like everyone else stated, the lyrics went over my head. Later on, when I was starting to hit the SF and NYC "scene" you could actually meet these people at underground clubs and just by hanging out. I'm talking Lou, Bowie, David Burn, Debra Harry, etc. They were accessible, unlike the stars of today. Having grown up in the blue collar neighborhoods of SF, it was our way of breaking out of the societal restrictions and just listening to the music. WE didn't give two shits about what you were about (that was your business and yours alone), only that the music was good. These topics were absolutely taboo and weren't ever brought up in polite conversation back then. So, Lou broke some glass ceilings. As to the "colored girls" comment, it was more of an accolade to the musicians and singers out there. Back in those days, it was still edgy to have mixed bands. Again, another topic not mentioned.
Lou Reed basically describes the scene in The Village,Bowery,and Lower East Side of NYC in the 1970’s.
These were real people who Lou knew...part of the Andy Warhol crowd
Read “Just Kids” by Patti Smith. A blinding biography.
Already swept away by “Walk On The Wild Side”, I become obsessed by a song called Kimberly, by Patti Smith, after listening to it on a particular pirate radio station called Radio Caroline (Any old listeners still out there?) From which, I discovered “Horses” and then became obsessed with Patti Smith herself, buying every record she produced.
The reason why I am saying all this, is that all of this was the sort of music and culture that a young East London teenager (more used to shoving six lace holes up a Millwall supporter’s arse on a Saturday evening) was born for. Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and even that tortured genius Mapplethorpe gave me a new perspective on “underbelly living”.
True! When he says Jackie crashed, he meant Jackie died.
his song is about the superstars of Andy Warhol's factory - the transvesite superstars Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling and Jackie Curtis. Also included is Joe Dallesandro (Little Joe). The song is basically a biography about them.
Nah son. I'm from NYC, I'm older. That's NYC bro. That's what makes this song great even if you a hip hop fan. Stories. I grew up in the 90s cutting class discovering all of NYC on a train pass as a teenager. Dudes making out in Chelsea, dope fiend zombies in Tompkins Sq Park, fake Rastas with dirt weed in Washington Sq Park. C'mon you guys knew. Great time to be alive.
I'm from NYC, I'm older. That's NYC bro. That's what makes this song great even if you a hip hop fan. Stories. I grew up in the 90s cutting class discovering all of NYC on a train pass as a teenager. Dudes making out in Chelsea, dope fiend zombies in Tompkins Sq Park, fake Rastas with dirt weed in Washington Sq Park. C'mon you guys knew. Great time to be alive.
"Colored Girls" I'm pretty sure he was just being tongue and cheek. It was a different world back then. I wonder if they would even play this song on the radio today?
they play this song on the radio today? due to to fact it better then anything that is being written today even though it was recorded in1973, by the way the Album was produced by D Bowie and M Ronson and sax may of even been Bowie
A Tribe Called Quest sampled this tune brilliantly on “Can I Kick It?”
Yes you can!
Ha! Someone remembers! That was a good track
I was 15 when this song came out & I went around singing it everywhere. I didn't know or care what the lyrics meant (imagine my surprise when I figured it out later) I loved the vibe. Great reaction Biz.
I first heard this in grade school back in the 80's and it blew my mind.
Thank you
Neither did I 🤣
I was 13. Been listening ever since to great music.
Absolute MODERN CLASSIC!!! This song will be around for the next 100 years! 💯
And the influence of Lou Reed will be felt even longer.
If people insist on noting skin color, I don't see how 'colored' is somehow more "offensive" than 'black' -- if anything, 'colored' sounds more inclusive/diverse ....
( yes, yes, I forgot that someone decided that 'colored' was offensive and the sheep followed ... )
No one can tell someone else what to be offended by. I wasnt offended the way I just never heard it in a song before
@@watchbizmatik "No one can tell someone else what to be offended by"
Exactly -- and since there is no way to have a definitive standard that we all agree on, then either we allow everything (all speech) or we allow nothing.
