Who was that comment aimed at Lou Reed or John Cale?. I believe it was for Cale but a friend insists its for Lou.
An interview with Bowie from 1993 has just been re-published in a french magazine, in it Bowie says
""Oddly, it was not really Lou Reed who attracted me to the Velvet. To me, the sound of the band was John Cale. I got confirmation a few years later when I worked with Lou on Transformer. John was the subversive element of the band, one of the most underrated musicians in rock history. That guy is a danger, a true character. I cannot think of anybody more terrifying and dark.. Lou Reed is a choirboy compared to him. In the seventies, we were hanging out together, both in a bad state. As far as I vaguely remember, John liked to flirt with danger. I even remember a knife fight one day... All the legends that circulate about Keith Richards, John lived them from the inside. We worked together at the end of the seventies for a festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Philip Glass, Steve Reich and John Cale were the masters of ceremony and John had asked me to join him for the concert and not to prepare anything. When I arrived backstage 25 minutes before getting on stage, he rapidly played me his tune. I said: "you want me to do some quick lyrics ?". He answered: "you're not here to sing. Take this !". And he handed me an electric viola. Something I had never played before. I was scared to death. " John, I'm gonna make a fool of myself". "Yeah, luckily, that's what's gonna happen !. He just showed me a few notes. Before I even knew, I was on stage with him unaware of what was happening to me. I was playing this viola as fast as possible in order to end this rapidly. A wonderful experience !"
any more clues?
