The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (May 2011)

Little Britain Characters Lou Todd & Andy Pipkin
Created by	David Walliams / Matt Lucas
Portrayed by	Lou: David Walliams Andy: Matt Lucas
Information
Family	Lou: Unnamed father Unnamed mother (deceased) Andy: Declan (brother)

Lou Todd and Andy Pipkin are fictional characters from the cult BBC TV and radio show Little Britain, played by David Walliams and Matt Lucas respectively. Andy's catchphrases include, "Yeah I know", "Want that one" and "(I) Don't like it", while Lou's catchphrase is "What a kerfuffle!"

Lou is kind, generous and incredibly patient. He spends his spare time helping his friend Andy, who - unbeknown to Lou - feigns the need for a wheelchair. Moreover, his fashion sense primarily encompasses the 1980s, which is apparent from his general attire. He is typically seen wearing an awkward juxtaposition of trainers, blue tracksuit trousers, a T-shirt with slogans such as "I ran the World" or "Frankie Says RELAX - Don't do it" and a 1970s-style leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up to near the elbow. He speaks with a slight East London accent, with a lisp.

Andy is moody, contrary, has no respect for other sentient beings, appears to be unintelligent, has no interest in the world outside his local area, is very fat and plain lazy. Furthermore, Andy could be viewed as being genuinely mentally retarded, but this could just be regarded as the manifestation of his ignorant nature, and the perceived corruption of his psyche owing to watching too much television. He is also dressed mostly in scruffy clothing such as well-worn 'jogging bottoms' and a dirty vest. He speaks with a nasal, strong, slurred Liverpool accent. He has an unseen or unheard from brother called Declan, and previously had a woman called Maria (who died in one episode) as a caretaker before Lou (Lou mentioned her regularly in the early episodes of Series 1).

The characters of Lou and Andy are arguably the most iconic characters in Little Britain, as they have appeared in every single episode to date with the exception of the pilot, are on most of Little Britain's merchandise and DVD covers and are in most of their charity work.

The characters were inspired by Walliams and Lucas' portrayals of Lou Reed and Andy Warhol on their previous show, Rock Profile.

Andy's behaviour[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (May 2011)

Requests[link]

Andy often asks Lou for unusual things (often demanding them over and over again), usually without even looking at whatever he is asking for. Lou will attempt to talk him out of it, but he is insistent ("Yeah, I know"). He then rejects the item after Lou honours the request. The request is often framed as "I want that one...", and the rejection as "I don't like it", but not always. For example, Andy asks to go to the expensive Royal Opera House for his birthday, but shouts "I don't like it!" once the performance has started. In another episode, Andy asks if he can wear a Smurf costume to dinner at a "smart restaurant" (Lou's words) but once he is there, wearing a smurf hat and painted completely blue, Andy declares that he "looks a pillock", and asks the waiter "You do crisps?" Toilet humour is also a staple of Little Britain's comedy: in one episode, Andy refuses to go to the toilet before getting into Lou's van (after having drunk four pints of beer in a bar), but needs to go as soon as he is in the van. One of Andy's most expensive demands (for Lou) is: "I wanna go to Helsinki". Despite Lou's suggestions for other more preferable destinations and Andy's previous statement of not liking Finland, Lou books the holiday, but in the next scene we see the plane taking off with Andy's voice over declaring "I want to go to Florida".

Deleted scenes include:

• To have lots of boiled rice, pilau rice, lemon rice, and coconut rice from the Indian takeaway. As soon as Lou puts all the rice on the plate Andy says "I don't like rice". Lou then proceeds to hit his head against the wall, out of Andy's sight in annoyance. (Series 3 Deleted Scene)
• To have a tattoo on his face (of a spider web). Once the tattooist is finished Andy says "I regret it deeply", instead of "I don't like it". (Series 3 Deleted Scene)
• To have sex with a Portuguese prostitute in a motel in Phoenix and then refusing to have anything to do with her (Little Britain USA Deleted Scene)

Apparent opinions[link]

These opinions are usually voiced by Lou as if Andy had said them previously. The comedy arises from the fact that the statement is usually very profound and intellectual and paints Andy as eloquent and analytical off screen, in strong contrast to his ungrammatical speech and apparent lack of intelligence in the sketches. For example: "dark chocolate has a bitter edge to it and lacks the oral ecstasy of its milkier cousin"; "Finland has a maudlin quality to it, rendering it unsuitable as a holiday destination"; "violence is the last bastion of moral cowardice"; "the natural world has a sublime beauty, unrivalled by anything man-made"; "the French can never be forgiven for surrendering to the German war machine and collaborating with their occupiers to set up the Vichy government"; "the only way to see London is via its ancient waterway, which is like a pulsating artery through the heart of this historic city"; and "the sea is a dark and brutal force that has dragged many an innocent to a watery grave".

Deleted scenes include:

• Society is a complex web of inter-reliant structures, requiring universal acceptance and co-operative values. This raises the level of social capital, ultimately enhancing everybody's lives.^[1]
• Tattoos are a debasement of the human body, and were nothing more than graffiti over God's handiwork.^[1]
• He hates McFly despite Lou reminding him that they came and visited him when he was in hospital with a broken thumb.
• He's not fond of Raphael's religious paintings, despite Lou reminding him that although he admired his Roman period of secular portraiture, it was his work in the early 16th century – while displaying an occasional sentimental naivety – that represented the apotheosis of his artistic achievements.^[1]

Activity out of his wheelchair[link]

Another recurring aspect of the sketches is that Andy often gets out of his wheelchair and performs complex actions while Lou's back is turned. There are several different types of behaviour. The behaviour may include the wheelchair itself, such as when he got out of the new wheelchair Lou bought him, tipped it over and got back into his old one. Another more unusual example is when he tipped his wheel chair over and lay on the ground to make it appear as if Lou's new Polish girlfriend had pushed him. Lou reacts angrily ("you evil Pole!"), this being the first time Lou actually exhibited anger in the series. Andy's behaviour is sometimes directed towards other wheelchair users: in one episode he pushed a date he didn't like (because she was also in a wheelchair) down some steps. Typically, Andy's behaviour is rather mundane, such as pulling his trousers up by himself or going to the toilet. Occasionally, though, his actions are rather extreme, such as when he went skinny-dipping in a shark-filled tank or when he water-skied behind a Thames cruise boat. A more graphic scene ensued in Little Britain USA when Andy attempted to pet a lion in the zoo but had his left hand chewed off as a result.^[2] (However, in the next episode he has both of his hands again). One sketch in Little Britain USA shows Andy on CCTV stealing a toy car ride, which Lou sees. This is the first time Lou has actually seen Andy out of his wheelchair, although Andy is saved because the accompanied police ID sketch showed an African-American suspect, which fools Lou.

In the first of the 2006 Christmas specials Little Britain Abroad Andy and Lou are aboard a plane taking them to Florida but Andy switches off the engines causing the plane to crash and killing all on board except Lou and Andy. He also stood up later in the film to walk up the beach.^[3] In the second Christmas special, a more extreme example of Andy's behaviour is witnessed by the viewers when he is stranded on a "desert island" with Lou. Andy finds and apparently checks into a nearby hotel where, among other things, he helps himself to food from the buffet table, participates in a Limbo competition, plays tennis, takes scuba diving lessons then returns to his shelter with a cocktail. When he boasts to Lou about what he's done at the hotel, Lou does not suspect anything, but merely believes Andy's suffering hallucinations.^[4]

Deleted scenes include:

• Got up and hit a man over the head with chicken who flattened Lou in a Judo class while Lou was polishing his glasses. This is one of the few occasions that he has indicated he views Lou as a friend rather than a slave.^[1]
• Stolen the donations to a harvest festival while they were all praying in the church. He had previously requested one of the donations, which Lou had tried to talk him out of taking.^[1]
• Altered a Raphael painting to make it look like himself and Lou while Lou is asking a painting gallery assistant where he might find paintings Andy would enjoy.^[1]

Antisocial behaviour[link]

Andy's behaviour is often antisocial. For example, he steals an ice cream from a child when Lou is talking to the child's mother and he sneezes into his hands then wipes them on a woman's legs. In another episode Andy causes Lou to crash his car into another car by just repeating "Fine!" even when Lou has already hit the other car. The behaviour is often entirely incongruous to the situation, for example, singing the opening song to The Flintstones while attending church.^[2] This antisocial behaviour is often tied in with his getting out of the wheel chair. In one scene he shouts "Faster! Faster!" while Lou is travelling at 80 mph in order to get home in time for a TV show; when they are stopped by the police Andy steals the policeman's motorbike and rides off. In Little Britain USA, Andy steals an old woman's mobility scooter.^[2] Sexism is typified in the scene where Andy grabs a woman's breast while she is talking to Lou. During the Little Britain Abroad series, Andy blows a long raspberry as a message to fellow passengers on a plane taking them to Florida, after the captain allows him an opportunity to make an announcement to the cabin. Finally, one particularly notable example involves Andy playing the picture game "You Say We Pay" on the TV show Richard & Judy after Lou finally manages to get through the phone queue. He then ignores the hosts' instructions by literally naming the items shown when the aim of the game is to describe the item shown behind the hosts (who are facing the camera). If they correctly guess what you are describing you get £1,000. Most people win around £6000. The hosts of the game show then state that he is the only player not to have won anything on the show. He then continues to name things during a commercial break.

Deleted scenes include:

• Stealing food from the church's Harvest hamper while everyone is praying.^[1]
• Deliberately dropping sweet wrappers in the National Gallery, London, as well as altering a Raphael painting.^[1]

Andy's other carers[link]

In the episodes of series 1, Lou regularly mentioned an unheard and unseen character called Maria, who was his predecessor as Andy's caretaker. Unfortunately, she became too ill to care for Andy, and was taken to a hospital. She died in one episode, the episode which shows Lou and Andy getting prepared for the funeral.

In one episode of series 3, Lou's mother had died, so Lou had to return to his father's house in order to take care of him. As a replacement, Social Services sent Andy the strict Mrs. Mead (Imelda Staunton), who got Andy to clean the flat (stating it was a pigsty). Further ruining Andy's lifestyle, she disabled his television, threw out his chocolate and crisps (replacing his dinner with stew as a main course and a pear as dessert); started holding church services straight after dinner; and thumping his leg, to Andy's dismay. Andy claims he can't feel a thing when Mrs. Mead thumps it, but when she goes to the kitchen, he cries out from the pain he was enduring.

Later in the episode, Mrs. Mead takes Andy to the White Cilffs of Dover, where she says he must learn how to move his wheelchair himself, as well as get a job. With her facing the sea, Andy gets out of his chair and throws Mrs. Mead off the cliff, killing her. Andy then gets back in his wheelchair, turns round, and begins to wheel himself home.

After the end credits have rolled, Andy hears Lou returning home. Andy grins, then jumps out of his wheelchair to greet him, but then runs back to his chair, fearing that if Lou sees him like that, he'll leave.

On-screen intelligence[link]

The series 3 deleted scenes show Andy starting to display his intelligent side on screen:

• After getting a tattoo, Andy says "I regret it deeply" (instead of his usual "I don't like it")
• On two occasions when Lou has reminded Andy of something intelligent he has said off-screen, Andy replied "Stop repeatin' everything I say!" or "Stop paraphrasin' me!"

Scenes for charity[link]

In December 2005, Lou and Andy presented a show for Comic Relief. This featured Andy asking to open his Christmas presents early, so Lou let him open one. It was a two-piece Balamory jigsaw puzzle which Andy claimed he could not do, so threw it away. He then gave Lou his Christmas present... a packet of cigars. Only when Lou tells Andy he doesn't smoke, Andy replies with "Yeah I know, there's none in anyway."

Later, Andy, after watching Rachel Stevens and Rowan Atkinson in a spoof of Spiderman, claims that he wants to touch Rachel Stevens's breasts saying that, since he is in a wheelchair, it could be arranged.

Andy later begs Lou for chocolate from the Christmas tree. Andy threatens to tell social services that Lou had beat him, so Lou relents, and gets a chocolate. Later he wants another one, so gets out of his wheelchair (while Lou is oblivious), and can't reach the last chocolate on the top of the tree. Andy cuts the top off the tree to get the chocolate. When he sits down in his wheelchair, Andy asks Lou to open it, much to the surprise of Lou.

Also, after watching a short film about poor children, Lou is very moved and sad from the film, but Andy remarks that it was boring.

As part of Red Nose Day 2007 Andy and Lou appeared alongside Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights and The Proclaimers in a special version of I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). The video was later released as a fund raising single for Comic Relief. This reached the number one spot in the UK singles charts and was on Now 66.

In popular culture[link]

• A Dead Ringers sketch features a parody of Lou and Andy, with the two replaced by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown respectively. The sketch depicts Brown, in a wheelchair, agreeing to read a speech praising Blair that the latter wrote, but jumping from the wheelchair as soon as Blair had left and reading instead "Blair stinks. Blair is crap. You all know it. Brown for Labour, Brown for Britain, Brown for Prime Minister!" to the House of Commons.

• Lou and Andy both appeared in an episode of Neighbours titled "British Bulldog", broadcast in the UK on 6 September 2007 and 14 June 2007 in Australia. They had no dialogue but were seen in the background of the scene, Lou talking to Harold (most likely asking him for directions) while Andy (unseen by Lou) played on the arcade racing game and returned to his seat before Lou turned around and helped Andy out of the bar. The next episode shows that the high score on the arcade racing game has been knocked off. However, this was later revealed to be because of Rosetta Cammeniti, and not Andy.

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2011)

Lou Reed
Lou Reed performing at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon in January 2004
Background information
Birth name	Lewis Allan Reed
Born	(1942-03-02) March 2, 1942 (age 70) Brooklyn, New York United States
Genres	Rock, experimental rock, art rock, protopunk, noise music, drone music, psychedelic rock, folk rock, glam rock, blue-eyed soul, spoken word
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, photographer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, ostrich guitar, bass, synthesizer, keyboards, piano, harmonica, drums, percussion
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Matador, MGM, RCA, Sire, Reprise, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	The Velvet Underground, John Cale, Nico, David Bowie, The Killers, Mick Ronson, Gorillaz, Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel, Metallica.
Website	www.loureed.com

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed, born March 2, 1942, is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer.^[1] He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his solo career, which has spanned several decades. Though the Velvet Underground were a commercial failure in the late 1960s, the group has gained a considerable cult following in the years since its demise and has gone on to become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era.^[2] As the Velvet Underground's principal songwriter, Reed wrote about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined so openly in rock and roll, including sexuality and drug culture.

After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", although he subsequently lacked the mainstream commercial success its chart status seemed to indicate.^[3] Reed's work as a solo artist frustrated critics wishing for a return of the Velvet Underground. In 1975, Reed released a double album of feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which he later commented, "No one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive."^[4]

In 2008, Reed married performance artist Laurie Anderson.^[5]

Early life[link]

Reed was born at Beth El Hospital in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island.^{[citation needed]} Contrary to some sources, his birth name was Lewis Allan Reed, not Louis Firbanks, a name that was coined as a joke by Lester Bangs in Creem magazine.^[6] Having learned to play the guitar from the radio, he developed an early interest in rock and roll and rhythm and blues, and during high school played in a number of bands.^[7] His first recording was as a member of a doo wop-style group called The Jades.

Reed as a high school senior, 1959

In 1956, Reed received electroconvulsive therapy as a teenager intended to cure his bisexuality; he wrote about the experience in his 1974 song, "Kill Your Sons."^[8] In an interview, Reed said of the experience:

"They put the thing down your throat so you don't swallow your tongue, and they put electrodes on your head. That's what was recommended in Rockland County to discourage homosexual feelings. The effect is that you lose your memory and become a vegetable. You can't read a book because you get to page 17 and have to go right back to page one again."