( and by 'we', I mean our society )
Pretty wild song for 1972. Love the vibe
Makes me laugh that no reactors notice the line "Looking for soul food AND a place to eat." He even emphasizes it mentioning the Apollo theater in Harlem.
About real people every one of them! Thank you for reacting to this, it has been decades since I heard this, going back on my play list now.
Andy Warhol had a hang out / gallery called The Factory....it was a hang out for artists (music and fine) and bohemians in NYC. "the island" is Long Island. Lou Reed hung out there. BTW. the term "colored girls" was an acceptable term in America at this time period.
Lou Reed was way ahead of his time with trans acceptance. I was in high school in the 70's when this came out, and we accepted and grooved with it. We got it, and it was fine.
Candy Darling is a real person. He’s telling stories of real people of that time in NYC.
Color girls was the what they said it ,they didn't say black girls then. Colored was the nice word
Lou Reed has brutally honest lyrics.....some my favourites are from his 'New York' album
The famous twin bass line was played by Herbie Flowers: he played both a stand-up bass and an elecric bass to create that massive sound. The sax solo at the end was played by Ronnie Ross, David Bowie's sax teacher when he was a kid. (the album was recorded in London because Bowie was a huge fan of Lou's). The backup vocals were by Thunderthighs, a trio of women who had some success on their own later on in the '70s on UK pop charts. BTW, none of them were "colored." LOL.
This is a song about real people who were part of Andy Warhole's factory in the New York art and music scene of the late sixties, early seventies. Each segment is a true story.
This came out when I was 12 and I loved it even though I didn't know what some of it meant. lol My friends and I would sing it at the top of our lungs whenever it came on the radio. It's good that none of the moms were cool enough yet to get it either. 😂 I think you'd love "Temporary Thing". It's my favorite Lou Reed song.
Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced the album this song is from (Transformer), and Bowie added his backing vocals, acoustic guitar, and keyboards here..The bass is played by Herbie Flowers who had played on an estimated 500 hit recordings by the end of the 70's!
Good review a pretty cool take on the song you got it.
Lou in my estimation, was a storyteller, who was based from his time in NYC, policy aware, called out hypocrisy from politicians and religious zealots. Thanks for the listen. 👍👍
I was 13 when this song came out. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t censored. I now have all Lou Reed’s albums, along with the Velvet Underground. Thanks for reacting to this.
This song was so ahead of it's time. The cool rap vibe, the trans character, you just feel Lou is a man of the streets.
Excellent glasses.
Freaks
Good stuff
Obviously....the best stuff you do, is the stuff I watch a second time. Then there's this stuff I watch a dozen times.
Oh wow thanks
Thankyou so much for this reaction 💙💙
Holly Woodlawn,Candy Darling, & Jackie Curtis were transgender Warhol Superstars.. Little Joe Dellesandro was a Warhol actor & his character in one of his movies was a hustler. The back room was the back room of Max’s Kansas City a famous bar, restaurant music club ( upstairs) of the 60s & 70s… Lou was a writer of the streets, a great champion of people who are marginalized in society. Sadly he died in 2013, but he did song & “the girls go” later at his live shows.
Dang, a movie should be made, that would be awesome!
The song with the best base guitar ever.
This is from the early 70’s, Biz. “ Colored” was the commonly used term at the time . It’s definitely questionable to say it now for sure!!
Lou was describing the Andy Warhol followers in NYC.
Biz, you are one cool and open minded dude!❤
Great take Biz, I want to see you make this movie!
I also want you to react to Lou Reeds I Wanna Be Black from the Take No Prisoners album. Please!
The song came out in the Fall of 1972 as a single. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, Candy was a transvestite as well. People still used to say "colored" during this time period.
"People got their reasons." 👍👍👍👍
I would watch that movie. BTW, it was based on people he knew in the art scene in NYC.
