Lou Reed Radio

We explore Reed's complicated relationship with his own queerness.

The home for Songs That Saved Your Life Radio on WKNY 107.9FM where Jami explores the very queer roots of rock n roll and plays a lot of great music!

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Listen to the episode below:

Lou Reed was a complicated and often contradictory figure in rock n roll history. He wrote about his own life and the life of those in his orbit in unflinching and often unflattering ways. But there was beauty in his honesty and in his pain.

I hope you’ll enjoy today’s radio tribute to the queer community’s first anti-hero. He sung about the trauma that queer people experience long before most people and gave voice to the oppressed. But he was also, at times, the oppressor - oscillating wildly between embracing and shunning his own queerness.

In this episode, we’ll talk about the electro-shock therapy that Reed was forced to endure as a teenager to rid him of his “homosexual tendencies.” We’ll also talk about his complicated romance with trans girlfriend, Rachel Humphreys. Music in the set includes songs from the Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Modern Lovers, Gina X Performance, Laurie Anderson, and Yo La Tengo.

For a deep dive into the cast of characters Reed canonized in his music, check out this article: