In January 1976, Lou Reed released his sixth album Coney Island Baby. Produced by Godfrey Diamond, this album featured a more stripped back approach musically. Several songs featured acoustic guitars, strong melodies, slide guitar licks in some spots in a collection of songs that has drawn comparisons to The Velvet Underground’s Loaded by some fans. A single from the album was also released in 1976, Charley’s Girl/Nowhere At All. The A-side to this single also appeared on Coney Island Baby, but on the single it differs than the album version. The single version of “Charley’s Girl” is more upbeat than the album version featuring more apparent electric guitar slides and maracas, while the album version is comes off with a more laidback feeling and lush arrangement.
The single’s B-side is the fuzzed up song “Nowhere At All”. This track did not appear on the album and is noticeably different in terms of song dynamics. It is definitely heavier, coming off as a cross between something on Transformer and one of the more ramped up tracks on White Light/White Heat. The song also foreshadows the sounds that would emerge on the 1978 album Street Hassle. Lyrically, the song seems to tap into a feeling of helpless nothingness. With lines such as “Somebody’s got to help me/She makes me feel like/I’m nowhere at all” and “Cause some they likes it hot/And some they likes it cold/And some they don’t like it at/Don’t like it at all”, the song centres around what sounds like a confusing relationship, but it could also be a reflection of Lou’s solo career during that time period. Much of Coney Island Baby (where this single’s A-side comes from) deals with an outsider looking for a sense of integrity. Prior to the release of Coney Island Baby, Lou Reed released the noise collage that was Metal Machine Music. It has been suggested that Coney Island Baby was an attempt at commercial success on 70s FM radio, but many things have been said of Lou Reed and what he was trying to do by press and in reviews. It all goes back to the music, like the song “Charley’s Girl”. Lyrically the song builds on the character sketches that once painted pictures in between the notes of songs such as “Sweet Jane” and “Walk On The Wild Side” that keep us returning for more, much like the words found in between the pages of a classic novel.
Saturday Night Playlist:
1. Fat White Family - Cream Of The Young
2. Cosmonauts - Emerald Green
3. La Lenguas - Love You All The Time
4. Mick Jones - Easy Going Man
5. Black Vincent - Stacy Main
6. Surfer Blood - Island
7. Crocodiles - Do The Void
8. Poughboy - Carl Flipped One In This Market
9. Grounders - Secret Friend
10. Nap Eyes - Dark Creedence
11. James O-L & The Villains - Kissed At The Loop
12. Motivations - Birds
13. The Teen Kings - St. Louis Blues
14. The Mighty Swells - Lone Rhino
15. Luau Or Die - Cold War Cowboy
16. Lonesome Lefty - Stack O’Lee
17. Daniel Romano - Helen’s Restaurant
18. Jay Sad - Stacey
19. Deerhunter - Pensacola
20. The Night And Days - Split
21. The Go - It Might Be Bad
22. Alex Chilton - She Might Look My Way (Live)
23. DMZ - Boy From Nowhere
24. Foo Fighters - Wattershed
25. Carbon/Silicon - I Loved You
26. Lou Reed - Nowhere At All
27. Rock ’N’ Roll Monkey And The Robots - Static
28. Jared Brown - Amongst The Daisy
29. Teenanger - Rats
30. The Dark - Einstein's Brain
31. 999 - No Pity
32. The Adverts - No Time To Be 21
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