Rocker Lou Reed (1942-2013) recently passed away. This bisexual icon is chiefly remembered for his tribute to Andy Warhol's "Factory" films, "Take a Walk on the Wild Side." So, what was his life like? Reed was born in Beth El Hospital in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, New York. He became interested in rock and roll, having learnt the guitar at an early age. In 1956, he had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to "cure" his bisexuality. Predictably, it didn't work and he was still interested in men and women alike afterwards. At Syracuse University, he studied music, journalism and creative writing. In 1964, he became an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records and in 1968, he helped to form the legendary band Velvet Underground. In the early seventies, he became associated with underground experimental gay filmmaker Andy Warhol and his social and artistic circle and milieu became the context for many subsequent Velvet Underground and Reed songs. In 1970, Reed quit the Velvet Underground. In 1972, he had one of his greatest hits, "Take a Walk on the Wild Side", a tribute to the Warhol "Factory" era and his associated circle of celebrities. The song begins with a reference to transgender Holly Woodlawn (1946- ), who is happily still alive and studying fashion after her early experiences in Warhol films like Trash (1970) and Women in Revolt (1971). Sadly, another transsexual Warhol actress, Candy Darling (1944-1974) isn't. Candy featured in Flesh and Women in Revolt as well, where she was a central character, as well as Jane Fonda's film about a sex worker, Klute. Candy died of lymphoma in 1974, far too young. Working-class Joe Dallesandro (1946-) is also still around. After a period of troubled youth, he supported himself through nude modelling for ventures such as Bob Mizer's Athletic Models Guild, mostly aimed at closeted pre-Stonewall gay men. In the early seventies, Warhol and Paul Morrisey "discovered" Dallesandro and went on to cast him in Flesh, Lonesome Cowboys, Trash, Heat, Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and Andy Warhol's Dracula. Dallesandro is bisexual himself and has been married three times. He later became involved in European cinema and featured in several eighties US television series, including Miami Vice, Matlock and Wiseguy. Like Candy, transgender Jackie Curtis (1947-1985) also featured in many of the aforementioned Warhol films, as well as producing such efforts herself and casting Warhol transsexual stars such as Holly and Candy. Sadly, her brilliant creative life was cut short by her heroin addiction. The song was also initially inspired by hardboiled US noir author Nelson Algren's Walk on the Wild Side novel. Algren was one lover of bisexual and pioneer second-wave French feminist Simone de Beauvoir. Throughout the seventies, Reed handled 'difficult', dark subject matter such as domestic violence and drug abuse within songs from that period. He was associated with a string of female long-term lovers such as Nico, another of Warhol's doomed proteges and another casualty of the drug abuse that pervaded the factory, alongside its more progressive experimentation with feminism, transgender performance art, early transgender rights icons and gay liberation. Finally, he settled down with another musical icon, experimental musician Laurie Anderson. After Warhol's death in 1987 from long-term medical complications attributable to his shooting by schizophrenic lesbian stalker Valerie Solanas (author of the Scum Manifesto) in 1968, Reed appeared in several tributes and documentaries related to his late friend's life and oeuvre. Recommended: Wikipedia/Lou Reed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed Wikipedia/Take a Walk on the Wild Side: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_a_walk_on_the_Wild_Side Wayne Koestenbaum: Andy Warhol: Viking: New York: 2001. Craig Young - 1st November 2013