Chris Connelly Releases DOO WOP IN THE DARK: A PORTRAIT OF LOU REED

Chicago-based Scottish native Chris Connelly has released a 21-track album, 'Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed,' which includes compositions spanning Lou Reed's career along with original songs by Connelly, tracing Reed's creative journey from his teenage years to his death in 2013. Moving between tenderness, menace, alienation and damaged beauty, the record explores Reed's influence on Connelly's artistic identity, offering more than a tribute: it reflects on how an artist's work can shape another's creative voice and become part of their emotional and musical vocabulary.

The album release focus track is 'Bye Bye Johnny Viola,' which reflects on John Cale's departure from THE VELVET UNDERGROUND in 1968. Following 'Nothin' But A Rock Song' and 'House of 70's,' this single revisits a pivotal moment in the band's history, set against the backdrop of Andy Warhol's shooting and the release of 'White Light/White Heat.'

Chris Connelly has released his new album 'Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed,' via Shipwrecked Industries with distribution by Virtual Label. This 21-track offering is a reflection on artistic inheritance, tracing how Reed's restless, confrontational sensibility helped shape Connelly's own creative identity.

The album focus track 'Bye Bye Johnny Viola' highlights a pivotal period for Lou Reed. Connelly explains, ''Bye Bye Johnny Viola' is a postmortem on John Cale being fired from the Velvet Underground. Like 'House of 70's', the timeline whirls with events of the time: it's 1968, Valerie Solanas has shot Andy Warhol, 'White Light/White Heat' was a sonic hammer on the hippie dream, and Lou sent Sterling Morrison round to John's apartment to fire him.'

Previewed by 'Nothin' But A Rock Song' with video by Glasgow's Iain Mutch / Walkerandwilliam, and the lead track 'House of 70's' with video produced by Someoddpilot Studios and directed by Chris Eichenseer of Some Odd Pilot, this record presents a mix including Lou Reed compositions — spanning his career from the Velvet Underground onwards — and songs penned by Connelly, detailing the creative and often turbulent path of Reed's life from his teenage years through to his death in 2013.

Moving between tenderness, menace, alienation, decadence and damaged beauty, Reed is treated not simply as an influence to be celebrated, but as a catalyst for an entire way of making music. The result is both deeply personal and deliberately expansive: a record about finding your own voice by wrestling with the voices that came before you, and about how an artist's work can become part of another's emotional and creative vocabulary.

'Doo Wop In The Dark' echoes Connelly's 2022 album 'Eulogy to Christa: A Tribute to the Music & Mystique of Nico.' This new album is dedicated to the spirit of Lewis Allan Reed (a.k.a. Lou Reed), as well as Chris's dear friend Zak Boerger (1973-2025).

While mostly produced by Connelly and his Sons of the Silent Age bandmate Alan Holden Berliant, four tracks from this album were produced by Chris Bruce (Meshell Ndegeocello, Seal, Aaron Neville, Bob Dylan, The Waterboys, Sheryl Crow). Mixed by Berliant and Bruce from 2023 to 2026, this record was mastered by James Scott at Populist Recording & Mastering.

Connelly shared a story to highlight the meaning of this album to him: 'The kid was out shopping with his mother: a mandated, boring, endless Saturday afternoon. Spring, maybe summer, 1974. Downtown Edinburgh, some department store. On Princes Street, she shopped; he wandered aimlessly from the toys to the records. He was too old for toys, and didn't really care about records – not yet – but something caught his nine year-old eye: a nightmarish yet beautiful photo of a strange yellow ghost. Not man not woman, all ghost, as yellow as the sodium street light that illuminated the streets there at night. The ghost seemed to be dancing, arms aloft, blurry jewelry, black lips, dead eyes. It was the Rock N Roll animal.

Fast forward to 2026, and 52 years later the same kid is still obsessed with the same photo. The same kid ended up buying the record in the late 70s or early 80s when he was informed by everything that this untamable spirit was every bit the drug dervish, serpent king of NYC, and the encapsulation and custodian of all the real rock myths, along with Iggy, Bowie, and The Dolls.'

That kid is Chris Connelly, who now brings 'Doo Wop In The Dark' — along with supporting videos, select live dates, and sleeve notes by Lou Reed biographer Aidan Levy.

Connelly has been making music for over four decades. Since his days with Fini Tribe, he has worked on such projects as Ministry, The Revolting Cocks and Pigface, as well as his solo work, which includes over 20 releases, and four books he has authored.

2025 brought Fini Tribe's 3-disc anthology 'The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe: 1982-1987,' preceded by 'The Lives and Loves of the Serial Homesick, Vol. 1,' an album dedicated to his beloved Edinburgh, and 'The Birthday Poems' featuring Monica Queen (Belle and Sebastian, Thrum).

'Doo Wop In The Dark' is out now everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and Bandcamp, where the limited edition two-CD set can be found. A selection of tracks is also available on vinyl.

Album Credits

Chris Connelly - vocals, guitar, harmonium, bass, keyboards, glockenspiel

Chris Bruce - guitar, programming, bass, keyboards, pedal steel guitar

Alan Holden Berliant - guitar, keyboards, bass, programming

Jebin Bruni - additional keyboards on 'Bye Bye Johnny Viola'

Produced by Chris Connelly & Alan Holden Berliant, except 'Babyface', 'Bye Bye Johnny Viola', 'Doin' The Things That We Want To' and 'One Too Many Mysteries' produced by Chris Bruce

Mixed by Alan Holden Berliant & Chris Bruce in Chicago & New York (2023-2026)

Mastered by James Scott at Populist Recording & Mastering

Liner notes by Aidan Levy

Cover photography by Derick Smith

Cover layout by Kimberly Blessing

Published by: Sony/ATV Music, Universal Music Group, Sister Ray Enterprises, Concord Music

© and ℗ 2026 Chris Connelly - All rights reserved

Released by Shipwrecked Industries LLC

'Nothin' But A Rock Song' video produced by Iain Mutch a.k.a. Walkerandwilliam

'House of 70's' video produced by Someoddpilot Studios, directed and edited by Chris Eichenseer

Dancers: Kira Ledholm, Jay Drenkel

Management: Kimberly Blessing at Shipwrecked Industries

Tracklist

1. Intro (Connelly)

2. Real Good Time Together (Reed)

3. Cerletti's Way (Connelly)

4. Black Angel's Death Song (Reed/Cale)

5. Sister Ray / The Murder Mystery (Reed/Cale/Morrison/Tucker)

6. Bye Bye Johnny Viola (Connelly)

7. A Difficult Man (Connelly)

8. The Bed (Reed)

9. Nothin' but a Rock Song (Connelly)

10. Babyface (Reed)

11. House of 70s (Connelly)

12. The Rachel Papers (Connelly)

13. I Shared My Veins (Connelly)

14. Rock and Roll Heart (Reed)

15. Dirt (Uptown/Downtown) (Reed)

16. The Bells (Reed/Fogel)

17. Doo Wop My Future (Connelly)

18. Doin' the Things That We Want To (Reed)

19. Dime Store Mystery (Reed)

20. Magician (Internally) (Reed)

21. One Too Many Mysteries (Connelly)

Photo Credit: Derick Smith

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