Street Hassle
Encyclopedia
Street Hassle is the eighth solo album by Lou Reed
, originally released by Arista Records
. The album is notable as the first commercially released pop
album to employ binaural recording
technology. Street Hassle combines live concert tapings (with overdubs) and studio recordings.
The album is also notable for featuring a brief cameo by Bruce Springsteen
. All of the songs on Street Hassle were written by Reed, including "Real Good Time Together", a track that dates back to his days as a member of the experimental rock
group The Velvet Underground
.
The album was met with mostly positive reviews, with AllMusic's Mark Demming writing, "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."
, while the live recordings were made in Munich
and Ludwigshafen, West Germany
. Unlike most live albums, the audience is completely muted from the mix during the concert recordings.
Bruce Springsteen
contributed spoken vocals during the "Slipaway" section of "Street Hassle
". At the time, the singer was under a three-year forced hiatus from recording due to legal disputes with a former manager. At the same time, he was writing and recording his album Darkness on the Edge of Town
, which would be released in June 1978. Springsteen was not credited for his performance in the liner notes to Street Hassle, possibly due to his ongoing legal battles.
placement technique called binaural recording
. In binaural recording, two microphones are placed in the studio in an attempt mimic the stereo sound of actually being in the room with the performers/instruments. In the case of the recording sessions and concerts that comprised Street Hassle, engineers used a mannequin
head with a microphone implanted in each ear. Binaural recordings are generally only effective when the user listens to the album through headphones
, and do not generally translate correctly through stereo speakers.
Reed's particular binaural recording system was developed by Manfred Schunke of the German
company Delta Acoustics; Schunke is credited as an engineer on Street Hassle. Lou Reed would continue to use the binaural recording style on two more releases: the 1978 concert album Live: Take No Prisoners
and the 1979 studio album The Bells
.
.
AllMusic has written that "the title cut, a three-movement poetic tone poem about life on the New York streets, is one of the most audacious and deeply moving moments of Reed's solo career."
of The Village Voice
, and Rolling Stone
.
Side One:
Side Two:
Produced by Lou Reed and Richard Robinson
Engineered by Manfred Schunke and Heiner Friesz
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, originally released by Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
. The album is notable as the first commercially released pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
album to employ binaural recording
Binaural recording
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as "Dummy head...
technology. Street Hassle combines live concert tapings (with overdubs) and studio recordings.
The album is also notable for featuring a brief cameo by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. All of the songs on Street Hassle were written by Reed, including "Real Good Time Together", a track that dates back to his days as a member of the experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
group The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
.
The album was met with mostly positive reviews, with AllMusic's Mark Demming writing, "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."
Production
The studio tracks on Street Hassle were recorded in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, while the live recordings were made in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Ludwigshafen, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Unlike most live albums, the audience is completely muted from the mix during the concert recordings.
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
contributed spoken vocals during the "Slipaway" section of "Street Hassle
Street Hassle (song)
"Street Hassle" is a song recorded by Lou Reed for his 1978 album of the same name. It is 10 minutes and 56 seconds long and divided into three distinct sections: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway." Part one, "Waltzing Matilda," describes a woman picking up and paying a male...
". At the time, the singer was under a three-year forced hiatus from recording due to legal disputes with a former manager. At the same time, he was writing and recording his album Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three year period of forced hiatus from recording brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel...
, which would be released in June 1978. Springsteen was not credited for his performance in the liner notes to Street Hassle, possibly due to his ongoing legal battles.
Binaural recording
The recording of Street Hassle was notable in that Reed and his co-producer chose to employ an experimental microphoneMicrophone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
placement technique called binaural recording
Binaural recording
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as "Dummy head...
. In binaural recording, two microphones are placed in the studio in an attempt mimic the stereo sound of actually being in the room with the performers/instruments. In the case of the recording sessions and concerts that comprised Street Hassle, engineers used a mannequin
Mannequin
A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing...
head with a microphone implanted in each ear. Binaural recordings are generally only effective when the user listens to the album through headphones
Headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
, and do not generally translate correctly through stereo speakers.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
company Delta Acoustics; Schunke is credited as an engineer on Street Hassle. Lou Reed would continue to use the binaural recording style on two more releases: the 1978 concert album Live: Take No Prisoners
Live: Take No Prisoners
Live: Take No Prisoners is Lou Reed's third live album. Released in 1978, it was Reed's contribution to the double live album era. It was recorded at the Bottom Line in New York, and there is no overdubbing...
and the 1979 studio album The Bells
The Bells (album)
The Bells is the ninth album by Lou Reed, released through Arista Records in 1979. It is recorded in binaural sound. "City Lights" is a tribute to Charlie Chaplin. "Disco Mystic" is indeed played in a disco style, and the lyrics consist of those two words repeated...
.
Songs and composition
As was common on early Reed solo albums, Street Hassle contained a track originally written during Reed's days in the Velvet Underground; in this case, "Real Good Time Together", which had been previously released in 1974 on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live1969: The Velvet Underground Live
1969: The Velvet Underground Live is a live album by The Velvet Underground. It was originally released as a double album in September 1974 by Mercury Records. The September 1988 CD re-release was issued as two separate single CD volumes, with one extra track per disc...
.
AllMusic has written that "the title cut, a three-movement poetic tone poem about life on the New York streets, is one of the most audacious and deeply moving moments of Reed's solo career."
Reviews
Street Hassle was met with generally positive reviews, including from AllMusic, Robert ChristgauRobert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Track listing
All songs written by Lou Reed.Side One:
- "Gimmie Some Good Times" – 3:15
- "Dirt" – 4:43
- "Street HassleStreet Hassle (song)"Street Hassle" is a song recorded by Lou Reed for his 1978 album of the same name. It is 10 minutes and 56 seconds long and divided into three distinct sections: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway." Part one, "Waltzing Matilda," describes a woman picking up and paying a male...
" – 10:53
-
- A. "Waltzing Matilda" - 3:20
- B. "Street Hassle" - 3:31
- C. "Slipaway" - 4:02
Side Two:
- "I Wanna Be Black" – 2:55
- "Real Good Time Together" – 3:21
- "Shooting Star" – 3:11
- "Leave Me Alone" – 4:44
- "Wait" – 3:13
Personnel
- Lou Reed - guitar, bass, piano, vocals
- Stuart Heinrich - guitar on "Street Hassle", background vocal on "Leave Me Alone"
- Michael Fonfara - piano on "I Wanna Be Black" and "Shooting Star"
- Marty Fogel - amplified saxophone
- Steve Friedman - lead bass and background vocals on "Leave Me Alone"
- Jeffrey Ross - lead guitar, vocals on live recorded tracks
- Michael Suchorsky - drums
- Aram Schefrin - string arrangement
- Jo'Anna Kameron, Angela Howard, Christine Wiltshire & Genya Raven - background vocals
- Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
- spoken word on "Street Hassle: Slipaway" (uncredited in liner notes)
Produced by Lou Reed and Richard Robinson
Engineered by Manfred Schunke and Heiner Friesz