"No Money Down" by Lou Reed

Hey Dialophiles! 

Tonight, the Dial shines its reverent spotlight on a forgotten track from an unquestionable rock legend. This mid ‘80s single deserved to be a much larger hit, especially given that it sported a truly weird and memorable video. So check it out, it don’t you cost nuthin’! Ladies and Gentlemen, we present Mr. Lou Reed and “No Money Down”.

"I know you're disappointed in the way I handled things... you're thinking I misread the times and acted cowardly..."

Best known as a founding member and the lead singer of ‘60s psychedelic rockers The Velvet Underground (the Andy Warhol produced The Velvet Underground & Nico LP, among several other albums), and for his iconic 1972 solo #16 hit “Walk on the Wild Side”, Reed released a series of albums over his career that ranged from straight on classic rock (1974’s Rock & Roll Animal, ‘82’s The Blue Mask), David Bowie inspired glam (1972’s Transformer from which Wild Side is derived) to avant-garde, largely inaccessible experimental music (‘75’s Metal Machine Music).

Extracted from Reed’s 1986 Mistrial LP, “No Money Down” is a rollicking synth-rock jam featuring squealing saxophone accompaniment, and Reed’s deadpan delivery singing cryptic lyrics comparing a stumbling romance to a failing financial transaction. The final verse casts a skeptical eye on the cult of celebrity, stating that those who we identify as “heroes”, aren’t really as special and unique as we want to believe that they actually are.

"They say there's someone for everyone, and for everyone a someone..." 

However, the real star here, (as great as the track itself is), is the bizarre music video, directed by Godley & Creme, creators of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, Herbie Hancock “Rockit”, and Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”, among many other innovative clips. 

The video introduces a robot version of Reed “singing along” to the vocals, which is mildly interesting, but things really ratchet up at about the 1:35 mark, in which the supposed hands of the “Robot Reed” begin violently tearing its own face apart even as it continues to sing in a “picture in picture” image. Rumor has it, that the destructive hands actually belong to Lou, which certainly seems like something he would do.

I first saw this video on an episode of “Beavis & Butthead” in which the guys were lulled into a false sense of calm by the singing robot, then started freaking out when the hands started tearing it apart. However, by the end, they were encouraging further destruction of the robot, as befits their crude, but hilarious characters.

No Money Down was released as a single, but didn’t place on the Hot 100 at all. Perhaps Lou was considered no longer relevant to the music scene of the mid 80s, and the song wasn’t given the proper push to radio programmers. This is a damn shame, as many other 60s and 70s hitmakers like Eric Carmen, Tina Turner, Cheap Trick, Steve Winwood, and even Donny Osmond had very successful comebacks in the 80s, each after their own periods of dormancy. Had NMD gotten the right push, I think it could’ve at least gone top 30, maybe even top 20. It already had a great music video that would’ve gotten people talking.

"So when push comes to shove, get the Harley revved up... the moon can eclipse even the sun."

Now, in a deviation from the norm here at the Dial, in which we typically post a window into which you can listen to the song or view the video, today we are posting three separate items.

Up first is a still image of the music video, which is followed by a link to view the video on another site, and lastly a familiar embedded window to listen to the song on the Dial, like on all of our previous posts. This is mainly due to the current unavailability of No Money Down’s music video on the typical site we use to embed songs on the blog, but also because the video can be quite freaky and unsettling the first time you see it. So this way, you can see the still image, and decide from that whether you want to click the link to watch the full music video, or just enjoy the song by itself (sans visuals) via the embedded link on the blog.

Sadly, we lost Lou to his battle with liver disease on Sunday, 10/27/13. However, his spirit lives on in the guise of his rich musical output, not to mention the countless bands and musicians he has inspired (count Iggy Pop, the Talking Heads, R.E.M., Nirvana, and the White Stripes among them) and in its own way, this humble Radio Dial nod. Much respect to you Lou, and much peace in the next life.

 
"You’re paying a price when there’s no price to pay, lover’s trust… No Money Down!”

http://www.music.com/video/lou-reed/no-money-down/36166905001