There’s nothing like a ridiculous duet, and that’s what we got in the clip I’ve embedded below. It features an unlikely duo: Lou Reed, looking less cadaverous than he normally does, and Luciano Pavarotti, in severe-dye mode. This song has proven to be Lou’s second biggest tune over the years, trailing behind “Walk on the Wild Side” — “Perfect Day” was covered by a group of celebs including Lou for a charity video, and was even used on an NFL commercial! This is very strange when you consider the menacing, mocking last line, “You’re gonna reap just what you sow…”Pavarotti in fact duetted with a LOT of unlikely folk in a series of “Pavarotti and Friends” concerts that were only broadcast on Italian TV, and are now available in YouTube-friendly nuggets. The concerts were performed to raise funds for U.N. refugee children’s charities. Other performers Luciano rocked out with include Joe Cocker, Tom Jones (although the Leningrad Cowboys had already proved that “Delilah” IS indeed operatic!), Stevie Wonder, JAMES BROWN, Gloria Estefan, the freakin’ Spice Girls, Grace Jones, and yes, Deep Purple!
Oh, okay, one more, since I’m a child of the Seventies: Luciano singing with Barry goddamnsmooth White, “My First, My Last, My Everything”!
What does this all prove? That Luciano was not just an opera giant, but was game to involve himself in all kinds of silliness when it came to charity work.
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