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The Velvet Underground
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Velvet Underground was formed in 1964 in New York around the singer and guitarist Lou Reed and John Cale. Cale came from the avant-garde and had worked with the composer La Monte Young. The guitarist Sterling Morrison and the drummer Moe Tucker completed the line-up. In November 1965 the group took its name. The artist Andy Warhol became their manager and added the German singer Nico. The band sold few records, but left a long afterlife.
Music and breakthrough
The debut The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in March 1967, with a banana by Warhol on the sleeve. The album got no further than number 171 on the American album chart. Reed wrote openly about heroin, prostitution and sadomasochism. Many radio stations refused to play the album. Venus in Furs is based on a novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Cale brought the drone: long, sustained notes on an electric viola. White Light/White Heat (1968) was harder and rougher still. After that Cale was fired. On The Velvet Underground (1969) and Loaded (1970) the band sounded calmer. Reed left in August 1970.
Influence
Brian Eno said in 1982 that the first album sold only 30,000 copies in its early years, but that everyone who bought one started a band. Punk, post-punk and alternative rock went back to their raw sound. The group also resonated behind the Iron Curtain: in Prague they were the great example for The Plastic People of the Universe. In 1996 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Listening
Venus in Furs · The Velvet Underground, 1967Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1967The Velvet Underground & Nico
- 1968White Light/White Heat
- 1969The Velvet Underground & Nico
- 1970Loaded
- 1972Squeeze
- 2019The Complete Matrix Tapes
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still PopNL Reader
- Magazine: The Album Cover Is InventedNL Magazine
- Magazine: Rock Behind the Iron CurtainNL Magazine
Mentioned in other articles
- Art rock Genre
The Velvet Underground of Lou Reed and John Cale worked in New York with the artist Andy Warhol, who designed the sleeve with the banana.
- Minimal music Genre
Minimal music became a source for ambient, techno and electronic music, and for bands such as The Velvet Underground.