LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DEATH DWARVES

When we decided to republish the CREEM archive in 2022, we chose to do so in its entirety: scanned and presented in its original form and context, warts and all. We did this because we believed that to pull CREEM forward, we needed to properly acknowledge its past. Lester’s infamous tete-a-tete with Lou Reed was no different. In it, you’ll encounter some opinions, language, and stereotypes that weren’t okay in the ’70s and '80s, certainly aren’t okay now, and definitely don’t represent the views of today’s CREEM. But the point of this issue is not to present an artificial hagiography of some mythological being; instead, it is to offer the complete picture of who he was.

-ED.

Ego? It may not be the greatest word of the 20th century, but it’s sure the driving poison in the vitals of every popstar.

Who else but Lou Reed would get himself fat as a pig, then hire the most cretinous band of teenage cortical cavities he could find to tote around the country on an all-time death drag tour?