The Velvet Underground And Nico.

[TeleAndSG]

After being extremely impressed by White Light/White Heat, I’ve purchased albums by this band as soon as I see them in the CD store. Their eponymous third LP is excellent by all means, but is different. It does not include John Cale, who definitely gave their music a wacky, but very enjoyable edge. This debut album has Cale all over it (plus Reed, Morrison and Tucker). It has first rate songwriting, as usual, and also has Nico’s voice. I presume she had to sing outside her natural range, but her vocals are really unique and perfectly fit the proceedings. The album’s fame is 100% deserved. Nothing before, or after, sounds like it (like all VU albums). This hugely influential band really did something entirely different every time they released a new LP (different from their previous work, and different from anything else being recorded at the time). I can’t wait to buy my copy of Loaded!. Excellent.

 

[LutherBurger]

Nico was the weak link on the record, foisted on the VU by Warhol.

 

[warrent]

Nico was the weak link on the record, foisted on the VU by Warhol.

Well except for the love songs Lou wrote about/for her.

Here's her solo album from 67
her backing band is the Velvets plus Jackson Browne

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Nico is the emperor’s new clothes . Hipsters almost dare you to rag on her. She’s such an icon for that set.

Even though I have my problems w/VU and I like WL/WH way more than any of the others , I still get the revolutionary aspect to their bag even though I don’t think it’s Godhead the way the critics do.

Nico ? Nah. Never bought it. She’s also got some huge skeletons in her closet that I won’t go into but...

 

[chris m.]

To me this whole genre is avant garde pop NYC “scene” artists dabbling in music and succeeding largely due to hype and being larger than life “it” people celebrities that knew how to use the media. Not really musicians but to some important for their iconoclastic approach. Talking Heads were artists too, but also made real music IMO.

Only thing that bugs me more are folks like successful screen actors or pro surfers that decide they can also be rock stars. Jared Leto is one who actually pulls it off but the rest mostly annoy. Kris Kristofferson was a truly brilliant human- successful singer songwriter and big screen actor. Not a dabbler amateur at all but someone who worked hard and respected the craft.

 

[tfarny]

I knew nothing about music at all, just mostly listened to whatever my friends were listening to, when I -somewhere -got a used cassette tape of VU w/ Nico at 17, in 1988. None of my friends thought much of it, but I could tell it was something really, really cool and different. I've never had any of their albums on heavy rotation but they made a big mark on me as a wee lad.

 

[tfarny]

To me this whole genre is avant garde pop NYC “scene” artists dabbling in music and succeeding largely due to hype and being larger than life “it” people celebrities that knew how to use the media. Not really musicians but to some important for their iconoclastic approach. Talking Heads were artists too, but also made real music IMO.

Only thing that bugs me more are folks like successful screen actors or pro surfers that decide they can also be rock stars. Jared Leto is one who actually pulls it off but the rest mostly annoy. Kris Kristofferson was a truly brilliant human- successful singer songwriter and big screen actor. Not a dabbler amateur at all but someone who worked hard and respected the craft.

You don't think the Velvet Underground were "real" musicians? Dabblers? JARED LETO pulls it off but LOU REED is a poser? Wow, that might be the most clueless thing I have ever read on this forum. Are you the guy who thinks Dylan is a "no talent bluesman" by any chance?

 

[Alcohen]

Interesting post, reads like a zombie thread from 1968!

 

[BorderRadio]

Interesting post, reads like a zombie thread from 1968!

Right?

 

[backporchmusic]

Right. But Nico still blows, right?

Rest of VU great, still great?

 

[Slim]

On one hand, I like avant-garde/arty stuff like the Velvets because it feels like you're discovering something special that few people know about.

On the other hand, it riles up too many highbrows who are ready to strike you down if you "don't get it" or just simply aren't in the mood for it.

 

[warrent]

Couple of things:
I said Nico was important for the songs Lou wrote about her and for her. Her solo career is a mixed bag though she did influence a lot of future bands and singers. And at least Cale found her interesting enough to perform on a lot of her solo stuff. And yes she was a junkie with anti-semtic and racist views.

