Arguably the most
influential rock group of all time but only to the handful that
listened to them and started up their own bands, The Velvet Underground
combined dark lyrics with strange musical compositions that was
shockingly opposite of the I Wanna Hold Your Hand silliness of
the 60's.
Dressed in black
clothes with dark shades and singing songs songs about addiction,
transvestites and murder, The Velvets were a hard sell but caught
the attention of Andy Warhol.
Discovered by
Warhol at Cafe Bizarre he immediately wanted to add them to his
roadshow, The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and the rest is history.
Besides their groundbreaking explicit lyrics and odd musical arrangements
the Velvets also broke ground with their drummer, Maureen Tucker,
a woman whose odd style of drumming consisted of her standing
and pounding away.
Besides
the classics Heroin and Venus In Furs - The Velvet Underground could
also make sadly introspective love songs as heard on their third album.
Songs such as Pale Blue Eyes and Jesus show a different side to the
band and shows their versatility from their sonic blast that was White
Light/White Heat (a note must be made that their electric equipment
was stolen before the third album - thus its somber tone).
The
line up for their classic first album - The Velvet Underground and Nico
- consisted of: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker
and the bizarre model/chanteuse Nico.
Other classic albums - the blistering: White Light/White Heat, the self titled third album and
Loaded (John Cale would quite and be replaced by Doug Yule on the last two albums).
