The Big Apple has provided rock’n’roll with more than its fair share of genre-busting acts, but 60s psychedelic/proto-punks The VELVET UNDERGROUND were something very special indeed. Multi-influential and detached from their musical environs (bubblegum flower-power was in-vogue as they arrived on the scene), mainman Lou Reed, Welshman John Cale, guitar-man Sterling Morrison and rudimentary female drummer Moe Tucker (plus chanteuse NICO on vox) combined acerbic rock and dreamy pop to the nocturnal fraternity of New York City.
While one could trace VU’s roots back to the early 60s (when Reed and Cale’s had studied the works of author Delmore Schwartz and minimalist LaMonte Young respectively), the precocious pair first got together in 1965 when as The Primitives, they issued their now rare and collectable `The Ostrich’ 45; avant-garde sculptor Walter DeMaria and out-there filmmaker Tony Conrad were aboard at this stage. The meeting between the new VU and modern pop artist Andy Warhol was a pivotal turning point in the group’s fortunes; Angus MacLise would drop out almost immediately making room for mop-top Moe.
Fusing music with mixed-media performance art was an intriguing but fresh concept for the cool Warhol (and their Exploding Plastic Inevitable vehicle), and, as he worked with the quartet in the studio (c. spring ’66) he encountered a few teething problems – they didn’t have a focal point. That would be German-born model/actress/vocalist, NICO. While the reluctant Lou was leader (and remained so), Warhol persevered and finally won over the band, who let her sing on three classic cuts (`Femme Fatale’, `All Tomorrow’s Parties’ and `I’ll Be Your Mirror’) on their seminal debut LP, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1967) {*10}. The album was a revelation, strikingly different from the love and peace psychedelia of the day, while the Velvets’ vision was decidedly darker and more disturbing. Combining sublime melodies and nihilistic noise, it featured eleven superb ahead-of-their-time gems, notably the brutally frank and frenetic `Heroin’ (all 7 minutes of it), the S&M-twisted `Venus In Furs’ and the garage raucous of `I’m Waiting For The Man’. Reed’s expressive and discordant dirges (`There She Goes Again’ and `Run Run Run’ among other classics) found a market among the nouveau riche, although initially, the album only managed a brief visit to the Billboard chart, even though its sleeve featured a suggestive peeling-banana-skin sticker as its gimmick. Alongside viola-ist Cale, Lou was behind bookend beauts such as `Sunday Morning’, `Black Angel’s Death Song’ and the freewheeling `European Son’, the latter group finale piece paying homage to the aforementioned Delmore Schwartz.
Also just barely breeching the US Top 200, sophomore set WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (1968) {*9} continued on the quartet’s maniacal mission to alienate the establishment. Without Warhol or his chanteuse NICO in tow, Reed and Co once again endorsed the final points of the amphetamine rush via the title track, while there was urban-myth merriment at Cale’s reading of lengthy twist-in-the-tale, `The Gift’. From another Cale episode `Lady Godiva’s Operation’, two other conventional ditties came through the pretty `Here She Comes Now’ and the frantic `I Heard Her Call My Name’. Saving the best for last, side two was literally “jam-packed” by way of the 17-minute, white noise freak-out of `Sister Ray’.
With JOHN CALE now out of the picture, the focus fell on Lou’s songwriting for the self-titled third album, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (1969) {*8}, although pleasant group groovers (`Jesus’, `I’m Set Free’ and `That’s The Story Of My Life’) still slightly cluttered the set. An altogether mellower set of more traditionally structured songs, the highlight was undoubtedly their mainman’s beautiful lullabies, `Pale Blue Eyes’ and `Candy Says’; Moe’s musical aspirations were met on the set’s twee closing delight, `After Hours’ – KIMYA DAWSON eat-yer-heart-out. If one rallied for VU in positive rock’n’roll mode (albeit via something sacred and evangelistic), then one could uplift one’s stylus to `What Goes On’ and `Beginning To See The Light’.
