Lou Reed 1942-2013. A true music legend passed yesterday; his music grabbed you by the throat and hammered its beat into you with piercing lyrics that had heft to them. Early work from Andy Warhols Factory with The Velvet Underground was seminal to any budding HiFi owners collection.

Backed by the indomitable John Cale, Sterling Morrison, & Mo Tucker, as well as the sultry backing vocals of Nico; their music puts the Vee in Live. Reed as a solo artist: the poet-musician with knife-edge lyrics went on to create timeless numbers which saw rerelease success two decades on. I was fortunate to see TVU in their original line-up at an unmuddy Glastonbury in ’93.

“New Sensations”, Lou Reed 1984

I took my GPZ out for a ride
The engine felt good between my thighs
The air felt cool, its was 40 degrees outside

I rode to Pennsylvania near the Delaware gap
Sometimes I got lost and had to check the map
I stopped at a roadside diner for a burger and a coke

There were some country folk and some hunters inside
Somebody got themselves married and somebody died
I went to the juke box and played a hillbilly song

They was arguing about football as I waved and went outside
And I headed for the mountains feeling warm inside
I love that GPZ so much, you know that I could kiss her.

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Must be the original Ninja GPZ900. Here’s mine that I owned in the mid-twothousands…