Every day, we walk the streets of our cities blissfully unaware of the salient fact that we may have just passed a college-radio-DJ-turned-accountant or a surgeon who formerly spun jazz fusion records on the airwaves for hundreds to hear.
It may be less surprising – but more gratifying to realize – that even some DJs grow up to be musicians themselves. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, the music nerds can turn into the music makers. Oh wow, how inspirational was that?
So you can probably guess my delight when I stumbled across the nugget of gold that was Lou Reed’s brief career as a college radio DJ while reading the biography Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed by Aidan Levy.
This section of the book was approximately only half a page, but the information was invaluable – I simply had to share it with someone. Thank you, KCOU music blog!
Many know the Velvet Underground frontman for his songwriting abilities, deadpan singing voice, amazing guitar skills, and sometimes off-putting demeanor. But before he became the eccentric rockstar we know and love, he was like many of us – an insufferable college student.
Reed studied journalism, creative writing, and film at Syracuse University in the 1960s while also exploring his passion for music. He played in several bands -as one does while in college- including the arguably most successful “L.A. and the Eldorados.” (“L” as in Lou, “A” as in his bandmate and friend Allan Hyman, and the Edlarados as in the famous 1950s doo-wop group). This band was routinely kicked out of parties, mostly for Reed’s original songs, which included “The Fuck Around Blues.”
Syracuse is also where he would eventually meet the guitarist and overall cool dude, Sterling Morrison, through a mutual friend. The two would go on to be founding members of the Velvet Underground.
Other short-lived Lou Reed side quests while at Syracuse included being an ROTC platoon leader, a prospective fraternity pledge, a writer for a campus-wide poetry zine called “Lonely Women’s Quarterly,” and what we all clicked on this blog post for: a college radio DJ.
The college radio station, WAER, was managed by a modest sorority girl named Katharine Barr, and did not align with Lou’s music taste whatsoever. The station mostly stuck to classical music and Broadway tunes (good lord). Nonetheless, he managed to secure an evening show slot, which he called Excursions on a Wobbly Rail after a Cecil Taylor song of the same name. Later on, Barr would admit in an interview that she knew she was in trouble when he opted for that name rather than something more expected like “The Lou Reed Show.” Just wait until she sees some of KCOU’s show names like Ménage DJ Tois and Daisy Dukes.
His bandmate would often call in during his show hours to harass Reed. In Dirty Blvd., Allan Hyman is quoted saying this:
“I would affect a different voice, and I would call up and I would tell him that I wanted to hear some obscure jazz album. He [Reed] would say, ‘I’m not playing that dreck. It’s awful, disgusting, and I will not play him.’ And I said, “I’ll tell you what. If you don’t play him, I’m going to wait for you outside the station, and I’m going to kill you.’
(Don’t get any funny ideas, KCOU listeners).
These pranks usually ended in name-calling and arguments that were surprisingly still FCC-approved, much to Reed’s chagrin.
Ultimately, Reed was let go from WAER due to these incidents, which allegedly included Reed burping during a PSA about muscular dystrophy. Also, his music taste was far too esoteric for listeners, according to University Officials at the time. Reed opted for saxophone-heavy jazz and early R&B, further cementing his reputation for rebelling against the norms of the time.
Little did they know, Reed would be played on the very airwaves – along with many others – from which he was banished.
KCOU would like to thank Lou Reed for his contributions to the ever-evolving college radio DJ caricature. Also, stream “New York Telephone Conversation” in honor of our DJ founding father. Okay, thanks for reading!