Adding to the induction of Doug Yule to the fold (John’s replacement) on set three, his brother Billy was a subsequent stand-in for pregnant Moe while she contemplated leaving on a permanent basis in 1970. The band’s first studio album for Atlantic (having flitted from the jazz-biased Verve imprint), LOADED (1970) {*7} was the closest the VU ever came to mainstream rock, and an indicator of the direction Reed would take in his solo career. `Sweet Jane’, `Rock & Roll’ and `Head Held High’ marked his creative peak, a final glorious burst of guitar-strum noise to complement (or compensate) their fading fanbase; the twee `Who Loves The Sun’ (very GEORGE HARRISON), the hillbilly `Lonesome Cowboy Bill’ (very McGUINN and The BYRDS) and the 7-minute `Oh! Sweet Nothing’, fulfilled a purpose rather than any promise.
Before others (the Yule’s, Walter Powers and Willie Alexander) misguidedly masqueraded themselves as The VELVET UNDERGROUND on the plagiaristic SQUEEZE {*2} set in 1973, Messrs REED, Morrison and the Yule boys rounded off the group’s all-too-brief showbiz sojourn through the patchy LIVE AT MAX’S KANSAS CITY (1972) {*5} concert swansong. Morrison would find work as an English teacher in Austin, Texas, before he sailed off to become a tugboat captain.
And that was that; nails in the coffin for the would-be legends. Except it wasn’t really, as several compilations and a handful of outtakes albums would testify. One in particular held interest, as historically it might well’ve been scheduled for their 4th album “lost album”.
VU (1985) {*8} was mostly recorded at various times during 1969 and all-but forgotten until Verve/MGM Records unearthed the hidden treasure; two early 1968/Cale-era cuts, `Stephanie Says’ and `Temptation Inside Your Heart’, added to the mix. The former song (as `Caroline Says II’) duly found its way on to LOU REED’s third solo set, `Berlin’; `I Can’t Stand It’, `Lisa Says’ and `Ocean’ were re-recorded by Lou for his eponymous debut in ‘72, while `Andy’s Chest’ became a part of his classic second LP, `Transformer’ and `She’s My Best Friend’ several years on for `Coney Island Baby’. Regarded as a bit of an oddity way back in ’69, but a twee-classic during its run-up to the release of “VU”, Tucker’s contribution `I’m Sticking With You’ was truly inspiration – ask anyone who loved the award-winning mod-indie film, Juno. One couldn’t go by without the mention the appearance of live wig-out, `Foggy Notion’, a return to the Velvets of old. After the album hit Top 100 in the US and No.47 in Britain (their best chart performance ever!), the people at Verve “squeezed out” another selection of lost items entitled ANOTHER VIEW (1986) {*5}.
The VELVET UNDERGROUND officially re-formed for Channel 4 in a one-off gig in Paris on June 15, 1990, while CALE and REED had of course, already re-united for a tribute album `Songs For Drella’ (1990), dedicated to the late Andy Warhol who died a few years earlier.
The VU live shows of June 15-17, 1993, were apparently rather joyous. The accompanying double-CD document, LIVE MCMXCIII (1993) {*4} was not as enthralling, rather
a retro-romp through all their favourites without much of the spirit or intensity of their late 60s heyday. However, after the death of Sterling on August 30, 1995 (a day after his 53rd birthday), the prospect of further VU activity looked doubtful. The group were duly inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame, performing Reed’s `Last Night I Said Goodbye To A Friend’ for their friend and colleague.
Yet despite the 1993 reunion, despite LOU REED’s dodgy hairdo, despite everything, The VELVET UNDERGROUND of the 60s remain perennially cool and insidiously influential. Basically, alternative music begins and ends with VU and they have been cited as the inspiration for a whole blank generation of punks and their indie followers – JESUS & MARY CHAIN, early PRIMAL SCREAM, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and others have paid barely-disguised homage to their heroes on numerous ventures.
