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Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed song)

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"Walk on the Wild Side"
One of label variants of the US single
Single by Lou Reed
from the album Transformer
A-side"Perfect Day"
ReleasedNovember 24, 1972 (1972-11-24)
RecordedAugust 1972
StudioTrident (London, England)
GenreGlam rock[1][2]
Length4:12
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Lou Reed
Producer(s)
Lou Reed singles chronology
"Walk and Talk It"
(1972) 		"Walk on the Wild Side"
(1972) 		"Satellite of Love"
(1973)
Official audio
"Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side" on YouTube

"Walk on the Wild Side" is a song by American rock musician Lou Reed from his second solo studio album, Transformer (1972). It was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson and released as a double A-side with "Perfect Day".[3] Known as a counterculture anthem,[4] the song received wide radio coverage[5][failed verification] and became Reed's biggest hit[6][7] and signature song[8] while touching on topics considered taboo at the time, such as transgender people, drugs, male prostitution, and oral sex.[9]

The song's lyrics, describing a series of individuals and their journeys to New York City, refer to several of the regular "superstars" at Andy Warhol's New York studio, the Factory; the song mentions Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, Jackie Curtis and Joe Campbell (referred to in the song by the nickname "Sugar Plum Fairy").

In 2013, The New York Times described "Walk on the Wild Side" as a "ballad of misfits and oddballs" that "became an unlikely cultural anthem, a siren song luring generations of people ... to a New York so long forgotten as to seem imaginary".[6] In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked "Walk on the Wild Side" at number 223 in its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[10]

In 2015, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[11]

Inspiration

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Reed and three of the people he has said he described in his lyrics: Holly Woodlawn, Jackie Curtis and Joe Dallesandro

In the 2001 documentary Classic Albums: Lou Reed: Transformer, Reed says that it was Nelson Algren's 1956 novel, A Walk on the Wild Side (itself titled after the 1952 song "The Wild Side of Life"),[12] that was the launching point for the song, even though, as it grew, the song became inhabited by characters from his own life. As with several other Reed songs from the 1970s, the title may also be an allusion to an earlier song, in this case Mack David and Elmer Bernstein's "Walk on the Wild Side", the Academy Award-nominated title song performed by Brook Benton for the 1962 film based on Algren's novel.[original research?] During his performance of the song on his 1978 Live: Take No Prisoners album, Reed humorously explains the song's development from a request that he write the music for the never-completed musical version of Algren's novel.[citation needed]

Each verse refers to one of the "superstars" at Andy Warhol's New York studio, the Factory.[13]

  • "Holly" is based on Holly Woodlawn, a transgender actress who lived in Miami Beach, Florida as a child. In 1962, after being bullied by homophobes, the fifteen-year-old ran away from home; and, as in the lyrics, learned how to pluck her eyebrows while hitchhiking to New York.[14]
  • "Candy" is based on Candy Darling, a transgender actress and the subject of an earlier song by Lou Reed, "Candy Says". She grew up on Long Island ("the island") and was a regular at "the back room" of Max's Kansas City.[15][16]
  • "Little Joe" was the nickname of Joe Dallesandro, an actor who starred in Flesh, a 1968 film about a teenage hustler. Dallesandro said in 2014 that he had not yet met Reed when the song was written, and that the lyrics were based on the film character, not himself personally.[17] However, when Reed performed "Walk on the Wild Side" in 1978 at The Bottom Line in New York City (when and where Take No Prisoners was recorded), he explained, "Little Joe was an idiot ... You talk to him for like two minutes and you realize he has an IQ of like 12."
  • "Sugar Plum Fairy" has been described as a reference to actor Joe Campbell, who played a character by that name in Warhol's 1965 film, My Hustler.[18] The term was a euphemism for "drug dealer".[19] Prior to joining the Warhol crowd, Campbell was Harvey Milk's boyfriend/partner for approximately six years.[20]
  • "Jackie" is based on Jackie Curtis, another Warhol actress. "Speeding" and "crashing" are drug references. Curtis at one time hoped to play the role of James Dean in a movie; Dean was killed in a car crash.[21]

