Lewis Allan Reed was born in Brookdale, and lived most of his life in New York City. He would become one of its foremost bards, both with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist. His songs almost always sounded laid back and detached, but that was just his vocal style. His lyrics were sometimes playful, sometimes fierce and passionate. Reed spent his entire life identifying with outcasts, rebels, deviants and minorities, and this was often reflected in his lyrics. His best known song, “Walk on the Wild Side”, is about five such people, all of whom were members of Andy Warhol’s Factory scene like Reed himself.
Reed’s musical career was always experimental, and he restlessly moved from style to style. His 1972 album Transformer was glam rock, he flirted with rap on 1985’s Mistrial, 1990’s New York featured a back to basics “two guitars, bass and drums” sound, and 1975’s Metal Machine Music is difficult, if not impossible, to categorise. Reed died at the age of 71 in 2013, still in his beloved New York. His legacy lives on.