—Lou Reed quoted in Please Kill Me (1996)^[9]

Reed began attending Syracuse University in the fall of 1960, studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. In 1961 he began hosting a late-night radio program on WAER called "Excursions On A Wobbly Rail."^[7] Named after a song by pianist Cecil Taylor, the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues and jazz, particularly the free jazz developed in the mid-1950s.^[10] Many of Reed's guitar techniques, such as the guitar-drum roll, were inspired by jazz saxophonists, notably Ornette Coleman. Reed graduated from Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in June 1964.^[8]

Poet Delmore Schwartz taught at Syracuse University and befriended Reed, who in 1966 dedicated the song "European Son," from the Velvet Underground's debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, to Schwartz.^[11] In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" as a tribute to his late mentor. He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write the Great American Novel in a record album.^[12]

Career[link]

Pickwick Records[link]

In 1964, Reed moved to New York City and began working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records. In 1964, he scored a minor hit with the single "The Ostrich," a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as "put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it." His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and arranged for a band to be assembled around Reed to promote the recording. The ad hoc group, called "The Primitives," included Welsh musician John Cale, who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer La Monte Young's Theater of Eternal Music, along with Tony Conrad. Cale and Conrad were both surprised to find that for "The Ostrich," Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note. This technique created a drone effect similar to their experimentation in Young's avant-garde ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "Heroin"), and a partnership began to evolve.

The Velvet Underground[link]

Reed and Cale lived together on the Lower East Side, and after inviting Reed's college acquaintances, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker, to join the group, they formed the Velvet Underground. Though internally unstable (Cale left in 1968, Reed in 1970), and without commercial success, the band has a long-standing reputation as one of the most influential bands in rock history.^[13]

The group soon caught the attention of artist Andy Warhol. One of Warhol's first contributions was to integrate them into the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Warhol's associates inspired many of Reed's songs as he fell into a thriving, multifaceted artistic scene. Reed rarely gives an interview without paying homage to Warhol as a mentor. Conflict emerged when Warhol had the idea for the group to take on a chanteuse, the European former model and singer Nico. Reed and the others registered their objection by titling their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico to imply that Nico was not accepted as a member of the group. Despite his initial resistance, Reed wrote several songs for Nico to sing, and the two were briefly lovers (as were Nico and Cale later). The Velvet Underground & Nico reached No. 171 on the charts.

Today, however, it is considered one of the most influential rock albums ever recorded. Rolling Stone has it listed as the 13th most influential album of all time. Brian Eno once famously stated that although few people bought the album, most of those who did were inspired to form their own band.^[14]

By the time the band recorded White Light/White Heat, Nico had quit and Warhol was fired, both against Cale's wishes. Warhol's replacement as manager, Steve Sesnick, convinced Reed to drive Cale out of the band. Morrison and Tucker were discomfited by Reed's tactics but continued with the group. Cale's replacement was Doug Yule, whom Reed would often facetiously introduce as his younger brother. The group now took on a more pop-oriented sound and acted more as a vehicle for Reed to develop his songwriting craft. The group released two albums with this line up: 1969's The Velvet Underground and 1970's Loaded. The latter included two of the group's most commercially successful songs, "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane". Reed left the Velvet Underground in August 1970; the band disintegrated as core members Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker departed in 1971 and 1972, respectively. Yule continued until early 1973, and the band released one more studio album, Squeeze, under the Velvet Underground name.

After the band's move to Atlantic Records' Cotillion label, their new manager pushed Reed to change the subject matter of his songs to lighter topics in hopes of commercial success. The band's album Loaded had taken more time to record than the previous three albums together, but had not broken the band through to a wider audience. Reed briefly retired to his parents' home on Long Island.

Solo career[link]

1970s[link]

After quitting the Velvet Underground in August 1970, Reed took a job at his father's tax accounting firm as a typist, by his own account earning $40 a week. A year later, however, he signed a recording contract with RCA and recorded his first solo album in London with top session musicians including Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman, members of the progressive rock group Yes. The album, simply titled Lou Reed, contained smoothly produced, re-recorded versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, some of which were originally recorded by the Velvets for Loaded but shelved (see the Peel Slowly and See box set). This first solo album was overlooked by most pop music critics (although Stephen Holden in Rolling Stone called it "almost perfect") and it did not sell in significant numbers.

In December 1972, Reed released Transformer. David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced the album and introduced Reed to a wider popular audience (specifically in the U.K.). The hit single "Walk on the Wild Side" was an ironic yet affectionate salute to the misfits, hustlers, and transvestites who once surrounded Andy Warhol. Each of the song's five verses poignantly describes an actual person who had been a fixture at The Factory during the mid-to-late 1960s: (1) Holly Woodlawn, (2) Candy Darling, (3) "Little Joe" Dallesandro, (4) "Sugar Plum Fairy" Joe Campbell and (5) Jackie Curtis. The song's cleverly transgressive lyrics evaded radio censorship. Though the jazzy arrangement (courtesy of bassist Herbie Flowers and saxophonist Ronnie Ross) was musically somewhat atypical for Reed, it eventually became his signature song. The song came about as a result of his commission to compose a soundtrack to a theatrical adaptation of Nelson Algren's novel of the same name, though the play failed to materialize. Ronson's arrangements brought out new aspects of Reed's songs. "Perfect Day," for example, features delicate strings and soaring dynamics. It was rediscovered in the 1990s and allowed Reed to drop "Walk on the Wild Side" from his concerts.

Though Transformer would prove to be Reed's commercial and critical pinnacle, there was no small amount of resentment in Reed devoted to the shadow the record cast over the rest of his career. An argument between Bowie and Reed ended their working relationship for several years, though its subject is not known. The two reconciled some years later, and Reed performed with Bowie at the latter's 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. The two would not formally collaborate again until 2003's The Raven. Touring in support of Transformer posed the challenge of forming a band for the first time since joining the Velvets. Reed took the simple path of hiring an inexperienced bar band, the Tots. Their straightforward guitar sound suited the songs, and Reed spent much of 1972 and the winter of 1973 on the road with them. Though they improved over the months, criticism of their still-basic abilities ultimately led Reed to fire them mid-tour. He chose the creative young keyboardist Moogy Klingman to come up with a new five-member backing band on barely a week's notice. Thus the tour continued through the spring with a denser, bluesier and tighter sound that presaged the very successful live albums Reed would record with all different musicians in December.^[15]

Reed followed Transformer with the darker Berlin, which tells the story of two junkies in love in that city. The songs variously concern domestic abuse ("Caroline Says I," "Caroline Says II"), drug addiction ("How Do You Think It Feels"), adultery and prostitution ("The Kids"), and suicide ("The Bed"). Reed's late-1973 European tour, featuring dual lead guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, mixed his Berlin material with older rockers.

After Berlin came two albums in 1974, Sally Can't Dance and a live record Rock 'n' Roll Animal, which contained performances of the Velvet Underground songs "Sweet Jane" and "Heroin". Rock 'n' Roll Animal became his biggest selling album, and its follow-up Lou Reed Live, recorded on the same occasions in December 1973, kept Reed in the public eye with strong sales after its release in early 1975.

As he had done with Berlin after Transformer, in 1975 Reed responded to commercial success with a commercial failure, a double album of electronically generated audio feedback, Metal Machine Music. Critics interpreted it as a gesture of contempt, an attempt to break his contract with RCA or to alienate his less sophisticated fans. But Reed claimed that the album was a genuine artistic effort, even suggesting that quotations of classical music could be found buried in the feedback. Lester Bangs declared it "genius," though also as psychologically disturbing. The album was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands after a few weeks.^[16] Though later admitting that the liner notes' list of instruments is fictitious and intended as parody, Reed maintains that MMM was and is a serious album. He has since stated though that at the time he had taken it seriously, he was also "very stoned".^{[citation needed]} In the 2000s it was adapted for orchestral performance by the German ensemble Zeitkratzer.

By contrast, 1975's Coney Island Baby was mainly a warm and mellow album, though for its characters Reed still drew on the underbelly of city life. At this time his lover was a transgender woman, Rachel, mentioned in the dedication of "Coney Island Baby" and appearing in the photos on the cover of Reed's 1977 "best of" album, Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed. While Rock and Roll Heart, his 1976 debut for his new record label Arista, fell short of expectations, Street Hassle (1978) was a return to form in the midst of the punk scene he had helped to inspire. But Reed was dismissive of punk and rejected any affiliation with it. "I'm too literate to be into punk rock . . . The whole CBGB's, new Max's thing that everyone's into and what's going on in London—you don't seriously think I'm responsible for what's mostly rubbish?"^[17] The Bells (1979) featured jazz musician Don Cherry, and was followed the next year by Growing Up in Public with guitarist Chuck Hammer. Around this period he also appeared as a sleazy record producer in Paul Simon's film One Trick Pony. Reed also played several unannounced one-off concerts in tiny downtown Manhattan clubs with the likes of Cale, Patti Smith, and David Byrne during this period.

