Michael Heatley - The Boy in the Song: The Real Stories Behind 50 Classic Pop Songs

Lou Reed

P op artist and commercial illustrator Andy Warhol founded his legendary New York studio, the Factory, in 1962. It soon became the inplace for artists, musicians, and bohemians to hang out. By 1965, Warhol had turned his attention to moviemaking and music. The Velvet Underground, led by Lou Reed, entered his orbit via an associate. He became their manager and, in return for funding the band, Warhol insisted that one of his protgs, German model Nico, join as additional vocalist. The band toured America as part of Warhols Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a multimedia extravaganza also featuring dancing, film, and performance art.

Reed acknowledged Warhols pivotal role in the Velvet Undergrounds early career. We were doing our shows and we werent even making enough to put the show on next day and Andy would go and do commercial art things constantly just to get the money together to put on the show. Thats how we stayed together. It was all down to Andy.

The Velvets with Andy Warhol: (L-R) Nico, Warhol, Yule, Reed, Morrison, and Cale (seated).

Nominally, Warhol produced their first album The Velvet Underground and Nico, and designed the famous banana cover. Toward the end of 1967, when Warhol had seemingly lost interest in the band, Reed ousted him as manager.

On June 3, 1968, Warhol was shot at the Factory by the radical feminist Valerie Solanas, a small player in the Factory scene who suffered from the delusion that Warhol was controlling her and that to free herself she must kill him. The artist suffered life-threatening injuries to his chest and, although he recovered, the assassination attempt left physical and mental scars. Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-thereI always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually its the way things happen in life thats unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you its like watching televisionyou dont feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but its all television.

Despite Warhols firing, Reed wrote Andys Chest shortly afterward as a goodwill message to Warhol. Its what I thought about Andy being shot, said Reed. Its about that, even though the lyrics dont sound like it. He also claimed that Its a love song. The original 1968 Velvet Underground version was not released until 1985 on VU, a collection of outtakes. Reed refashioned Andys Chest for his 1972 album Transformer, produced by David Bowie and guitarist Mick Ronson.

Warhol died after a gall bladder operation in 1987. As well as coining the aphorism in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes, Warhol is part of an elite group of artists whose work has sold for $100 million. His screen prints of a Campbells soup can and Marilyn Monroe are among the best known artworks of the twentieth century.

LOU REED was the principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, one of the most influential rock bands of all time. Reeds second album, Transformer, made him a household name with the hit single Walk on the Wild Side, which, like Andys Chest and much of the material on the album, was inspired by Warhols Factory.