Musicians and musical elements

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Like many of Reed's songs, "Walk on the Wild Side" is based on a simple chord progression alternating between C major and F major, or I and IV in harmonic analysis. The pre-chorus introduces the II chord (D major).[22]

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.[23] The backing vocals are sung by Thunderthighs, a vocal group that included Dari Lalou, Karen Friedman, and Casey Synge.[24][25] Drums were played by Ritchie Dharma using brushes rather than drumsticks.[26] David Bowie plays acoustic guitar on the track.[27]

The song is noted for its twinned ascending and descending portamento basslines played by Herbie Flowers.[28] For performing the bass hook, on double bass overlaid with electric bass, Flowers was paid a session fee of £17 (equivalent to £300 in 2023).[29][23]

Critical reception

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The lyrics of "Walk on the Wild Side" were groundbreaking and risqué for their time, telling stories not usually told in rock songs up to then and containing references to prostitution, transgender people, and oral sex.[6] "I always thought it would be kinda fun to introduce people to characters they maybe hadn't met before, or hadn't wanted to meet", Reed said.[30] "Walk on the Wild Side" became a worldwide hit.[31] The single peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in early 1973.[32]

Record World called it a "real leftfielder from the former Velvet Undergrounder" and said that "programmers will be cautious at first but then will have to go with it".[33]

The term "colored girls" was an issue in the US.[citation needed] RCA in 1972 provided radio stations with a version without the reference to oral sex, and changing the line "colored girls" to "and the girls".[34] However, most radio stations continued to play the original, uncensored version.[35] In the UK, the oral sex reference slipped past the censors, who in 1972–73 were apparently unfamiliar with the term "giving head".[36]

In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as the 223rd greatest song of all time.[10] After the announcement of Reed's death in October 2013, both the song and the Transformer album re-charted via iTunes.[37]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[54] Platinum 50,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55] Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[56] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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In addition to the cover versions, Brazilian singer Cazuza mentioned "Walk on the Wild Side" in his 1985 song "Só as mães são felizes" ("Only mothers are happy"), from his debut solo career album Exagerado: the verse is "Você nunca viu Lou Reed walking on the wild side" ("You've never seen Lou Reed walking on the wild side").