Lou Reed and John Cale were hardly Scene artists dabbling in music.

and finally highbrows and hipsters (what about the longhairs?) are we talking jazzmasters or rock n roll?

 

[telemnemonics]

Rock is supposed to be about rebellion.
It's kind of sad that there isn't more pushing of musical limits in Rock.

I have trouble recognizing much true rebellion in music where all Mel Bays rules are followed obediently.

I like a lot of music that is rule abidingly predictable, but I also crave more inventive surprising work.

In defense of those who poke fun at arty guitar bands, I've seen an awful lot that are pretty bad.
I would not include VU though.

IME a lot of this kind of stuff is not the result of a scene.
A recognizable scene is the result of a collective movement driven by a universal need of the time.

One might label many old time Blues singers as being the result of a scene, and that might well be correct.
But what then is a scene?
A collective consciousness?
New ideas cross pollinating in a time of creative change?
Or just a dressup game?

 

[TeleAndSG]

Couple of things:
And yes she was a junkie with anti-semtic and racist views.

Really?. I didn’t know that.

 

[ricknbaker]

Really?. I didn’t know that.

..and she shared a flat with John Cooper Clarke back in the 80s.

I love that Banana album. The three tracks she sings on are sublime.

Saw her once at the Apollo back in the day. Can't remember much, except her playing a wheezing old harmonium. It was probably great though.

 

[Frank'n'censed]

After all these decades, I honestly don’t know any of the VU’s music...I like Lou, but haven’t explored any of their recordings

 

[Mike Eskimo]

I freely admit that I didn't hear them until way late in my musical exploration and there is some music where the impact is greatest right when the music comes out.

There wasn't a single note of their music that had as big an impact on me as hearing Joy Division's music right when it came out.

And I heard the first VU record at almost exactly the same time.

Everybody's different.

I'm from Detroit.

Stooges.

Regular lunkheads who changed the world.

Not TAF's* who are sooooooo bored with everything

But, VU did influence Bowie a lot. He used to cover their songs way early. Eno says he loved them too.

So there's that...


*Trendy Art F***s

 

[Minimalist518]

To me this whole genre is avant garde pop NYC “scene” artists dabbling in music and succeeding largely due to hype and being larger than life “it” people celebrities that knew how to use the media. Not really musicians but to some important for their iconoclastic approach. Talking Heads were artists too, but also made real music IMO.

Only thing that bugs me more are folks like successful screen actors or pro surfers that decide they can also be rock stars. Jared Leto is one who actually pulls it off but the rest mostly annoy. Kris Kristofferson was a truly brilliant human- successful singer songwriter and big screen actor. Not a dabbler amateur at all but someone who worked hard and respected the craft.

With all due respect, I disagree. Warhol fits your description and maybe Nico, but Lou Reed and John Cale were legit musicians. Reed worked as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick records and Cale worked with avant-garde composer LeMonte Young. Neither were “larger than life ‘it’ people” *at the time* although it is fair to say they became so afterwards.
But upon release, each successive VU album appeared to sink without a trace. Hardly the mark of “celebrities that knew how to use the media.”
I agree wholeheartedly with your appreciation of the Talking Heads. But I’d note that there is a more or less direct connection between the VU and the Heads. The VU were followed by an avid Boston fan boy named Jonathan Richman. Like most who heard the VU back in the day, he started a band, the Modern Lovers. Jerry Harrison played keyboard in the Modern Lovers and went on to complete the full lineup of Talking Heads.
You can like or dislike the music; it’s understandable. But I’d be cautious in discounting its influence.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

I once repeated the oft-told statement - "Only 1,000 people bought the first VU record but all those people formed bands" to a buddy of mine and his response ?

"Yeah ? And all those bands were trendy and sucked !!"

Funny as hell

 

[EllroyJames]

A song about Nico..