Cale remembers Reed 1 year on

John Cale has released a tribute to his former Velvet Underground band mate Lou Reed.

Cale has reworked his 1982 single If You Were Still Around to mark the one-year anniversary of Reed’s death at the age of 71. Reed passed away after a series of health setbacks following a liver transplant.

The song originally featured on Cale’s album Music For A New Society. Cale’s new version is accompanied by a video directed by Abigail Portner, which features background images of Cale and Reed working together.

Cale also released a statement, saying: “A Moth and a Candle met. They decided to become friends. Everyone enjoyed watching their discourse – especially the risk takers. Then one day a big rain came. The Moth couldn’t fly and the Candle puttered out.

“Everyone laughed in bitter awe and blamed the rain. Most however knew the deeper truth – the Candle remains lit and the Moth will stay close.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.