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Fleischmann, Mark and Ira Robbins. "Lou Reed". Trouser Press. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  2. ^ Pepinster, Catherine (August 15, 1998). "Gold Dust: Glam rock's top 10 singles". The Independent. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "The seven best covers of Lou Reed songs". August 26, 2021.
  4. ^ "Arctic Monkeys cover of Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side'". July 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Hillis, Eric (October 27, 2021). "The Classic Album at Midnight – Lou Reed's Transformer".
  6. ^ a b c Trebay, Guy (1 November 2013). "The Real-Life Stories Told in 'Walk on the Wild Side'". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Tuttle, William (October 2, 2012). "10 Lou Reed Songs Better Than "Walk on the Wild Side"". WhatCulture.
  8. ^ "Lou Reed: Taking a Walk on the Wild Side". KKBox.
  9. ^ Cheal, David (November 27, 2015). "The Life of a Song: 'Walk on the Wild Side'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  10. ^ a b "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Letter W". Grammy. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  12. ^ Richard Flanagan, "Prophet of the neon wilderness", The Sunday Telegraph, January 29, 2006 (reprinted as "Introduction", dated "October 2005", in the novel's digital edition, Canongate Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84767-649-8): ‘As Algren admitted, the book “wasn’t written until long after it had been walked… I found my way to the streets on the other side of the Southern Pacific station, where the big jukes were singing something called ‘Walking the Wild Side of Life.’ I’ve stayed pretty much on that side of the curb ever since.” ’
  13. ^ Reed, Lou (1991). Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou Reed. Hyperion Books. p. 42. ISBN 1-56282-923-8. They were going to make a musical out of Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side. When they dropped the project I took my song and changed the book's characters into people I knew from Warhol's Factory.
  14. ^ Simpson, Dave (12 December 2008). "Bet you think this song is about you". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  15. ^ Moynihan, Colin (24 February 2009). "From the Archives, a Portrait of a Pop-Art Muse". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Darling, Candy (2015). Candy Darling : memoirs of an Andy Warhol superstar. New York: Open Road Integrated Media. ISBN 9781480407756. OCLC 899942329.
  17. ^ "Joe D'Allesandro: The Warhol-Era Sex Symbol Talks". LA Weekly. 17 January 2014.
  18. ^ Michael Hann (8 December 2015). "Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side: what became of Candy, Little Joe and co?". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  19. ^ Klemm, Michael D. "Warhol On The Beach". CinemaQueer.com. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  20. ^ "Harvey Milk & Joe Campbell Residence – NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project".
  21. ^ McCourt, James. "Warhol's Brainy Goddess". Gay City News. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Walk On The Wild Side Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  23. ^ a b Dave Simpson (21 October 2014). "The little-known musicians behind some of music's most famous moments". The Guardian.
  24. ^ Barton, Laura (12 May 2011). "Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll". The Guardian.
  25. ^ "Thunderthighs". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  26. ^ Ian Daley (1 December 2008). "Classic Tracks: Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wildside" - Mixonline".
  27. ^ Transformer (CD booklet). Lou Reed. RCA Records. 1972.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ^ Will Hodgkinson. In Perfect Harmony: Singalong Pop in '70s Britain (2022), p. 29.
  29. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  30. ^ Bockris, Victor (1994). Transformer: The Lou Reed Story. Simon & Schuster. p. 207. ISBN 0-684-80366-6. The impact of Transformer's sexual content has been forgotten. It is hard to conjure up the shock resulting from David Bowie's confession of bisexuality [in 1972].
  31. ^ Clayton-Lea, Tony. "Cult musician Lou Reed who walked on wild side". The Irish Times.
  32. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 523.
  33. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. February 3, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  34. ^ "Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side - Hello, Big Apple". 30 August 2017.
  35. ^ Levy, Aidan (October 1, 2015). Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613731093 – via Google Books.
  36. ^ "Ten things you never knew about Lou Reed". Clash. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  37. ^ "NME News Lou Reed to have posthumous hit with 'Walk On The Wild Side'? - NME.COM". NME. 28 October 2013.
  38. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 249. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  39. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  40. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Walk on the Wild Side". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  41. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  42. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  43. ^ "Lou Reed Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  44. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  45. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  46. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  47. ^ "Archivio - Top Digital Download - Classifica settimanale WK 44 (dal 28-10-2013 al 03-11-2013)" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  48. ^ "Lou Reed Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  49. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  50. ^ "Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  51. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  52. ^ "Lou Reed Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  53. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  54. ^ "Italian single certifications – Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved November 9, 2020. Select "2017" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Walk on the Wild Side" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  55. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  56. ^ "British single certifications – Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  57. ^ "I giardini di Kensington di Patty Pravo | 13-11-2020 | Back2Back | Rai Radio 2". RaiPlay Sound (in Italian). RAI. 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  58. ^ "JAMIE J. MORGAN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  59. ^ "Australian-charts.com - Jamie J. Morgan - Walk On The Wild Side". Australian-charts.com.
  60. ^ "Charts.org.nz - Jamie J. Morgan - Walk On The Wild Side". Charts.nz.
  61. ^ "BEAT SYSTEM | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
    Note: The band's name is sometimes given as "Beatsystem" or "BeatsystemUK". Not to be confused with the German band, Beat System.
  62. ^ "Metal Machine Music: The 10 Best Tracks That Sample Lou Reed's Songs". VH1. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  63. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 536.
  64. ^ "Generic submission: Walk on the Wild Side adaptated / sampled by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  65. ^ Who Sampled: Can I Kick It?

Further reading

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