You can search TH-cam for a video that shows footage of all of the real people behind the lyrics of the song, it’s pretty cool!
Good shit. Different times.
Yeah... Candy Darling. Icon
Doesn't sound like something that'd get a lot of radio play 50 years ago, does it. It did
"Walk On The Wild Side" got a ton of airplay on the radio throughout the 70's and 80's. I don't think that would be the case if it was released today in 2023.
Sweet Jane from rock and roll animal
Lou Reed over here rhyming "head" with "head" like we werent gonna notice :p
About the group of transvestites that were the entourage of Andy Warhol back in the late 60s, early 70s. Somewhere online you can read the history of everyone named in the song.
This song is about the drag queens of New York. Liu Reed is a rock god
"Colored" was the PC word BITD! Don't hold it against him. Love Lou Reed! I assure you LR was woke...trust us!
The crescendo of the “colored girls” -- fabulous!
It’s an interesting song telling stories about real people , thank you
Joe D'Alessandro and all the others I always thought of Andy Warhol´s crowd as a group of people who found a real family with each other, a place where they were accepted and not judged for who they were. Heard this when I was 13, 14 am 60 now it is timeless. About the colored girls there was a time where nobody would spend a single day looking for things to be offended about...
Derek And The Dominos - Layla Live 1984
Or something like it--thanks Biz!
This would surely be banned in FL in 2023.
Lou Reed in the Velvet Underground, an icon.
That should be FLA. lol
It would not be banned in FL. Stop believing the political hype. I moved from NYC in 2004 to South FL. This is the mostly openly gay state I've ever lived in. There are whole gay neighborhoods. You can tell by the gorgeous landscaping, great restaurants, clubs. Bars, gyms and stores. We all get along here. Turn off the news and come and see for yourself. Dont forget AOC visit during the lockdown to South Beach. What bar did she go to? How about the CNN anchor with his husband down here too.
Thanks! Finally someone who doesn't fall for the mainstream corporate faux news...
when my friends were listening to Metallica I was listening to this....he's a master.
Coolest beat, great lyrics that went over do many people's heads for years.
Wow, I still remember the first time I heard this.❤😊
1972. I remember singing along to this as a little kid, having no idea what any of it meant. I think, unfortunately that lyric does reflect a reference that was used fairly commonly in that time that is felt as a derogatory term to contemporary ears. I was curious as to its use historically. This is kind of interesting (from Wiki): The term came in use in the United States during the early 19th century, and it then was adopted by emancipated slaves as a term of racial pride after the end of the American Civil War until it was replaced as a self-designation by Black or African-American during the second part of the 20th century. I enjoyed your reaction. All the best.
Thank you
This was on the radio a lot back in the day. I was actually pretty young and didn't quite get what he was talking about until I heard it much later. It's still a great song and I don't turn it off if I happen to catch it playing. I'm glad you liked it.
"Walk on the Wild Side" is a song about REAL people who populated Andy Warhol's NYC art studio known as "the Factory". The people named were all born men, but it was a gender-fluid environment.
Side Note: Lou Reed was a member of the band The Velvet Underground, which was basically the Factory's 'house band'.
Essentially, Billy Joel wrote a song portrait of the real life piano bar patrons he observed; he called it "Piano Man".
Lou Reed did the same a year or so earlier with this song, painting a portrait lyrically with the people Lou knew at the Factory.
This song and Lola the first two songs I can recall with transgender references. Love Both songs!
Welcome back Biz!!!!! Missed u!!! #BIZBJAMMIN
Thank you fam I am happy to be back
My best friend's sister back in the late 60's and early 70's was part of the Warhol Gang and I met some of them like Jackie. Try listening to Reed's Vicious and Sweet Jane.
Hi @BizMatic, the Transformer album was produced by David Bowie, a very good friend of Lou Reed. I think you can hear his influence very well. Anyway, transformed on the way across the states from he to she says he felt in the wrong body. That in '72 Lou Reed already sings about transsexuality is only the second time someone has done it. Before that, only the Kinks did it with "Lola" in '68. Best regards @all from hamburg (germany)
I love your analysis. So few reaction videos take a deep dive into the lyrics. Especially punk pioneer Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. And as for “the colored girls”…. What year did this come out and what does NAACP stand for?
