The New York Times has described "Walk on the Wild Side" as a "ballad of misfits and oddballs" and as "a siren song luring generations of people... to a New York so long forgotten as to seem imaginary". Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 223 in its 2010 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. "Walk on the Wild Side" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.
"Holly" is based on Holly Woodlawn, a transgender actress who lived in Miami Beach, Florida as a child. In 1962, after being bullied by homophobes, the fifteen-year-old ran away from home; as the lyrics state, Holly learned how to pluck her eyebrows while hitchhiking to New York.[6]
"Little Joe" was the nickname of Joe Dallesandro, an actor who starred in Flesh, a 1968 film about a teenage hustler. The lyrics are based on Dallesandro's character in the film, not on Dallesandro personally.[3][9]
"Sugar Plum Fairy" is as a reference to actor Joe Campbell, who played a character by that name in Warhol's 1965 film, My Hustler.[3][10] The term was a euphemism for "drug dealer".[11] Prior to joining the Warhol entourage, Campbell was Harvey Milk's partner for several years.[12]
The lyrics of "Walk on the Wild Side" were groundbreaking and risqué for their time, telling stories not usually told in rock songs up to then and containing references to prostitution, transgender people, and oral sex.[13] "I always thought it would be kinda fun to introduce people to characters they maybe hadn't met before, or hadn't wanted to meet", Reed said.[14]
Like many of Reed's songs, "Walk on the Wild Side" is based on a simple chord progression alternating between C major and F major, or I and IV in harmonic analysis. The pre-chorus introduces the ii chord (D minor).[15]
The baritone saxophone solo played over the fadeout of the song is performed by Ronnie Ross, who had taught David Bowie to play the saxophone during Bowie's childhood.[18] The backing vocals are sung by Thunderthighs, a vocal group that included Dari Lalou, Karen Friedman, and Casey Synge.[19][20] Drums were played by Ritchie Dharma using brushes rather than drumsticks.[21] Bowie plays acoustic guitar on the track.[22]
Record World called "Walk on the Wild Side" a "real leftfielder from the former Velvet Undergrounder" and said that "programmers will be cautious at first but then will have to go with it".[31] In 1972, RCA provided radio stations with a version of the song in which the reference to oral sex was omitted and the line "colored girls" was changed to "and the girls".[32] However, most radio stations continued to play the original, uncensored version.[33] In the UK, the oral sex reference slipped past the censors, who, in 1972–73, were apparently unfamiliar with the term "giving head".[34]
After the announcement of Reed's death in October 2013, both the song and the Transformer album re-charted via iTunes.[35]
Legacy
"Walk on the Wild Side" became known as a counterculture anthem.[3] In 2013, The New York Times described the song as a "ballad of misfits and oddballs" and as "a siren song luring generations of people... to a New York so long forgotten as to seem imaginary".[13]
In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Walk on the Wild Side" as the 223rd greatest song of all time.[36] In 2015, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[37]
Also in 1990, British dance act Beat System's cover of the song reached number 63 on the UK Singles Chart and number 96 on the UK Club Chart.[63][64]
In 1991, American hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, fronted by actor and musician Mark Wahlberg, released the single "Wildside". "Wildside" heavily sampled "Walk on the Wild Side" and is stylistically similar to it.[65] The song reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100,[66] and No. 8 on the BillboardHot Rap Singles chart.
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