Sadly, despite seemingly recuperating after a liver transplant that spring, LOU REED was to meet his maker on October 27, 2013; music’s loss – Heaven’s gain.
While one could trace VU’s roots back to the early 60s (when Reed and Cale’s had studied the works of author Delmore Schwartz and minimalist LaMonte Young respectively), the precocious pair first got together in 1965 when as The Primitives, they issued their now rare and collectable `The Ostrich’ 45; avant-garde sculptor Walter DeMaria and out-there filmmaker Tony Conrad were aboard at this stage. The meeting between the new VU and modern pop artist Andy Warhol was a pivotal turning point in the group’s fortunes; Angus MacLise would drop out almost immediately making room for mop-top Moe.
Fusing music with mixed-media performance art was an intriguing but fresh concept for the cool Warhol (and their Exploding Plastic Inevitable vehicle), and, as he worked with the quartet in the studio (c. spring ’66) he encountered a few teething problems – they didn’t have a focal point. That would be German-born model/actress/vocalist, NICO. While the reluctant Lou was leader (and remained so), Warhol persevered and finally won over the band, who let her sing on three classic cuts (`Femme Fatale’, `All Tomorrow’s Parties’ and `I’ll Be Your Mirror’) on their seminal debut LP, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1967) {*10}. The album was a revelation, strikingly different from the love and peace psychedelia of the day, while the Velvets’ vision was decidedly darker and more disturbing. Combining sublime melodies and nihilistic noise, it featured eleven superb ahead-of-their-time gems, notably the brutally frank and frenetic `Heroin’ (all 7 minutes of it), the S&M-twisted `Venus In Furs’ and the garage raucous of `I’m Waiting For The Man’. Reed’s expressive and discordant dirges (`There She Goes Again’ and `Run Run Run’ among other classics) found a market among the nouveau riche, although initially, the album only managed a brief visit to the Billboard chart, even though its sleeve featured a suggestive peeling-banana-skin sticker as its gimmick. Alongside viola-ist Cale, Lou was behind bookend beauts such as `Sunday Morning’, `Black Angel’s Death Song’ and the freewheeling `European Son’, the latter group finale piece paying homage to the aforementioned Delmore Schwartz.
Also just barely breeching the US Top 200, sophomore set WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (1968) {*9} continued on the quartet’s maniacal mission to alienate the establishment. Without Warhol or his chanteuse NICO in tow, Reed and Co once again endorsed the final points of the amphetamine rush via the title track, while there was urban-myth merriment at Cale’s reading of lengthy twist-in-the-tale, `The Gift’. From another Cale episode `Lady Godiva’s Operation’, two other conventional ditties came through the pretty `Here She Comes Now’ and the frantic `I Heard Her Call My Name’. Saving the best for last, side two was literally “jam-packed” by way of the 17-minute, white noise freak-out of `Sister Ray’.
With JOHN CALE now out of the picture, the focus fell on Lou’s songwriting for the self-titled third album, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (1969) {*8}, although pleasant group groovers (`Jesus’, `I’m Set Free’ and `That’s The Story Of My Life’) still slightly cluttered the set. An altogether mellower set of more traditionally structured songs, the highlight was undoubtedly their mainman’s beautiful lullabies, `Pale Blue Eyes’ and `Candy Says’; Moe’s musical aspirations were met on the set’s twee closing delight, `After Hours’ – KIMYA DAWSON eat-yer-heart-out. If one rallied for VU in positive rock’n’roll mode (albeit via something sacred and evangelistic), then one could uplift one’s stylus to `What Goes On’ and `Beginning To See The Light’.
