Lou Reed's Transformer [Paperback]

Transformer,Lou Reed's most enduringly popular album, is described with varying labels: it's often called a glam rock album, a proto-punk album, a commercial breakthrough for Lou Reed, and an album about being gay. And yet, it doesn't neatly fit into any of these descriptors. Buried underneath the radio-friendly exterior lie coded confessions of the subversive, wounded intelligence that gives this album its staying power as a work of art. Here Lou Reed managed to make a fun, accessible rock'n'roll record that is also a troubled meditation on the ambiguities-sexual, musical and otherwise-that defined his public persona and helped make him one of the most fascinating and influential figures in rock history. Through close listening and personal reflections, songwriter Ezra Furman explores Reed's andTransformer's unstable identities, and the secrets the songs challenge us to uncover.Ezra Furmanis a singer, songwriter and recording artist. He has released seven albums to critical acclaim. He lives in Berkeley, CA.

Introduction
Lou the Queer
Lou the Failure
Lou and Bowie
Side One
Vicious - Lou & Hate
Andy's Chest - Lou & Warhol
Perfect Day - Lou & Bettye
Hangin' Round - Lou & Coolness
Walk on the Wild Side - Lou & the Underworld
Side Break: Lou in the Closet / Transformer in Code
Side Two
Make Up - Lou & Gender
Satellite of Love - Lou & Pop
Wagon Wheel - Lou & Laziness
New York Telephone Conversation - Lou & New York
I'm So Free - Lou & Freedom
Goodnight Ladies - Lou & Lonliness

Outro: The Man Himself
Enormous Thanks

What Furman has written serves as more than a mere essay on Lou Reed; its also a consideration of how the notion of queerness has evolved over time and what Reed meant both to queer culture and to Furman as a person. In its exploration of the nature of art and the artist in its portrayal of marginalized communitil³¥