Lou Reed talking

As the creator of the Velvet Underground and a consistently provocative solo performer, Lou Reed has rarely been lost for words. Over the past decade he has reinvented himself, ditching his image as a drug-addicted poet of despair and emerging as a clear thinker whose decadent past is now a distant memory. Here are the thoughts of the man himself... "I've never made any bones about the fact that I take amphetamines. Any sane person would..." 1976 "You know the expression 'God protects fools and drunks'? I qualify for both." 2000 "I created Lou Reed. I have nothing even faintly in common with that guy, but I can play him well-really well." 1976 "You wanna know the real Lou Reed? Turn round. Now bend over." 1979 "Some even claim that I'm a terror, a dictator and they're right." 1998