Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

An interesting historical factoid: When “Dirty Blvd” was released as a single, Billboard started its Modern Rock chart and the song soared to #1. The song’s popularity on this particular chart is very telling of Lou Reed’s influence on the music world. Here we had a classic rocker, who not only was invited to the modern rock revolution, he helped lead it.

“Dirty Blvd” is alternative to the core. Like many songs from the Lou Reed and Velvet Underground canons, it’s a three-chord rock song. But the structural simplicity is countered by those unexpected Lou Reed moments, like the chorus outbursts and tempo pauses going into the verses.

“And back at the Wilshire, Pedro sits there dreaming. He's found a book on magic in a garbage can. He looks at the pictures and stares at the cracked ceiling. "At the count of 3" he says, ‘I hope I can disappear’.”