The record was largely overlooked by most music critics and it did not sell well. In December 72, Reed released Transformer. David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced the album and it introduced Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK. The hit single Walk On The Wild Side was an ironic yet affectionate salute to the misfits and hustlers who once surrounded Andy Warhol. When first introduced to Reed's music, Bowie had said: "I had never heard anything quite like it. It was a revelation to me. It was from this period, just after the album s release, that Reed performed in front of a small invited audience in New York s Ultrasound Studios, where he played a blistering set made up of Transformer s best cuts, a handful of Velvets classics, the title track of his next record Berlin, and a single cut from his debut. Broadcast live by WLIR FM, the show marked the point at which Lou had returned from the chaos of the final days of the Velvets and the underwhelming reaction to his first solo album - and he was right on target to begin a dynamic solo-career. By the start of 1976 Lou had released a further three studio albums and two live ones, including the dark Berlin in 1973, and two in 1974 - his most successful albums to date - Sally Can t Dance and the live Rock N Roll Animal, made up almost exclusively of Velvets material. Another live album came in March 75, (albeit containing further tracks from the same 1972 concert) and in July Reed put out his most controversial record, the much panned Metal Machine Music, of which Rolling Stone magazine said: it sounds like the tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator and is as displeasing to experience as a night in a bus terminal." However, as is so often the case, in later years certain quarters re-assessed the album and saw it as the impetus for industrial and modern electronic music. Coney Island Baby came in January 1976, a rather more traditional rock record, and in October that year Rock & Roll Heart was Reed s first album for Arista, after label boss Clive Davis saved Lou from bankruptcy. It was shortly after the release of this well received work, his seventh solo effort, that he performed at Los Angeles Roxy Theatre where the entire show was broadcast by local FM radio. Featuring four tracks from his Arista debut, along with classics from his past records, the show is as electric a performance as Lou ever gave. The backing from esteemed jazz trumpeter Don Cherry (father of Neneh) provided for a unique jazzy sound which was a new style for Reed. In early 1978 came Street Hassle, sometimes referred to as Reed s punk album with its searing and droning title track, as well as the first studio recording of the Velvets song We re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (a Velvet Underground live version had appeared three years before on the 1969 Live record). All Music called the album raw, wounded, and unapologetically difficult, Street Hassle isn't the masterpiece Reed was shooting for, but it's still among the most powerful and compelling albums he released during the 1970s, and too personal and affecting to ignore." By November Lou and band were touring the Far East and Australia and played the The Regent Theatre in Albury on 1st November 77. Once again, the show was broadcast and the results of that transmission can be heard on this set as the final disc.
Disc 1
1. White Light - White Heat (Live In N.Y. 1971) (4:03)
2. Vicious (Live In N.Y. 1971) (3:13)
3. I'm Waiting For My Man (Live In N.Y. 1971) (7:15)
4. Walk It And Talk It (Live In N.Y. 1971) (4:04)
5. Sweet Jane (Live In N.Y. 1971) (4:38)
6. Interview (Live In N.Y. 1971) (5:01)
7. Herion (Live In N.Y. 1971) (8:35)
8. Satellite Of Love (Live In N.Y. 1971) (3:28)
9. Walk On The Wild Side (Live In N.Y. 1971) (5:56)
10. I'm So Free (Live In N.Y. 1971) (3:52)
11. Berlin (Live In N.Y. 1971) (6:00)
12. Rock 'n' Roll (Live In N.Y. 1971) (5:14)
Disc 2
1. Sweet Jane (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 4:32)
2. I Believe In Love (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 3:38)
3. Lisa Says (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 7:12)
4. Kicks (Live In L.A. 1976) (10:25)
5. She's My Best Friend (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 5:32)
6. You Wear It So Well (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 4:55)
7. Claim To Fame (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 2:49)
8. I'm Waiting For My Man (Live In L.A. 1976) (12:54)
9. Sheltered Life (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 7:29)
10. Vicious Circle (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 3:43)
11. Walk On The Wild Side (Live In L.A. 1976) (10:32)
12. Coney Island Baby (Live In L.A. 1976) ( 8:52)
Disc 3
1. Sweet Jane (Live In 1977) ( 7:30)
2. Rock & Roll Heart (Live In 1977) ( 2:58)
3. I Wanna Be Black (Live In 1977) ( 8:25)
4. Rock & Roll You Keep Me Hangin' (Live In 1977) (10:53)
5. Walk On The Wild Side (Live In 1977) ( 9:56)
6. Shooting Star (Live In 1977) ( 4:02)
7. Satellite Of Love (Live In 1977) (11:15)
8. Coney Island Baby (Live In 1977) ( 7:30)
9. Banging On My Drum (Live In 1977) ( 3:55)
10. Street Hassle (Live In 1977) (13:41)
