Which one is your favorite? - XLIII -

This week's song is a Lou Reed song from 1972. It's from his second album called "The Transformer"  and was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and released as a double A-side with "Perfect Day". In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 223 in its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Here is the song for this week;

"Walk On The Wild Side"

This song is about cross-dressers who come to New York City and become prostitutes. "Take a walk on the wild side" is what they say to potential customers. Each verse introduces a new character. There is Holly, Candy, Little Joe, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jackie. The characters are all cronies of the infamous Andy Warhol Factory, as was Lou.

"Little Joe" refers to Joe Dallesandro, who was also one of Andy's kids in the factory. He was in several films by Warhol. Sugar Plum Fairy is the nickname of actor Joe Campbell. "Holly," "Candy," and "Jackie" are based on Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, and Jackie Curtis. They are all real drag queens who appeared in Warhol's 1972 movie Women In Revolt. Woodlawn also appeared in Warhol's 1970 movie Trash, and Curtis was in Warhol's 1968 movie Flesh.

Reed had empathy for these characters that comes through in the song, as he struggled with his sexuality for most of his life. His parents even tried to "cure" his homosexuality when he was young. With this song, Reed presented a completely different view of gender roles in rock.

This was not banned by the notoriously conservative BBC or by many US radio stations because censors did not understand phrases like "giving head." Depending on the regional US market, the song was, however, edited for what we now call political correctness. Reed leads into the female vocalists' "Doo, doo-doo" hook with the words, "And the colored girls say," but some stations played a version that replaced the phrase with, "And the girls all say."

The baritone saxophone solo played over the fadeout of the song is performed by Ronnie Ross, who had taught David Bowie to play the saxophone during Bowie's childhood.

The backing vocals are sung by Thunderthighs, a vocal group that included Dari Lalou, Karen Friedman, and Casey Synge. The bass hook was devised by Herbie Flowers and was performed by him on double bass overlaid by fretless Fender Jazz Bass. He was paid a £17 flat fee (equivalent to £200 in 2019). Drums were played by Ritchie Dharma using brushes rather than conventional drumsticks.

The single peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in early 1973.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Amanda Palmer - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Tok Tok Tok - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Alice Phoebe Lou - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Dave Stewart & Vanessa Paradis - "Walk on the Wild Side"

• Dave's True Story - "Walk on the Wild Side"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.