Beautifully written, Glenn, and heart-wrenching. Wildly coincidentally, I also met a good friend at UH (in the late '70s, he was also a sportswriter/photog at The Daily Cougar)! I stayed in touch with over the decades, even when I moved to L.A. from '80-'93. By now, you may have read my piece on my days at KUHF in the mid-'70s.
So good was your writing here, you almost made me a "fan" of Lou Reed! About the only album I ever had of his was "MMM," which I'm stunned you mentioned! Of course, mine was a promo, but I was astounded at how audacious Lou was to "middle-finger" RCA with a two....count'em TWO record set of that noise! And, not to be out-done, RCA (did you notice THIS?) proceeded to release it under their classical music Red Seal imprint! I don't know who, exactly (Lou's fan base, classical fans?), but SOMEBODY had to be insulted!
Certainly, I'm aware of Lou's influence across rock, but as an acquired taste, he simply, for me, remains a sushi platter on the menu of rock. I HAVE been a longtime fan of Lou's buddy, Patti Smith, who, as I'm sure you know, writes on Substack, as well! Met her ever so briefly back in the day...enough time for her to sign my copy of her "Babel" book.
I enjoyed your Elvis article, too, and the introduction you gave us, into your family! Cheers!
Beautifully written, Glenn, and heart-wrenching. Wildly coincidentally, I also met a good friend at UH (in the late '70s, he was also a sportswriter/photog at The Daily Cougar)! I stayed in touch with over the decades, even when I moved to L.A. from '80-'93. By now, you may have read my piece on my days at KUHF in the mid-'70s.
So good was your writing here, you almost made me a "fan" of Lou Reed! About the only album I ever had of his was "MMM," which I'm stunned you mentioned! Of course, mine was a promo, but I was astounded at how audacious Lou was to "middle-finger" RCA with a two....count'em TWO record set of that noise! And, not to be out-done, RCA (did you notice THIS?) proceeded to release it under their classical music Red Seal imprint! I don't know who, exactly (Lou's fan base, classical fans?), but SOMEBODY had to be insulted!
Certainly, I'm aware of Lou's influence across rock, but as an acquired taste, he simply, for me, remains a sushi platter on the menu of rock. I HAVE been a longtime fan of Lou's buddy, Patti Smith, who, as I'm sure you know, writes on Substack, as well! Met her ever so briefly back in the day...enough time for her to sign my copy of her "Babel" book.
I enjoyed your Elvis article, too, and the introduction you gave us, into your family! Cheers!