1980s[link]

In 1980, Reed married British designer Sylvia Morales.^[18] They were divorced more than a decade later. While together, Morales inspired Reed to write several songs, particularly "Think It Over" from 1980's Growing Up in Public and "Heavenly Arms" from 1982's The Blue Mask.^{[citation needed]} After Legendary Hearts (1983) and New Sensations (1984) fared adequately on the charts, Reed was sufficiently reestablished as a public figure to become spokesman for Honda motorcycles.

In the early 1980s, Reed asked guitarist Robert Quine to join his group. Quine appeared on Reed's The Blue Mask (1982), acclaimed as one of Reed's best albums, and Legendary Hearts (1983). The two guitarists’ played both rhythm and lead guitar. Robert Quine eventually quit the group due to tensions with Reed. However, Reed persuaded Quine to rejoin for a world tour, with which he agreed to despite his aversion to touring, for financial reasons. Quine ended his musical relationship with Reed in 1985.

On September 22, 1985, Reed performed at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. He performed "Doin' The Things That We Want To", "I Love You, Suzanne", "New Sensations" and "Walk on The Wild Side".

In 1986, he joined Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope Tour and was outspoken about New York's political issues and personalities on the 1989 album New York, commenting on crime, AIDS, Jesse Jackson, Kurt Waldheim, and Pope John Paul II.

Following Warhol's death after routine surgery in 1987, Reed again collaborated with John Cale on the biographical Songs for Drella, Warhol's nickname. The album marked an end to a 22-year estrangement from Cale. On the album, Reed sings of his love for his late friend, but also criticizes both the doctors who were unable to save Warhol's life and Warhol's would-be assassin, Valerie Solanas.

1990s[link]

In 1990, following a twenty-year hiatus, the Velvet Underground reformed for a Fondation Cartier benefit in France. Reed released his sixteenth solo record, Magic and Loss, in 1992, an album about mortality, inspired by the death of two close friends from cancer. In 1993, the Velvet Underground again reunited and toured throughout Europe, although plans for a North American tour were cancelled following another falling out between Reed and Cale. In 1994, Reed appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. In 1994, a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released. Reed performed a radically rearranged version of "Now And Then" from Psychoderelict.

In 1996, the Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, Reed performed a song entitled "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend" alongside former bandmates John Cale and Maureen Tucker, in dedication to Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison, who had died the previous August. Reed has since been nominated for the Rock Hall as a solo artist twice, in 2000 and 2001, but has not been inducted.^[19]

His 1996 album, Set the Twilight Reeling, met with a lukewarm reception, but 2000's Ecstasy drew praise from most critics, including Robert Christgau. In 1996, Reed contributed songs and music to Time Rocker, an avant-garde theatrical interpretation of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine staged by theater director Robert Wilson. The piece premiered in the Thalia Theater, Hamburg, Germany, and was later also shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.^[20]

In 1998, the PBS TV show American Masters aired Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' feature documentary Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart. This film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. and at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany went on to screen at over 50 festivals worldwide. In 1999, the film and Reed as its subject received a Grammy Award for best long form music video.

Since the late 1990s, Reed has been romantically linked to the musician, multi-media and performance artist Laurie Anderson, and the two have collaborated on a number of recordings together. Anderson contributed to "Call On Me" from Reed's project The Raven, to the tracks "Baton Rouge" and "Rock Minuet" from Reed's Ecstasy, and to "Hang On To Your Emotions" from Reed's Set the Twilight Reeling. Reed contributed to "In Our Sleep" from Anderson's Bright Red and to "One Beautiful Evening" from her Life on a String. They married on April 12, 2008.^[21]

2000s[link]

Reed performing in Málaga, Spain, July 21, 2008.

2000 to 2003[link]

In May 2000, Reed performed before Pope John Paul II at the Great Jubilee Concert in Rome. In 2000, a new collaboration with Robert Wilson called "Poe-Try" was staged at the Thalia Theater in Germany. As with the previous collaboration "Time Rocker," "Poe-Try" was also inspired by the works of a 19th century writer: Edgar Allan Poe. Reed became interested in Poe after producer and long-time friend Hal Willner suggested he read some of Poe's text at a Halloween benefit he was curating at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn.^[22] For this new collaboration, Reed reworked and even rewrote some of Poe's text as well as included some new songs based on the theme explored in the texts. In 2001, Reed made a cameo appearance in the movie adaptation of Prozac Nation. On October 6, 2001, the New York Times published a Reed poem called Laurie Sadly Listening in which he reflects upon the 9/11 terrorist attacks.^[23]

Incorrect reports of Reed's death were broadcast by numerous U.S. radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from Reuters) which said he had died of a drug overdose. In 2003, he released a 2-CD set, The Raven, based on "Poe-Try." Besides Reed and his band, the album featured a wide range of actors and musicians including singers David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Antony Hegarty, saxophonist and long-time idol Ornette Coleman, and actors Elizabeth Ashley, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Amanda Plummer, Fisher Stevens and Kate Valk. The album consisted of songs written by Reed and spoken-word performances of reworked and rewritten texts of Edgar Allan Poe by the actors, set to electronic music composed by Reed. At the same time a single disc CD version of the albums, focusing on the music, was also released.

A few months after the release of The Raven, a new 2-CD Best Of-set was released, entitled NYC Man (The Ultimate Collection 1967-2003), which featured an unreleased version of the song "Who am I" and a selection of career spanning tracks that had been selected, remastered and sequenced under Reed's supervision. In April 2003, Reed embarked on a new world tour supporting both new and released material, with a band including cellist Jane Scarpantoni and singer Antony Hegarty. During some of the concerts for this tour, the band was joined by Master Ren Guangyi, Reed's personal T'ai Chi instructor, performing T'ai Chi movements to the music on stage. This tour was documented in the 2004 double-disc live album Animal Serenade, recorded live at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.

In 2003, Reed released his first book of photographs, Emotions in Action. This work actually was made up out of two books, a larger A4-paper sized called Emotions and a smaller one called Actions which was laid into the hard cover of the former. After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2003.

In 2003, Reed was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[24]

2004 to 2006[link]

In 2004, a Groovefinder remix of his song, "Satellite of Love" (called "Satellite of Love '04") was released. It reached No. 10 in the UK singles chart. Also in 2004, Reed contributed vocals and guitar to the track "Fistful of Love" on I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons. In 2005, Reed recorded a spoken word text on Danish rock band Kashmir's album No Balance Palace.

In January 2006, a second book of photographs, Lou Reed's New York, was released.^[25] At the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, Reed performed "White Light/White Heat" with The Raconteurs. Later in the night, while co-presenting the award for Best Rock Video with Pink, he exclaimed, apparently unscripted, that "MTV should be playing more rock n' roll."

In October 2006, Reed appeared at Hal Willner's Leonard Cohen tribute show "Came So Far For Beauty" in Dublin, beside the cast of Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, Antony, Jarvis Cocker, Beth Orton, and others. According to the reports, he played a heavy metal version of Cohen's "The Stranger Song."^[26] He also performed "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" and two duets—"Joan of Arc", with Cohen's former back-up singer Julie Christensen, and "Memories"—in a duet with Anjani Thomas.

In December 2006, Reed played a first series of show at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, based on his 1973 Berlin song cycle. Reed was reunited on stage with guitarist Steve Hunter, who played on the original album as well as on Rock 'n' Roll Animal, as well as joined by singers Antony Hegarty and Sharon Jones, pianist Rupert Christie, a horn and string section and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The show was being produced by Bob Ezrin, who also produced the original album, and Hal Willner. The stage was designed by painter Julian Schnabel and a film about protagonist "Caroline" directed by his daughter, Lola Schnabel, was being projected to the stage. A live recording of these concerts was also published as a film (directed by Schnabel) which was released spring 2008. The show was also played at the Sydney Festival in January 2007 and throughout Europe during June and July 2007. The album version of the concert, entitled Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse, was released in 2008.

