Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

persona ascended, or the fact that Reed was older
and nastier and out of his element, the spark and
tension sometimes blew up. There was not a surplus
of clean communication.
“There’s only one person with a viler temper than
mine, and that’s Bowie,” Reed is quoted as saying.
Bowie counters with, “When he’s not being troubled
by things around him, Lou’s a very generous person,
with time and conversation.”
Angie recalls in Backstage Passes, “Though Lou
and David managed to create a brilliant mix, they
attempted to outdo each other in performing the
roles of tortured creative artists.” She describes
seeing David curled up in a “fetal ball” beneath the
toilet at one point.
Ronson, solid, good-natured and even, held the
project together. “We are concentrating on the
feeling rather than the technical side of the music,”
he said at the time. “He is an interesting person but I
never know what he is thinking. However as long as
we can reach him musically it’s alright.” Ronson
helped Reed flesh out his musical ideas and Bowie
prompted him to delve into tales of New York City
that so fascinated him. From “I’m So Free,” to “New
York Telephone Conversation,” to of course “Walk
on the Wild Side,” it’s one of the essential Big Apple
records. Fortunately the edginess and unease of
Reed’s London stay worked well with the tone of the
record. The sneering phrasing, the world-weariness,
the lost sighs that bleed, almost reflexively, into
“Perfect Day” and “Make Up” works on Transformer;