Adding to the induction of Doug Yule to the fold (John’s replacement) on set three, his brother Billy was a subsequent stand-in for pregnant Moe while she contemplated leaving on a permanent basis in 1970. The band’s first studio album for Atlantic (having flitted from the jazz-biased Verve imprint), LOADED (1970) {*7} was the closest the VU ever came to mainstream rock, and an indicator of the direction Reed would take in his solo career. `Sweet Jane’, `Rock & Roll’ and `Head Held High’ marked his creative peak, a final glorious burst of guitar-strum noise to complement (or compensate) their fading fanbase; the twee `Who Loves The Sun’ (very GEORGE HARRISON), the hillbilly `Lonesome Cowboy Bill’ (very McGUINN and The BYRDS) and the 7-minute `Oh! Sweet Nothing’, fulfilled a purpose rather than any promise.
Before others (the Yule’s, Walter Powers and Willie Alexander) misguidedly masqueraded themselves as The VELVET UNDERGROUND on the plagiaristic SQUEEZE {*2} set in 1973, Messrs REED, Morrison and the Yule boys rounded off the group’s all-too-brief showbiz sojourn through the patchy LIVE AT MAX’S KANSAS CITY (1972) {*5} concert swansong. Morrison would find work as an English teacher in Austin, Texas, before he sailed off to become a tugboat captain.
And that was that; nails in the coffin for the would-be legends. Except it wasn’t really, as several compilations and a handful of outtakes albums would testify. One in particular held interest, as historically it might well’ve been scheduled for their 4th album “lost album”.
VU (1985) {*8} was mostly recorded at various times during 1969 and all-but forgotten until Verve/MGM Records unearthed the hidden treasure; two early 1968/Cale-era cuts, `Stephanie Says’ and `Temptation Inside Your Heart’, added to the mix. The former song (as `Caroline Says II’) duly found its way on to LOU REED’s third solo set, `Berlin’; `I Can’t Stand It’, `Lisa Says’ and `Ocean’ were re-recorded by Lou for his eponymous debut in ‘72, while `Andy’s Chest’ became a part of his classic second LP, `Transformer’ and `She’s My Best Friend’ several years on for `Coney Island Baby’. Regarded as a bit of an oddity way back in ’69, but a twee-classic during its run-up to the release of “VU”, Tucker’s contribution `I’m Sticking With You’ was truly inspiration – ask anyone who loved the award-winning mod-indie film, Juno. One couldn’t go by without the mention the appearance of live wig-out, `Foggy Notion’, a return to the Velvets of old. After the album hit Top 100 in the US and No.47 in Britain (their best chart performance ever!), the people at Verve “squeezed out” another selection of lost items entitled ANOTHER VIEW (1986) {*5}.
The VELVET UNDERGROUND officially re-formed for Channel 4 in a one-off gig in Paris on June 15, 1990, while CALE and REED had of course, already re-united for a tribute album `Songs For Drella’ (1990), dedicated to the late Andy Warhol who died a few years earlier.
The VU live shows of June 15-17, 1993, were apparently rather joyous. The accompanying double-CD document, LIVE MCMXCIII (1993) {*4} was not as enthralling, rather
a retro-romp through all their favourites without much of the spirit or intensity of their late 60s heyday. However, after the death of Sterling on August 30, 1995 (a day after his 53rd birthday), the prospect of further VU activity looked doubtful. The group were duly inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame, performing Reed’s `Last Night I Said Goodbye To A Friend’ for their friend and colleague.
Yet despite the 1993 reunion, despite LOU REED’s dodgy hairdo, despite everything, The VELVET UNDERGROUND of the 60s remain perennially cool and insidiously influential. Basically, alternative music begins and ends with VU and they have been cited as the inspiration for a whole blank generation of punks and their indie followers – JESUS & MARY CHAIN, early PRIMAL SCREAM, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and others have paid barely-disguised homage to their heroes on numerous ventures.
Sadly, despite seemingly recuperating after a liver transplant that spring, LOU REED was to meet his maker on October 27, 2013; music’s loss – Heaven’s gain.