Thank you
I like how the song is counter culture, in the most casual manner imaginable. That one term about the ladies isn't popular now, but it didn't offend anyone at the time.
I loved your analogy, Brother. Exactly, different places, different strokes etc.🤣 Studio 54 must have been funky town in the late 60s early 70s
this song by lou reed reminds me of painter edward Hopper, somewhere the idea that me , french, i have of america, great always ( :
Great reaction!..I agree..a montage..painting a pic..storytelling..great lyrics..
"Walk on the Wild Side" is from Lou Reed's classic 2nd solo album "Transformer". The album is ranked as #109 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Other great tracks are "Vicious", "I'm So Free", "Hangin Round", and "Perfect Day". Great, great album.
A Tribe Called Quest sampled the bass line
I grew up with this song, and "the colored girls" was common vernacular. I would feel uncomfortable saying or singing it today and would probably replace it with "and the other girls sing..." Because THIS SONG IS TOPS.
YES! I know this will be good! Classic!👍🏼
it is remarkable to remember this song was played on AM radio and became a huge hit.... there was a time when the mass commercial culture was very open to creative things... largely because of the influence of the Beatles... but it didn't last that long and eventually accountants and other dullards turned radio into just another boring thing
lou reed - sweet jane . i think you will enjoy it brother
i always loved that all the people in the song are actually real people, who hung out at Andy Warhol's factory.
Me and my best girl used to play Best of The Velvet Underground coming of our highs….many a night…. This song…. Good memories….
3:40 - remember, this is 1972. "Colored girls" was about as politically correct as it got back then. I was on active duty at the time. Most of the restaurants at that time still had 4 bathrooms. We've come a long way. But we had to start somewhere, and you can't change a country in a day, or a month, or a year. It takes generations.
Also look at what we say now. People of color. In 20,30 40 years will people look at that say "wow I can't believe they said that"
Also back then black female back up singers were in huge demand. So he was commenting on the fact that they were who everyone wanted to sing backup on songs.
I think it was 1980 when I saw Lou Reed at the Roxy on Sunset strip.
Every musician alive play the strip back then.
PICTURE SOMETHING FOR ME IN YOUR MIND, please.
Do you know what New York City was like in the 70’s? It was a burnt out Wild-West with a completely broken police system - Where the COOLEST MUSIC AND COOLEST PEOPLE were invented and hung out. The 1970’s in New York changed the world. Almost every genre of music came from that little spot of space and time. Hip hop, punk, disco… it is where WE are all from.
NOW PICTURE THIS FOR ME, please… Lou Reed walking down the street the way New Yorkers do, in the middle of the night in a city that NEVER sleeps. With a relaxed,, PACED, but absolute and resolute gait, just noticing the world, smoking a cigarette, Now picture what he’s thinking with that pace.. with some subconscious guitarist following with that pace. There were hookers and addicts on every corner. AND YA KNOW WHAT, we ALL get to where we are somehow. And you cannot judge SH*T, if you own humility.
This was recorded in 1972.
Lou Reed was ahead of his time.
AND “An the colored girls go… Doo duh do foot duh do do foot do do doooo…….”
THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM. Picture Motown, picture the choir in a church that says what it means. The soul of the pace in the eyes of God AND the Sinners…. We are all here.
Please try to take it in the proper context. IIT WAS A COMPLIMENT IF ANYTHING.
another one of the greats passed away
The Baseline was recorded on two tracks, an electric bass and then a stand-up Bass. ✌️
In one of the first takes of A Day In The Life, John Lennon counts in the song by saying, "Sugar Plum Fairy, Sugar Plum Fairy".
Was that drug available back then and was that what John was referencing?
