Doom & Gloom From the Tomb

Fuck Radio Ethiopia, This Is Radio Brooklyn

My Valentine’s gift to you, dear reader. Seriously, this is a treat — Lou Reed as guest disc jockey on WPIX-FM in New York, sometime in early 1979. And yes, his old broseph John Cale drops in, too. Reed, of course, is no stranger to the radio, having hosted his own show — Excursions On A Wobbly Rail — on Syracuse University’s station during his college days. And these days, he hosts that satellite radio show with Hal Willner. He’s a pro! And he’s in fine, fighting form here, peppering his commentary with scathing diatribes against Christgau, Rolling Stone magazine, Jimmy Carter and NYC taxi drivers. He even takes some calls — witness the hilarious, surreal moment when Lou “Take No Prisoners” Reed admonishes a caller for using foul language. The music is fab, too, with some classic doo wop, tracks from the then-unreleased The Bells LP, and a truly bizarro segue from Al Green to Nico. There’s also a trio of pretty killer live recordings (otherwise unreleased?) from Cale with the Blue Oyster Cult’s Allen Lanier! What an embarrassment of riches. This is the way radio was meant to be.

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[photo: Kate Simon]