Things I Love pt 1. The last 2m39s of New Sensations by Lou Reed as performed at Capitol Theatre NY on 25.09.1984

So backing up, I love this song (the album version is similarly awesome), I love this concert and I’m a huge Lou Reed fan, so I could have gone with any of those but right now it’s this exact 2m 39s piece of this version of this song performed on this date that I love. Why?

The Album

In 1984, Lou Reed release the album New Sensations, which included the track of the same name. It was a simpler sound than previous records, mainly due to Lou handling all the guitar parts himself, and perceived as a ‘happier’ record than the preceding Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts albums were. There are several other standout tracks on the album, some of which were singles.

Lou Reed on stage at Capitol Theatre 25th September 1984

The Track

New Sensations is ultimately a simple narrative. A man rides his motorcycle through the country of the eastern United States, contemplating his life, his past and finding simple pleasure in the journey and the incidental interactions he has on the way. It’s a rock song, nothing too heavy, very radio-friendly (which mattered in 1984, look up FM Radio on Wikipedia if you’re too young to know). It’s a exemplar of Lou Reed’s singing style: spoken word, odd pauses and timings, quick asides and unpretentious. An acquired taste but one you’ve acquired it… it’s sublime.

The lyrics are also some of the best he’s written. Humour, sarcasm, emotional yearning. A favourite from New Sensations:

“I want the principals of a timeless muse, I want to get rid of my negative views and get rid of those people who are always on a down… It’s easy ‘nuff to say what is wrong but that’s not want I want to hear all night long. Some people are like human Tuinols”

Maybe because I’m squarely in middle age and due a crisis like a Porsche or a motorbike that the song resonates.

The Musicians

Behind the decision to handle all the guitar parts himself was a falling out between Lou Reed and his long-time guitarist Robert Quine. For those who highly rate Quine’s guitar work (which I do) it’s tempting to wonder how tracks like Turn To Me and New Sensations might have sounded had he played on them.

While I don’t know the reasons, Quine DID rejoin Lou’s band for the following tour, from which came the show I am referencing. There’s a full video of the entirety of it on YouTube if you’d like to see a man who looks and dressed like an accountant doing some amazing guitar shredding behind Lou Reed’s taciturn delivery.

Unlike the album version, this live version features a Robert Quine guitar solo, and this solo is part of the last 2m 39s of the track.

Robert Quine. Conventional exterior masking a fantastic, wild guitarist.

On bass guitar is Fernando Saunders who would continue as a part of Lou’s band until his untimely death in 2013. Saunders often plays a fretless bass in a characteristic fluid and melodic style that adds hugely to both the studio and live versions of the track.

Fernando Saunders (l) and Lou Reed (r). They call that distinctive bass style ‘Fernandizing’…

On keyboard is Peter Wood, who I’ll admit to knowing nothing further about other than to say his playing on the album and tour adds a lot to the sound. Live he seems to given much more visibility than he did on the album. Which is a good thing.

Peter Wood. I have no smart comment other than make about him.

The Exceprt

So what is it about this exact section that I like. Well, we’ve just come out of the last run through the chorus. Without strong backing vocalists the high notes are interpreted by Lou as best he can given his smaller vocal range and it’s a little shaky but fine. We lead in with a moment of just Fernando Saunders playing his flowing underpinning bassline with little flourishes and notes picked out.

This transitions into some lovely keyboard work from Peter Wood, repeating the broad phrasing of the chorus lines and weaving round them.

And then, with a small slide down the neck, Robert Quine leaps in with an exquisite solo, nothing too fancy but incredibly satisfying and memorable.

All together it’s the flow, the pace, the fantastic collabaration that makes it, at least for me, such a standout live performance of one of my very favourite Lou tracks.

For sure there’s other parts of this concert, these songs that are fantastic and well worth your time. The source album, indeed Lou Reed’s entire output from the Velvet Underground onwards is incredible.

But right now, for me, this 2m 39s is living rent-free, on loop, turned up to 11 in my head, and more commonly on whatever I am listening to music on.