The path which the late songwriter followed towards his second solo album, Transformer, included a troubled youth in which he was given electroshock therapy to ‘treat’ his homosexuality; a classic Lower East Side, New York period in which he formed the Velvet Underground and became close to Andy Warhol; and friendships with David Bowie and his guitarist in the Spiders From Mars, Mick Ronson. Add all this up and you’re presented with the guy on the cover of the album - a glam-rock icon who positively glowed with deviant beauty. Transformer's themes are sexual, forceful and challenging. The big hit was "Walk On The Wild Side", with its five verses each dedicated to a member of Warhol's coterie. With its acoustic whimsy, soulful backing vocals and an immediately identifiable sliding bass motif by English session musician Herbie Flowers, the song was nothing like Reed's usual songwriting style - but it announced his presence to the world in no uncertain terms.
Then there's "Perfect Day", a love song to the most pernicious drug in the world, heroin. With its ethereal tales of visiting the zoo and transcending the self, the song made taking smack sound like a wonderful thing to do. Little wonder the establishment recoiled - at least until 25 years later, when the BBC recorded a huge- selling charity version. The song was so deeply rehabilitated, that Reed regularly performed it live in concert, dropping "Walk On The Wild Side" in its place.
Three years and four more albums later, Reed had largely dropped his gender-challenging approach and moved into experimental electronica and rock music, rather like his mentor Bowie, who did exactly the same thing. Commercial success greeted both men in abundance, but for both sets of fans, there remained an understandable nostalgia for the old days. Any discussion of sexual politics in modern rock music owes Reed a favour.
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