That heavy groove is an aggressively played upright bass fiddle, what makes it so cool is the electric bass part playing cool slides and harmonic counter melody. Rather unusual to need 2 bass players to cover a tune. Had the pleasure of being in a band in the 80’s that covered it a few times. I was playing rhythm guitar and auxiliary keys with them 5 nights a week and the bassist suggested that I learn the electric bass parts. We didn’t have a regular sax player so we rarely played it. Within a year we started having more of and more horn players pop in just to play this song. One of them shows up one 😅night with a couple friends and they joined us for a couple of Skynyrd songs. Fun times.
Thats dope
Later came Jim Carroll. I would highly recommend Catholic Boy, City Drops Into The Night...the entire Catholic Boy album.
This entire album is phenomenal 👍
Just to give a vignette of my own, when I came to San Francisco in 1982, I was good friends with a "African-American" Breakdancer (very popular at the time). My English was shit, but getting better but growing up in Italy, I didn't know many black people. One day I asked him something, don't remember what, about black people. He looked down on me and told me, "i am not black, I am colored".
I was duly castigated ,when one of his friends made fun of him for coming from (the midwest/east coast? It was a lifetime ago) and still using "colored". He said, "man, we black, the italian dude is right" (or something along those lines, again, a lifetime ago).
I was more confused than ever but we remained good friends until he moved out of town.
Lou Reed used of "colored" was the accepted term in that time and place. I know it sounds terrible to our modern ears, and there are things we did and said that were never OK at any time, but the use of "colored" is not one of them. Spell out NAACP for fun.
For the record, if you want to learn more about Lou Reed's "Take a walk on the wild side" Polyphonic did a video on it. Each of those people were real people. They lived (and some died) among us, they are not just poetic devices. Here is the video: th-cam.com/video/y0fFpwHSAvg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HAkEa31iB_rLlSNr
I was alive but a child when this shit was going down, but "wild side" was one of the soundtracks of my adolescence. I went to see Lou Reed and Patti Smith at a venue outside Rome when I was in high school. Pretty epic.
Oh the outskirts of Detroit!!
Hi Biz!! If you want some raw old school rock. Check out Grand Funk Railroads song, T.N.U.C. off their live album. Love the channel!!
Candy "Cane" Darling was a transvestite; there is a very sad documentary about her. Little Joe starred in several gay films made by Warhol; Holly was also part of the scene
sure you have heard of it, have you never heard of the NAACP? What did you think the CP stood for?
there's a documentary about the song and all the characters , interviews with Holly , Little Joe etc , watched it years ago worth watching if yiu can find it
Did this one make you feel a certain way? This was crazy when it was played on FM radio down south. Augusta Ga
The best groove!
Yes, this was actually a top 40 hit in the early 1970's! Very unusual!
Look for the original video to this song. In the video you actually get to see each of the characters mentioned here.
Check out " I'm waiting for the man" by velvet underground. Or "heroin"
I THINK U GOT THERE IN THE END LOL
This song is very old you get it 😊🍻
Gorgeous sax!!!
Dude -- If our parents had known what this song is about they would have freaked out! transgenders, prostitutes, gay sex. They didn't really try to understand rock lyrics. To them it was just "noise." This song came out when I was a kid, and I didn't really get a lot of the sex references until I became an adult. I just knew the song had a very cool beat and flow, and Lou Reed was just the coolest. I get that "...and the colored girls sing" is questionable, but honest, "colored" wasn't a slur then. it was a widely used, informal term ("Negro" was more formal). But colored wasn't taboo, for instance consider the NAACP. Nowadays it's no longer used except by extremely old (over 85) people. And, of course, the NAACP! Peace.
🤣🤣🤣
All the people named in this were real people who were hanging out at Andy Warhol’s factory. Andy had taken an interest in Lou’s band the Velvet Underground so the transvestite hookers would have been around a lot. For another winner of the era, check out Heroin for another gritty Lou Reed song.