2007 to 2009[link]

In April 2007, he released Hudson River Wind Meditations, his first record of ambient meditation music. The record was released on the Sounds True record label and contains four tracks that were said to have been composed just for himself as a guidance for T'ai Chi exercise and meditation. In May 2007, Reed performed the narration for a screening of Guy Maddin's silent film The Brand Upon the Brain. In June 2007, he performed live at the Traffic Festival 2007 in Turin, Italy, a five-day free event organized by the city.

In August 2007, Reed went into the studio with The Killers in New York City to record "Tranquilize," a duet with Brandon Flowers for The Killers' b-side/rarities album, called Sawdust. During that month, he also recorded guitar for the Lucibel Crater song "Threadbare Funeral," which appears on their full-length CD The Family Album. In October 2007, Reed gave a special performance in the Recitement song "Passengers." The album combines music with spoken word. The album was composed by Stephen Emmer and produced by Tony Visconti. Hollandcentraal was inspired by this piece of music and literature, which spawned a concept for a music video. On October 1, 2008, Reed joined Richard Barone via projected video on a spoken/sung duet of Reed's "I'll Be Your Mirror," with cellist Jane Scarpantoni, in Barone's FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading at Carnegie Hall.

Reed performing the Berlin album in Stockholm, Sweden, 2008.

On October 2 and 3, 2008, he premiered his new group, which later was named Metal Machine Trio, at REDCAT (Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, Los Angeles). The live recordings of the concerts were released under the title The Creation of the Universe. The Trio features Ulrich Krieger (saxophone) and Sarth Calhoun (electronics), and plays free improvised instrumental music inspired by Reed's 1975 album Metal Machine Music. The music ranges from ambient soundscapes to free rock to contemporary noise. The trio played further shows at New York's Gramercy Theater in April 2009, and appeared as part of Reed's band at the 2009 Lollapalooza, including a ten minute free trio improvisation.^[27] At Lollapalooza, held in Chicago's Grant Park, Reed played "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" with Metallica at Madison Square Garden as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2009.^[28][29] Reed's recent activity in films include providing the voice of Maltazard, the villain in the forthcoming Luc Besson animated film, Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard, and playing the role of himself in Wim Wenders' movie Palermo Shooting (2008).

In 2009, Reed became an active member of the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA).^[30] He was a featured performer at the JFA's annual benefit "A Great Night in Harlem" in May 2009.^[31]

2010s[link]

Reed has remained active doing benefits and composing music. He has contributed vocals on the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, on the song "Some Kind Of Nature" and co-wrote and performed backup music for a Chen Style T'ai Chi instructional DVD.^[32] He has a co-production credit on Laurie Anderson's Homeland.

Lou Reed performed a cover of the Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue" which is featured on the tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly.

Reed also began touring with the Metal Machine Trio, which was widely viewed as a return to his exploration of noise and sound. In 2011, heavy metal band Metallica recorded a full length collaboration with Lou Reed entitled Lulu, released November 1 in North America and October 31 everywhere else.^[33] After he initially refused Susan Boyle the right to perform "Perfect Day" on an American television special ("America's Got Talent"), he subsequently agreed to direct her video rendition.^[34]

In January, 2012, Reed and John Cale sued the Andy Warhol Foundation for the license to use the yellow banana image from Warhol's art for The Velvet Underground & Nico album.^[35]

Reed contributed vocals to the track "Wanderlust" on Metric's 2012 album Synthetica.

Discography[link]

With the Velvet Underground[link]

As a solo artist[link]

Collaborations[link]

• Songs for Drella (with John Cale) (1990)
• Tranquilize (with The Killers) (2007)
• The Stone: Issue Three (with John Zorn and Laurie Anderson) (2008)
• The Creation of the Universe (with the Metal Machine Trio) (2008)
• Some Kind of Nature (with Gorillaz) (2010)
• Lulu (with Metallica) (2011)

Guest appearances[link]

• The Road from Memphis - Booker T. Jones (2011) "The Bronx"
• Synthetica - Metric (2012) "The Wanderlust"

Appearances in film[link]

• One Trick Pony (1980) as Steve Kunelian
• Get Crazy (1983) as Auden
• Permanent Record (1988) as himself
• Faraway, So Close! (1993) as himself
• Blue in the Face (1995) as "Man with Strange Glasses"
• Closure (1997) as himself
• Prozac Nation (2001) as himself
• Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse (2008)
• Palermo Shooting (2008) as himself

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lou Reed

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lou Reed

• Official Lou Reed website
• Comprehensive music biography of Reed by Allmusic

Andy On (traditional Chinese: 安志傑; simplified Chinese: 安志杰; pinyin: An Zhi Jie; Cantonese Yale: On Chi Kit) (born 11 May 1977 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States) is a Chinese American actor and martial artist.

Biography[link]

On was born on 11 May 1977, in Providence, Rhode Island. As a native to the USA, Andy On can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Andy On was approached by China Star founder Charles Heung and filmmaker Tsui Hark to take over the role of one of Jet Li's film characters, Black Mask, in Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002). Despite the poor reviews and the bad box office, Andy continued to act and, in fact, improve in not only martial arts but acting as well. Like fellow Hong Kong film star Nicholas Tse, Andy trained in martial arts under Chung Chi Li, the leader of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He began training with him in 2001 for the film Kei fung dik sau (2003), which was released 2 years later. Andy On trained in wushu at the Shaolin Temple and studied film fighting under former Jackie Chan Stunt Team leader Nicky Li for his first film, Looking for Mister Perfect, which was shot before Black Mask 2: City of Masks but released in 2003. Andy On continued his acting career with his fair share of injuries, sustaining a hamstring injury on the set of Xin jing cha gu shi (2004) in one of the two fights against Jackie Chan.

Andy on was nominated and won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Actor Award for his role in Siu nin a Fu (2003) (Star Runner). He shared the screen with the man who influenced him, Jackie Chan, in New Police Story. Andy On has also won the Best New Artist Award in 2004 at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role as Tank Wong in Siu nin a Fu, beating favorite Vanness Wu by only one-tenth of the votes.

Aside from his filmmaking career, On is also a singer. He has released some tracks, including a duet with Jolin Tsai called "Angel of Mine" and others. His hobbies are martial arts and video games. He continues to train in Wing Chun Kung Fu with good friend, actor and martial artist Philip Ng, and has studied Thai boxing under former world kickboxing champion and actor Billy Chau in preparing for Star Runner.

During production of The Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008), Andy was hit in the face by a stuntman during an action sequence. Andy cut his lip and after seven surgeries, sports a small scar on his lip. He considers the scar a "trophy" for his hard work in the film.

Andy On recently has starred in two action films in 2010, True Legend and Bad Blood.

Andy has been dating girlfriend Jennifer Tse for over two years. They met through Jennifer's brother, popular Hong Kong actor/singer Nicholas Tse.

Filmography[link]

Music videos[link]

• 2002 - Coco Lee 有你就够了
• 2004 - Miriam Yeung 处处吻
• 2004 - Miriam Yeung 柳媚花娇

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official blog of Andy On
• Andy On at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy On Chi-Kit at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• Andy On at the Hong Kong Cinemagic

An editor has expressed a concern that this article lends undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, controversies or matters relative to the article subject as a whole. Please help to create a more balanced presentation. Discuss and resolve this issue before removing this message. (February 2012)

Fabio Capello

Personal information
Date of birth	(1946-06-18) 18 June 1946 (age 66)
Place of birth	San Canzian d'Isonzo, Italy
Playing position	Midfielder (retired)
Youth career
1963–1964	SPAL
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1964–1967	SPAL	49	(3)
1967–1970	Roma	62	(11)
1970–1976	Juventus	165	(27)
1976–1980	Milan	65	(4)
Total		341	(45)
National team
1972–1978	Italy	32	(8)
Teams managed
1987	Milan
1991–1996	Milan
1996–1997	Real Madrid
1997–1998	Milan
1999–2004	Roma
2004–2006	Juventus
2006–2007	Real Madrid
2008–2012	England
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Fabio Capello (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfabjo kaˈpello]; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian football manager and former professional footballer. Capello was born in San Canzian d'Isonzo. His uncle, Mario Tortul was also a football player and played for Triestina, Padova, Sampdoria and the Italian national football team. Capello is married and has a son named Pier Filippo who acts as his agent. Capello is also a collector of fine art and has a personal collection thought to be worth over £10 million.

