In this week’s RJOTW, SlackPost honors Lou Reed, who died a week ago. Although he never achieved tremendous commercial success, with The Velvet Underground or as a solo artist, his influence is extraordinarily significant. The Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut album didn’t sell many copies when it came out, but producer Brian Eno once remarked, “I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band.” Now I don’t know how accurate that is, but it’s a nice notion. The Velvet Underground was definitely instrumental in transforming music after The Beatles.

“Sunday Morning” opens The Velvet Underground’s debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Take Lou Reed’s signature deadpan, which is easily one of the coolest voices in rock; combine that with the pleasant chiming of John Cale’s celesta, Nico’s honeyed backing vocals, and Reed’s twangy guitar solo, and you have the best possible alarm for a Sunday morning. During my Velvet Underground phase in college, I would actually wake up to this song every Sunday morning. And it was glorious.

So thanks for all the music, Lou. Rest in peace.