The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico The music of The Velvet Underground & Nico was said to be the first alternative-rock band of that time. I would say that their image was very rock star-minimalist; they tended to wear suit jackets with pants, studs and sunglasses. The Velvet Underground & Nico were very ahead of their time for the mid-1960s. It is said that The Velvet Underground & Nico first introduced punk rock themes because of the fact that they did not focus on love songs and happiness. They had more pessimism about the lyrics and sound of their band, influencing the likes of David Bowie and The Jesus and Mary Chain (Evans, 1986). Some may describe The Velvet Underground & Nico as “…a combination of rock 'n' roll and Egyptian belly-dance music” (Glueck). John Cale and Lou Reed had very different backgrounds, but also were the backbone of The Velvet Underground. Cale was an “avant-garde multi-instrumentalist” and Reed was practiced in guitar, singing and songwriting (Olsen, 2002). John Cale was from London and he studied musical composition. Cale came to America on a Bernstein scholarship to further his studies (Evans, 1986). Lou Reed was raised in Long Island and studied at Syracuse University. Reed had a love for “avant-garde jazz and the intellectual and emotional stimulation of poetry,” (Olsen, 2002). John Cale and Lou Reed met in the United States; as time passed, they decided to form a band. Andy Warhol had a big role in the upcoming of The Velvet Underground. As a wellrespected artist and filmmaker, Warhol had many ties to the entertainment industry. He was able to land The Velvet Underground paid gigs and feature them in his own productions. Warhol had The Velvet Underground events focus on music, film, and art, with both distinctive visuals and aesthetics (Evans, 1986). What allowed The Velvet Underground to stand apart from the rest was that the band did not care if they were famous, as they lacked greatly in commercial success. The members were, at a time, trying to be nothing but The Velvet Underground, making their own unique mark on the world. Additionally, the production quality was very different: the studio mix was not always balanced when the band played together. Some songs were full of angst and competition of the individual instruments (Evans, 1986). As a listener and an industry professional, the album The Velvet Underground & Nico impacted me in a great way. This album inspired me to not be defined by the lines of society.

Evans, K. (Director) (1986). The southbank show - the velvet underground [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.veoh.com/watch/v18444087ZF6xZy9c Glueck, G. (n.d.). Syndromes pop at delmonicos.Warholstars.org, Retrieved from http://www.warholstars.org/warhol/warhol1/andy/loureed.html Olsen, E. (2002, August 15). The velvet underground - it began here. Blogcritics, Retrieved from http://blogcritics.org/music/article/the-velvet-underground-it-began-here/