As a player Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which lasted over 15 years. He won the Coppa Italia with Roma in 1969. He was most successful with Juventus, winning three Serie A titles in 1972, 1973 and 1975. With Milan he won the Coppa Italia again in 1977 and also won another Serie A in 1979. Capello also played for Italy during his career and amassed 32 caps, scoring eight goals as well.

As a manager, Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career. In his first five seasons as a manager he won four Serie A titles with Milan, where he also won the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, defeating Barcelona 4–0 in a memorable final. He then spent a year at Real Madrid, where he won the La Liga title at his first attempt, and in 2001 led Roma to their first league title in 18 years. Capello also won two titles at Juventus (which were later stripped after the Calciopoli scandal), and in 2006 returned to Real Madrid, where he won another La Liga title. Overall he has won a major league championship in seven (or nine, counting the two revoked titles with Juventus) of his 16 seasons as a coach. Capello was appointed as England manager on 12 December 2008. During his time as England manager he successfully guided the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where they were knocked out in the second round, and 2012 European Championship. On 8 February 2012, he resigned as manager due to a dispute with The Football Association.

Club career[link]

A midfielder, Capello first played as a youth for his local club side (Pieris in the land of Bisiacaria, between Isonzo and Timavo) which was coached by his father, Guerrino. He was signed by Paolo Mazza, the President of SPAL, for the fee of two million lire despite interest from AC Milan. In his second season in the youth team he helped the club win the Italian Youth Championship and made his first-team debut against Sampdoria on 29 March 1964. He made four appearances for a struggling side that was relegated from Serie A giving him experience of both success and failure in the same season. After returning to the top division at the first attempt, Capello became a key player in the 1965–66 season, taking penalties and helping them avoid a swift return to Serie B. He was also called up to the Italian Under-23 side along with teammate Edy Reja. However, injury to his left knee restricted him to just sixteen appearances the following season. In 1967, he moved to Roma where he became a key player for the club. In his first season, he helped them to first place after eight matches, including scoring the winner in a 10–9 victory over Juventus. However, a recurrence of the injury to his left knee kept him out for the rest of the season and Roma eventually finished in tenth place, just 5 points away from relegation. The following season, under new manager Helenio Herrera, a fit Capello scored 6 goals as Roma finished 8th and won his first major trophy, the Coppa Italia. This qualified Roma to play the Anglo-Italian League Cup, where they played Swindon Town who had beaten Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup. Capello played in both legs against Swindon, Roma winning 2–1 at home in the first leg but losing 4–0 in the second leg at The County Ground. He was then sold to Juventus, where he was a mainstay in the 1970s. Juventus were the dominant Italian team of the decade, and he won the Serie A three times with the club. Capello ended his career as player with Milan in 1980, having won his fourth Serie A with the club in 1979.^[1]

International career[link]

Capello also played thirty-two times for Italy; he is particularly remembered for a goal with which Italy beat England 1–0 at Wembley for the first time in its history (14 November 1973), which he himself regarded as the highlight of his playing career.^[2] Capello scored the lone goal for Italy against Poland during the 1974 FIFA World Cup though Italy lost the match 2–1 and failed to qualify for the second round of the competition.^[3] He was overlooked for the 1978 FIFA World Cup even after having good club form with Milan:^[4] the manager at that time, Enzo Bearzot, preferred other defensive-minded midfielders such as Marco Tardelli over the attacking minded Capello. After several years as a football pundit for Italian TV SPW and a brief spell as caretaker manager of AC Milan in 1987, he became a leading candidate to succeed Arrigo Sacchi as coach of the team, and he was formally appointed as manager of AC Milan in 1991.

Coaching career[link]

Before going into management, Fabio spent a couple of seasons from 1987 to 1989 being a coach with Italian side Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio and manager Emiliano Mondonico, a personal friend.

A student at Coverciano, in 1984 he penned a research article entitled "The Zonal Marking System".^[5]

While at Coverciano, Capello acted as general manager for a variety of sports, including baseball, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby union.^[6][7]

First spell at Milan[link]

His first experience as a head coach was leading Milan in the last six games of the 1986–87 Serie A season, replacing Nils Liedholm and achieving the UEFA Cup qualifications in a play-off with Sampdoria. However, the following season, Arrigo Sacchi became the new Rossoneri manager and Capello stepped aside, but still worked for the society.

Capello made his second and best remembered coaching experience in the early 1990s again with Milan, replacing Sacchi and leading a team including the likes of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Paolo Maldini, and Franco Baresi to four Serie A titles in five years with a team nicknamed "The Invincibles". Milan were at this time bankrolled by the vast wealth of the Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi. Under Capello, Milan remained unbeaten for 58 league games, between 19 May 1991 and 21 March 1993, which included an entire season in the league. They were finally defeated 1–0 by Parma after a goal from Faustino Asprilla.

With a style that spurned the traditional Italian stereotype of Catenaccio, in 1994 Milan routed the favourites FC Barcelona 4–0 to win the UEFA Champions League, earning them a reputation of one of the great sides of the modern era. Although Milan lost the Serie A title in 1995—finishing a disappointing fourth—Capello signed off from his six-year stint with the Rossoneri by regaining the league championship the following year. He was replaced by Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabárez who was sacked after only a few games.

By now, Capello had earned himself a reputation as one of Europe's leading coaches. He had also become known as a disciplinarian, unafraid of clamping down on his players, even his leading stars, if he felt they were not pulling their weight for the team.^{[citation needed]} Towards the end of his time at Milan, he had clashed with player Paolo Di Canio who was subsequently sold to Celtic

First spell at Real Madrid[link]

Capello was unveiled as the new Real Madrid coach. A major task was combining the attacking talents of Davor Šuker, Predrag Mijatović and Raúl in a single team, which Capello did by playing a three-man attack, in spite of his reputation for cautious and defensive football.^[8] He had a single season in charge of Real guiding the club to the Spanish league title in 1997. Real managed to edge out their bitter rivals FC Barcelona by just two points.

Despite his tenure with Los Merengues lasting only a year, he was credited^{[citation needed]} with bringing in a number of players such as Šuker, Mijatović, Roberto Carlos and Clarence Seedorf who helped the club establish their Champions League dominance over the next few years.

Second spell at Milan[link]

Despite a belief by the Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti that Capello had made a verbal agreement to coach his club, Capello instead returned to Milan for a brief and less successful spell.^[9]

Some of the previous squad had departed, and others such as Franco Baresi were coming to the end of their careers. The squad had to be extensively rebuilt, and many of the new signings did not gel. The team managed to win just 11 games all season, with a particular low occurring in March 1998 when they lost 4–1 to Juventus and Capello was sent off for protesting a decision by the referee. This was followed by a 5–0 defeat to Roma in May.^[10]

Milan finished the 1997–98 Serie A season in 10th place, 30 points behind the champions Juventus, by which time Capello had already departed the club. Some of the players suggested that Capello had instituted a more lax training regime than he had in his previous spell.^[11] A run in the Italian Cup ended when Milan were beaten in the final by Lazio 3–2 on aggregate, despite taking a 1–0 lead in the first leg. Capello took credit for Milan's title win the following season claiming, as he had rebuilt the side, that it was "my team".^[12]

Managing Roma[link]

Following his dismissal at Milan, Capello took a short break from coaching. He told a reporter that he "sat on a beach and thought about football". He also enjoyed a spell as a colour commentator for Italian television, participating in coverage of the Copa America 1999.^[13] In May 1999 he moved to Roma, the club he had first joined as a player thirty years before. His arrival was hailed by the Roma President, Franco Sensi, who said "Capello is a winner and I believe in him". Capello was joined by Franco Baldini who became the club's Sporting Director. Capello built his side around Marco Delvecchio, sometimes leaving Vincenzo Montella on the bench. Believing his squad lacked a world-class striker, Capello made a move to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the deal was wrecked following a serious injury. His first season saw Roma finish 6th, made particularly disappointing as cross-city rivals Lazio won the title, and they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Leeds United.^[14]

Capello's breakthrough at the club occurred when he won the 2001 Serie A, having signed Walter Samuel to strengthen his defence and Gabriel Batistuta as a goalscorer. Although the large fee for Batistuta was questioned, the Argentinian scored a number of vital goals. The season began in difficult fashion with Roma struggling for form and an angry fans protest at the club's Trigoria training complex which turned violent when players cars were attacked. Capello resisted calls for his resignation, and the team's results dramatically improved helped by the performances of the Brazilian midfielder Emerson. The title was sealed with a 3–0 victory over Parma at the Stadio Olimpico prompting a major pitch invasion by the Roma supporters.^[15] That was Roma's first major honour in a decade and only the third ever time they had been crowned Champions of Italy. Capello was praised for fielding Montella, a player he had had a bust-up with just days before, in the final match of the season.

