3. Lou Reed
When I was growing up I just kind of wanted to be like Lou. I wanted to have some leather trousers and be a sexual deviant and take drugs. The first time I saw him live was on the Berlin tour. I had several Lou Reed albums before I’d even heard of the Velvet Underground. David Bowie had talked about Lou Reed and Iggy Pop and the Stooges and so I thought, ‘Who are these guys? They must be super-cool if he likes them.’ I bought the first Lou Reed album before Bowie’s involvement with Transformer. Horrendously produced and a horrendous cover, but I loved it!
Lyrically, ‘Men Of Good Fortune’ seems relevant now. Men of good fortune get everything; others get fuck all! Berlin is my favourite of his records. I know it’s bleak, and I know some of it’s even a bit dodgy, but I didn’t get where I am today by not being bleak and dodgy! I mean, the thing about Lou is he had the leather trousers which I hadn’t, he’d taken drugs which I hadn’t, he’d kissed a man which I hadn’t, and he was just generally as far from Cannock as you can get.
