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Velvet Underground: Difference between revisions
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[[File:image002.jpg|frame|The Velvet Underground. And [[
{{quote|''Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station<br />
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The Velvet Underground were formed in 1965 by dissatisfied Long Island songwriter [[Lou Reed]] and [[Land of My Fathers and Their Sheep|Welshman]] John Cale, who was studying classical music in the USA. Reed was the main guitarist and songwriter, while Cale played keyboards and viola. Sterling Morrison joined at the same time, assuming guitar and bass duties. After a period with Angus MacLise, the lineup was rounded out by drummer Maureen Tucker, who played with no cymbals and used a very simplistic, tribal style.
[[Andy Warhol]] was hired as manager and producer; at his insistence German singer Christa "[[
The Velvets broke off the relationship with Warhol and Nico rather quickly. In this period their live shows started to contain more pronounced improvisation and harsh, loud material. Their second album ''White Light/White Heat'' continued in this direction, as evidenced by the title track and the 17-minute "Sister Ray". By this time, the bandmembers were tired of having no recognition, and tensions were growing between Reed's traditionalism and Cale's experimental, abrasive tendencies.
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** At least, not released. There are several rehearsal recordings in which the band are heard to play, among others, "Green Onions", "Boom Boom Boom Boom", and, amazingly, [[The Beatles]]' "Day Tripper".
** Their first album? Yeah, covered entirely by Beck and a lot of musicians, who dedicated an entire day, and posted everything in Beck's website and [[YouTube]].
* [[Creepy Monotone]]: [[Lou Reed]] and [[
* [[Canon Dis Continuity]]: Nobody acknowledges ''Squeeze'', despite [http://bobchaos.com/squeeze/squeeze1.html some (misguided?) defenders]. To be fair, it's basically a Doug Yule solo album since only he and Ian Paice played on it, and the only reason it's even ''in'' the VU discography is because of their manager Steve Sesnick.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: ''The Velvet Underground and Nico'', ''White Light/White Heat''
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** [[The Mentor]]: Andy Warhol
* [[Four More Measures]]: "All Tomorrow's Parties".
* [[Girl in
* [[Gratuitous Panning]]: "The Murder Mystery", "The Gift" being the most extreme examples.
* [[Human Mail]]: "The Gift" explores this.
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* [[Obligatory Bondage Song]]: [[Trope Maker|More or less invented it]] with "Venus in Furs."
* [[Perishing Alt Rock Voice]]: With the possible exception of the boyish-sounding Mo, pretty much every one of their vocalists. Arguably the [[Trope Codifier]].
* [[The Pete Best]]: Angus MacLise dropped out of the band after they took their first paying gig - turned out he was one of those annoying [[Doing It for
* [[Record Producer]]: [[Andy Warhol]], technically - his job was to just pay for the sessions and use his influence to protect the band from [[Executive Meddling]]. The sessions were engineered by Tom Wilson, but Reed does point out that Andy's name allowed them to do stuff they couldn't get away with otherwise on a debut.
** Averted with "Sister Ray":.
{{quote| '''Lou Reed''': The engineer said, "I don't have to ''listen'' to this. I'll put it in record, and then I'm ''leaving''. When you're done, come get me."}}
* [[Sex, Drugs and Rock
* [[Shaggy Dog Story]]: "The Gift" (guy mails himself to girlfriend, gets killed), "Sister Ray" (huge debauched party, someone gets shot), "Lady Godiva's Operation" (transsexual goes to have some operation, gets a botched lobotomy from a sloppy doctor and dies).
* [[Shout-Out]]: "Sister Ray" is named after [[The Kinks|Ray Davies]].
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* [[Single-Stanza Song]]: "European Son".
* [[Soprano and Gravel]]: Every band member who ever sang. We've got: Reed's Long Islander snarl (almost every tune, but he did also sing in less snarly ways, like on "Sunday Morning" and "Jesus"), Cale's smoother voice and slightly Welsh accent ("The Gift", "Lady Godiva's Operation"), Yule's even more accessible [[Perishing Alt Rock Voice]] ("Candy Says"), Tucker's girlish voice ("After Hours", "The Murder Mystery") and, of course, Nico's thick German accent ("I'll Be Your Mirrah", as Cale would imitate it).
* [[Spell My Name
* [[Spoken Word in Music]]: "The Gift", "The Murder Mystery", arguably bits of "I Found a Reason".
* [[Step Up to
* [[Surprisingly Gentle Song|Surprisingly Gentle Album]]: ''The Velvet Underground''.
* [[Three Chords and
** And organ, and glockenspiel, and tambourine, and piano, and...
** Not to mention the numerous musical styles tackled on ''VU & Nico'': Gregorian Chants ("All Tomorrow's Parties"), Eastern drones ("Venus In Furs", "Heroin"), lullabies ("Sunday Morning"), pop ballads ("Femme Fatale", "I'll Be Your Mirror"), free jazz ("European Son"), Motown ("There She Goes Again"), your basic Rock 'n Roll ("I'm Waiting For The Man", "Run Run Run") and one other style I can't quite place my finger on ("Black Angel's Death Song"). You name it, they did it.
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