Lou Reed: Live at the Bottom Line 1977

"It's the music that kept us all intact.You should have two radios, in case one gets broken"
Lou Reed

"Hi MRML, thanks for the second LP of the out-of-print VU LP. As a thank you. I'm adding...a great Lou Reed boot, Live at the Bott0m Line (with) great sound quality. Note Lou's vocals on "Satellite of Love", he reminds me of Johnny Rotten? Cool stuff !!! Anyways here ya go..."

Thanks to Revolutionary Bum for the guest post!


Live at the Bottom Line CD.



Plus here's a live Moe Tucker show from 2002. Thanks again Rev.

It is my hope that every reader here interested enough to take this bootleg has supported (and will continue to support) the Velvet Underground and those strange twist and turns of the solo careers of Lou Reed, John Cale and Moe Tucker.

Lou Reed: Rock N' Roll Diary 1967-1980

"You know I'd really love to hear Frank Sinatra do "Heroin". Really. It would be just incredible to hear Frank Sinatra coming out with that song on some middle of the road radio station. Because that song does not mince words."

Lou Reed

Me and my brother bought Rock N' Roll Diary back when I was 13. He kept the double vinyl in his room and I put in on tape - old school file-sharing. It damaged me in a many ways.

1. It convinced me that the the Velvet Underground were only Lou's backing band.
The Velvets' half of this album downplays Cale's experimentalism, excises Nico altogether and never lets Moe tucker sing a word. It's blatant revisionism but it's beautiful.

2. It made me believe Lou Reed's solo career was dull, dull, dull.
Based on the weakness of the (supposedly ill-chosen) solo half of this set, especially when compared to the cold-blooded brilliance of the Velvets' half (which actually has "Walk on the Wild Side"!), I've never given Lou's solo career a proper chance. I know, I know, I know....

(if 1 and 2 seem contradictory remember how hard is is to unlearn teenage learning.)

3. It tainted my view of the Stooges, the MC5 and the New York Dolls.
Those band's debut albums, all played in my Punk 101 class taught by my music critic brother-in-law, did impress me and I've never begrudged those albums' their deserved stature. But hearing "I'm Waiting For My Man", "White Light/White Heat", "I Heard her Call My Name", "Pale Blue Eyes","Beginning to See the Light" , "Sweet Jane" "Rock and Roll", "Heroin"and "Femme Fatale*, in a motherfucking row made those other underground legends sound like mere noise-mongers and fashion-plates (NTTAWTT).

* Live Lou version.

4. It separated me from my peers forever.
There was always a few kids who liked the Clash or whatever else but the Velvets were the first band I liked that none of my peers had ever heard of. From here on in I was doomed to share in the obscurity of the things that I loved.



I've posted this album because this collection is out-of-print (it may have never been on CD) but it is my hope that every reader here interested enough to take it does, and will continue to, support the Velvet Underground and even some of those strange twist and turns of the surviving members' solo careers.

Rock & Rule OST

So if Cheap Trick can be a suitable exemplar for seventies excess in the field of music then Rock & Rule can be seen as similar exemplar for film (even if it wasn't finished until 1983). Sure it wasn't Heaven's Gate but this cartoon (a retread of Nelvana's earlier rock n' roll fairy tale The Devil and Daniel Mouse which I saw on CBC TV on Halloween 1978) almost bankrupted its studio and ended an era in film, in this case the era of adult-orientated animation. The whole weirdly fascinating movie (which seems to be out-of-print) can be viewed on YouTube.



The film's soundtrack (it's greatest road block to re-release) featured Cheap Trick, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed and, in their sole appearance on MRML, Earth Wind and Fire. Like the film, it's promising and frustrating. The main players here, all key early punk influences with that one blatant exception, all had wildly erratic outputs in this era and this soundtrack is perfectly erratic. Cheap Trick are perhaps the most erratic band is music history, frequently switching from perfect power-pop ("Come On, Come On") to passable covers ("Ain't That a Shame") to joyless filler ("I'm the Man" one of their three songs herein). The Debbie Harry tracks are nice but forgettable, the Iggy track is pointless and while the first Lou Reed song "I'm Mok" is one of those expository songs common to old soundtracks, the second, "Triumph" is just that and it's one of his best solo rockers.

(Image of the Marvel Comics adaption borrowed from the Vinnierattole's excellent blog, make sure to read his history of the movie.)

Rock & Rule OST