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Lou Reed: New York State of Mind

Roy Trakin, Hits, 6 February 1989

Lou Reed's Sire/WB debut, New York, marks a welcome return to the wild side for the veteran Velvet Underground founder and street bard. It is a hilarious love-hate valentine to urban blight, racism, AIDS, child abuse, Jesse Jackson, Donald Trump, the environment and other societal ills, done only the way Lou can, with deadpan humor and compassion for those existing in life's seamy underbelly. In recent times, Reed has transformed that concern into political awareness, performing at benefits for the homeless and Amnesty International. A notoriously difficult interview, Reed sets the ground rules for our conversation at the outset — he won't answer any questions he considers "personal,'' which includes his commercials for Honda and American Express. Do you think that stopped us? N'yaaah…

Total word count of piece: 823

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