Following the title win there was also a widespread belief that he had done a secret deal to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.^[16] Ferguson had announced his decision to retire, with Capello a leading candidate to replace him allegedly going so far as to meet with the Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards. Capello did little to dispel the rumours when he remarked "I like the spirit of English football and I would like to work in English football" adding that it was an honour to be pursued by the club. Capello's link with United eventually came to nothing after Ferguson abandoned his decision to retire and signed a new contract, with Martin Edwards claiming that United had been three or four days away from appointing a new manager, believed to be Capello, when Ferguson changed his mind.^[17]

The 2002 season developed into a battle between Roma and Juventus. After a heated encounter between the teams, Capello used an interview to criticise the Moggi family that ran Juventus, particularly their dealings with players agents. Capello signed a new contract in April 2002, worth £2.37m a season. The defence of the title was dealt a major blow when the club drew with bottom-placed Venezia, as Roma finished second in the table behind Juventus by a single point.^[18] The following season Roma failed to maintain a serious challenge, and finished in eighth. Their Champions League ambitions were also ended following a defeat and a draw against Arsenal which saw them finish bottom of their group. Once again it had been English opposition that had thwarted Roma in Europe. Roma lost the Italian Cup final to A.C Milan, with Capello particularly angered by supporters who waved banners calling on him to go. Capello's final year at Roma, began well with the team playing much better football. They went on a seven game winning streak before Christmas, including comfortable victories over Juventus and Inter Milan. This led to speculation linking him with Juventus, despite his past differences with Luciano Moggi. Capello believed he had taken Roma as far as he could, and began to seriously considered a move. In the run-in the club's form dipped and they ended up finishing eleven points behind champions A.C. Milan.^[19]

Juventus[link]

In 2004, Capello left debt-ridden Roma to sign with Juventus. His move came as a surprise, because he had kept it such a secret, and because he had been engaged in a war of words with the Moggi family^{[citation needed]}. One of Capello's first moves was to sign Emerson from Roma, further angering many of his critics who believed he had betrayed Roma.^[20] Capello's Juventus reached the quarterfinals of the 2004–05 and 2005-06 Champions Leagues before being eliminated by Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. Juventus also won the 2004–05 and 2005–06 Scudetti under Capello's leadership, but were later stripped off their trophies due to the team's involvement in the 2006 Serie A scandal.

In July 2006, with Juventus in the midst of the aforementioned scandal, Capello resigned as Juventus manager. Press reports strongly linked him with a move back to Real Madrid; new club president Ramón Calderón had publicly stated his hope that Capello would return for a second stint at the club and on 5 July 2006, the official Real Madrid website announced Capello's appointment.^[21]

Second spell at Real Madrid[link]

Capello during his second spell with Madrid

Capello arrived at a Real Madrid side suffering one of the longest spells without a trophy in their history. He quickly drew the disdain of Real's ardent supporters because of his defensive playing style. In interviews, Capello responded to those critics by saying that the beauty of attacking plays was old. He said that results were much more important than playing beautifully. He also added that "those days are over." His remit was to bring the title back to Madrid, a task that had been too much for five other coaches since 2003. In Spain, he was commonly referred to as "Don Fabio".^[22] At Real Madrid, Capello had several high-profile falling outs. He was criticised for not playing David Beckham because of his contract wranglings and Ronaldo, who struggled for fitness and form. Capello also feuded with his compatriot Antonio Cassano; the two had previously had disputes at Roma.

In March, Real were again eliminated early from the Champions League and were mired in fourth place in the league, six points behind FC Barcelona. On 20 February 2007, Real Madrid were forced to deny rumours that Capello would be leaving after that day's match.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the unrest, Capello recalled Beckham, whose return was pivotal for the team's recovery. A string of successful results in the latter half of the season took Real to the top of the table, while Barça's results became inconsistent. Real Madrid won their 30th league title on the final day of the season by beating RCD Mallorca 3–1 at home. The victory was achieved after Capello substituted an injured Beckham and brought on José Antonio Reyes. Real had been 1–0 down prior to the substitution and Reyes turned the match scoring two goals. Despite winning La Liga, Capello was sacked on 28 June 2007 due to Real's pragmatic style of play at a club with recent memories of the individualistic and free-flowing, but ultimately unsuccessful Galáctico era.^[23]

England[link]

Capello was formally appointed as manager of the England national football team on 14 December 2007.^[24] He commenced his day-to-day role on 7 January 2008, on a four-and-a-half year deal. It was estimated that his annual pay was £6 million.^[25] After being confirmed for the job, he announced it would be his last in football.^[26] Capello announced on the day of his unveiling that it was a dream come true to manage the England national team and that he hoped to learn the English language in the following month prior to his first official meeting with the players.^[27] Capello was welcomed by many English fans and the press who hailed his appointment as a triumph, citing in particular his impressive trophy haul and his reputation as a disciplinarian in contrast to the excessive leniency perceived to have existed under his two predecessors. In Italy, news of his appointment was greeted with a sense of pride that one of their countrymen had been selected to coach an elite European national team.^[28] His arrival also generated some criticism, notably from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who said, "I would say it is a little surprising that the motherland of football has ignored a sacrosanct law or belief that the national team manager should be from the same country as the players."^[29]

England's first match with Capello as manager was at Wembley against Switzerland on 6 February 2008. On 31 January 2008, it was confirmed that a number of senior players including Sol Campbell and Beckham had not been selected for Capello's debut squad. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson was also dropped after recent erratic form. Debut call-ups were handed to two players: Curtis Davies and Gabriel Agbonlahor, both of Aston Villa.^[30] Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips scored in England's 2–1 win at Wembley Stadium.^[31] England lost their second match under Capello, an international friendly against France. England lost the game 1–0 after a Franck Ribéry penalty.^[32] Capello's third game in charge was against the United States on 28 May 2008. England won the game 2–0 thanks to goals from John Terry and Steven Gerrard.^[33] On 1 June 2008, England beat Trinidad and Tobago 3–0.^[34] Capello had been rotating the captaincy around several senior players during his first few matches in charge. On 19 August 2008, he announced that John Terry would be named the permanent captain.^[35][36] On 20 August 2008, England drew 2–2 with the Czech Republic after goals from Wes Brown and Joe Cole.^[37]

World Cup Qualification[link]

England opened Capello's first competitive campaign with a 2–0 victory over Andorra, in Barcelona, on 6 September 2008.^[38] Four days later, on 10 September, England played Croatia, the team that had qualified for the previous competition (Euro 2008) at their expense. England won 4–1 with Theo Walcott scoring a hat-trick.^[39] The next qualification game was at Wembley just over a month later, on 11 October, against Kazakhstan. The game remained goalless at half-time, but England went on to win 5–1.^[40] A fourth straight win on 15 October made this England's best ever start to a World Cup qualifying campaign as they beat Belarus 3–1.^{[citation needed]} England rounded off 2008 by beating Germany 2–1 on 19 November. Goals from Terry and Matthew Upson secured the victory.^[41]

