Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side - 9/25/1984 - Capitol Theatre (Official)

UCRs top 100 classic rock songs list brings us to #73: Lou Reed "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE"

Lou Reed’s "Walk on the Wild Side" may have been the first transvestite rock song that middle America heard.

It was late 1972 when Reed, who never ceased to offend somebody, managed to land a No. 29 hit with a single that strung themes of oral sex, Valium and “colored girls” into a four-minute masterpiece.

"Walk on the Wild Side" has immortalized some of artist Andy Warhol’s friends, with Reed the narrator brilliantly delivering his cool rap-like observations about an explicit group of drag queens and hustlers that surrounded Warhol. Reed, having been plugged into that scene, can easily take credit for helping America find their wild side.

The single comes from the album Transformer which was co-produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, who were creatively peaking in their own right. The union of these three artists was nothing short of monumental. Bowie was ecstatic to work next to one of his heroes, while Reed benefited from the skills that Bowie and Ronson brought to the studio.