In the spring of 2009, England played two more friendlies, losing 2–0 to European champions Spain and beating Slovakia 4–0.^[42] In the summer of 2009 England played another friendly against the Netherlands, coming back from 2–0 down to secure a 2–2 draw away from home. Slovenia were beaten 2–1 In Wembley in the same year. England resumed their qualification campaign by beatingUkraine 2–1, on 1 April 2009, at Wembley. On 6 June, they travelled to Almaty and beat Kazakhstan 4–0, and four days later, they returned to Wembley and to beat Andorra again 6–0, making it seven wins out of seven in the qualification campaign.^[43] A notable feature of the campaign was the goalscoring form of Wayne Rooney: eight in seven games. With two in the friendly against Slovakia in March 2009, Rooney had scored ten goals in 8 England games. On 9 September 2009, Capello successfully guided England to qualification to the 2010 World Cup following a 5–1 win at home to Croatia.^[44] England's hopes of a 100% record in their 2010 qualifying campaign were ended with a 0-1 defeat in Ukraine in the final away match. However, a 3-0 victory over Belarus confirmed England as the top scorers in the UEFA zone with 34 goals, 6 ahead of second top scorers Spain.^{[citation needed]} In November 2009, England were beaten 1–0 by Brazil in Qatar, Capello's third defeat as England manager.^[45]

2010 World Cup[link]

In March 2010, England played a friendly against Egypt and beat the African champions 3–1. Two months later in the last home match before the World Cup they beat Mexico by the same scoreline. In May 2010, England played a friendly against Japan national football team Japan at UPC-Arena, Graz and won 2–1. The two goals conceded by Japan were both own goals by Marcus Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa.^[46] After constant speculation linking him with the vacant managerial post at Internazionale, on 2 June 2010 Capello committed himself to the England job until at least after the 2012 European Championships. England's build up to the World Cup started badly, with John Terry being stripped of the captaincy by Capello after his involvement in a tabloid scandal in February 2010. Terry's successor as captain, Rio Ferdinand, was injured in a training session prior to England's opening match, resulting in his withdrawal from the squad. England drew the first game 1–1 with the United States due to an error by goalkeeper Robert Green, after which Capello declared the tournament Adidas Jabulani ball was "impossible to control".^[47] This was followed by a poor display against Algeria leading to a 0–0 draw and widespread criticism of both Capello and the England team. On 23 June, Capello led England into the round of 16 of the World Cup after they beat Slovenia 1–0. However they were beaten in their first knockout match 4–1 by Germany. With Germany leading 2–1, Frank Lampard scored a 20-yard strike. However, while the ball bounced a yard over the German goal-line, the match officials failed to see it and award a goal. As England pressed forward in the second half, they conceded two counter-attack goals. Nevertheless, England's performance led to much criticism from fans, the media, and pundits alike. After England's elimination Capello was criticized for imposing a strict military regime at England's Bloemfontein training camp^[48] and not allowing his senior players to have tactical input.^[49] His 4-4-2 formation was derided as "outdated"^[50] with Steven Gerrard's positioning on the left of midfield also criticized.^[51] Capello's squad selection was questioned, with the selection of an unfit Ledley King and out of form Emile Heskey, as well as the surprising omission of Theo Walcott also coming under fire.^[52] Capello's indecision over his starting goalkeeper was cited as a reason for Robert Green's error in England's opening match with the United States.^[53] On 2 July 2010, the Football Association announced that Capello would remain as the manager of the England national team following speculation over his future following the World Cup 2010.^[54]

Qualifying for Euro 2012[link]

England kicked off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with two wins, 4–0 against Bulgaria and 3–1 away against Switzerland, yet could only draw 0–0 against group leaders Montenegro at Wembley. Capello made some changes afterwards, with Ferdinand and Gerrard out of the picture. John Terry was reinstated as captain to much criticism.^[55][56] The traditional 4–4–2 was transformed to 4–3–3 with Darren Bent as centre forward and Rooney as a left-sided forward. The result has been successful thus far, as England beat Wales 2–0 at the Millennium Stadium on 26 March 2011. England's next game was at Wembley against Switzerland on 4 June 2011, which they recovered from a 0–2 deficit to draw 2–2 with goals from Frank Lampard and Ashley Young. After a narrow 1–0 win against Wales at Wembley Capello claimed that several England players were "mentally fragile" and suggested he intended to reinvent his squad once Euro 2012 qualification had been sealed.^[57] On 7 October 2011, England qualified for the European Championships with a 2–2 draw in Montenegro. England completed their campaign with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws and no defeats. England completed an unbeaten 2011 with 1–0 friendly victories over Spain and Sweden in November 2011.^[58][59]

Capello resigned on 8 February 2012, following the FA removing the captaincy from John Terry.^[60]

Career statistics[link]

Player[link]

^[61]

Manager[link]

As of 12 February 2012.

Nat	Team	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %
	Milan	1987	1987	&100000000000000060000006	&100000000000000020000002	&100000000000000020000002	&100000000000000020000002	&1000000000000003332999933.33
	Milan	1991	1996	&10000000000000170000000170	&1000000000000009700000097	&1000000000000005700000057	&1000000000000001600000016	&1000000000000005706000057.06
	Real Madrid	1996	1997	&1000000000000003900000039	&1000000000000002500000025	&1000000000000001100000011	&100000000000000030000003	&1000000000000006409999964.10
	Milan	1997	1998	&1000000000000003400000034	&1000000000000001100000011	&1000000000000001100000011	&1000000000000001200000012	&1000000000000003235000032.35
	Roma	1999	2004	&10000000000000170000000170	&1000000000000008900000089	&1000000000000005200000052	&1000000000000002900000029	&1000000000000005235000052.35
	Juventus	2004	2006	&1000000000000007600000076	&1000000000000005300000053	&1000000000000001800000018	&100000000000000050000005	&1000000000000006973999969.74
	Real Madrid	2006	2007	&1000000000000003800000038	&1000000000000002300000023	&100000000000000070000007	&100000000000000080000008	&1000000000000006053000060.53
	England	2008	2012	&1000000000000004200000042	&1000000000000002800000028	&100000000000000080000008	&100000000000000060000006	&1000000000000006667000066.67
Total				575	328	166	81	57.04

Personal life[link]

Capello was born in San Canzian d'Isonzo near Gorizia, in north-eastern Italy, in what was then the Allied-occupied Zone A of the Julian March. His parents were Guerrino and Evelina Capello. Capello is a devout Catholic who prays twice a day. His father, a schoolteacher, played football, and his uncle Mario Tortul was also a football player; for Triestina, Padova, Sampdoria and the Italian national football team during the 1960s. Capello has spent his entire adult life working in football.^[62] He has been married to his wife Laura, whom he first met on a bus as a teenager, for over 40 years. He is represented by his son Pier Filippo, who acts as his agent.

In January 2008, Italian police announced that they were launching an investigation into tax irregularities by Capello.^[63] However, the probe has been dismissed as routine by Capello's spokesmen who said this was part of a wider investigation into a number of wealthy Italians.^[64] The FA revealed that they had known about the upcoming probe when they had appointed Capello, and expected no charges to be brought.^[65]

Art collection[link]

Capello is a self-confessed fine art enthusiast. Over the years, he has acquired a number of works, and his art collection is estimated to be worth £10 million.^[66] His favourite artist is reportedly Wassily Kandinsky.^[67]

Honours[link]

As a player[link]

Roma

• Coppa Italia (1): 1968–69

Juventus

• Serie A (3): 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75

Milan

• Serie A (1): 1978–79
• Coppa Italia (1): 1976–77

As a coach[link]

Milan

• Serie A (4): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96
• Supercoppa Italiana (3): 1992, 1993, 1994
• UEFA Champions League (1): 1993–94
• European Super Cup (1): 1994
• Coppa Italia Primavera (1): 1984–85

Roma

• Serie A (1): 2000–01
• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2001

Juventus

• Serie A (2): 2004–05, 2005–06 (both revoked)

Real Madrid

• La Liga (2): 1996–97, 2006–07

Individual[link]

• Serie A Coach of the Year: 2005
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award: 2009
• Marca Leyenda: 2011^[68]

See also[link]

Football portal

• Capello Index

References[link]