Scary fact. My aunt lived on 125th and Lexington Ave. She was late to everything. And yes, I bought this album a couple years before I started my first band. So... there could be something to this.
For me, The Velvet Underground are the only band from the sixties that don't sound dated today - just about every other band from that time sound so 'sixties' and really of the era - but The Velvets still sound fresh, and daring. They're timeless.
Pale Blue Eyes. But 5hat might be personal on my part. Lou was our poet. Musically VU were so far ahead of the pack it's taken two generations to catch up. And 90percent of the stuff even now is still far behind. Two other bands for consideratio. Tonto Expanding Headband, and the first Faust album ( Bridget Riley sleeve.)
words cannot describe how influential the VU was to the "alternative" world especially their first 2 albums look at every rock band from the 80s and 90s they were inspired by the VU even if they didn't know it
@@Producelikeapro I once joked at the height of "New Wave" music, "New Wave is the genre in which all the women sound like Yoko Ono and all the men sound like Lou Reed."
I began my VU obsession in 1995. I still remember purchasing the Peel Slowly and See box set that year with the peel-able banana on the cover (just like the original LP) and playing the hell out of it all summer. Cale's slashing viola still sounds like the ultimate bliss to me.
The best part of the song lyrically is the last part: "I'm feeling good, I'm feeling so fine until tomorrow but that's just another time" which shows the cycle of drugs. You feel good now but the next day you're back to scoring.
i remember when i first listened to a velvet underground album seriously i was looking at the cover and saw when it was released and just wondering how it was possible that they were so apart from what most people were doing at the time. the word visionary seems to fall short of where they were at artistically. amazing.
When I was 14 years old (1970) we were encouraged to bring a record to play in class on Fridays as 'music appreciation.' Once, I brought John Lennon's recently released "Cold Turkey" but someone else brought his older brother's copy of Velvet Underground & Nico. I knew I had to get that album and listen to the whole thing, Calling it 'underground' was an understatement, especially at that time. It remains at the top of my favorite albums.
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society sold poorly upon release and is now recognized as a classic. That album, and The Kinks in general, was also highly regarded in indie rock circles in the 80s and 90s, much as VU was. X is another band that was hugely influential yet never sold a lot of records. They seem almost completely forgotten, which is strange to me given how high their profile once was.
I've been surprised at how many people know about Village Green that I wouldn't have expected to be familiar with it. The right people know about good music. Arthur Lee & Love, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.... I could go on for a while.
I didn't hear VU & Nico until about 1973ish. I didn't know what hit me. It totally shattered all my "Peace Love & Woodstock" sensibilities. I couldn't believe it was so old, couldn't believe how anyone could even get a record so frank recorded, couldn't believe such a powerful record had evaded my notice for so long. It scared me as well, I'm not ashamed to say.
Now with The Internet and Spotify, you can pull up anything and listen to it. When The Velvet Underground started, you had to in that orbit to even know that VU existed. Underground radio wasn't really a thing either, so Velvet Underground were ignored by the world at large during their initial run. I was reading "The Oral History of David Bowie" and he covered "Waiting For The Man in the early 70's. Many at the time swore that Bowie had written it. Velvet Underground and "Peel Slowly and See" is where "alternative music" that became world conquering Nirvana starts.
$26. That in itself tells a story. See, you can snort dope, smoke it off tin foil or even toss it straight under your tongue, but $26 means something. $25 for the dope and $1 for a "new one". A new, clean, diabetic's needle. Rest in peace, Lou Reed and thanks for the easter eggs.
@@Producelikeapro Nice. On that note, could you cover the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds & the Smile Sessions? Hit us with the wall of sound, Warren! If you allow me, here's a suggestion: The Beach Boys: Smile!, the trilogy: 1st: Following up on Pet Sounds & the trainwreck that was the actual recording back in 66-67 2nd: Smiley Smile vs. The Smile Sessions 3rd: Brian Wilson's Smile from 2004 But seriously, just Pet Sounds would be amazing already. I just keep coming back to these videos, great work m8
@@ThreadBombI have the opposite opinion: their earlier work, while often good, the production felt a little too loose/raw for the type of music they made. Loveless feels utterly filled sonically, and I appreciate that density/psychedelic haze.
Saw Pere Ubu play in Chicago, 1980 or so. Hadn't actually heard their music, I was too poor to buy their record, and they certainly weren't on the radio. A friend had called me from NYC, told me, "See these guys if they come to Chicago!" Cost maybe $2.00 to see the show, about 50 people there. They started with I Will Wait. Blew my mind! David Thomas came out onstage about two minutes after the song started. Wonderful memories!
Truly underrated band. Saw them at Stirling Uni in 1981 after two years of listening to 'The Modern Dance' and 'Dub Housing'. During a tuning up problem David Thomas decided to help matters by singing the whole of The Flintstones theme tune. 'I Will Wait' is also a masterpiece in cramming raw excitement into 1m 50s.
That I share wholeheartedly. After growing up with post-punk, new romantics, new wave, independent and industrial I finally stumbled upon The Velvet Underground and had an epiphany and understood that they invented the sound all other bands had used as a blue print.
I think "Heroin" or "Venus in Furs" was more important. But actually you can pick any song of this album and it will be historically amazing. Love this series, greetings from Chile. Y love when you say "free goodies", i miss that
It;'s hard to pick one song from them album, however, from the point of view of a Gen X kid in the UK I can tell you that all of us who played in bands had this song and Sweet Jane in our repertoire!
Venus In Furs sets the benchmark for the Undeground's creativity - if you want to catch a new generation's interest then I'd suggest one uses that as the exemplar.
@@fincorrigan7139 indeed, agreed 100%! I would point out that one of the first comments said that it was a weak track! Haha The whole album is a masterpiece!
This song literally defines rock music. It created punk too. That rugged drum and guitar with that contradictory upbeat jolly piano and bells when it’s a song about picking up drugs like it’s a present on Christmas... I never heard anything since I first really listened to it
An artist who I've found musicians love but very few others know much of - Captain Beefheart. Also a great singer that's mostly only name-checked by other singers is Laura Nyro.
Lou Reed's work was so powerful. Listen to "Rock and Roll Animal" his 1974 live album. You can't unhear that one. "Transformer" was maybe his only brush with a hit album but even that was never a huge selling record. "Berlin" was depressing, dark, dissonant, distant, and amazing and it took 20 years for people to really understand it. He was never afraid to make the album he wanted, and, it all started here.
I love Rock and Roll Animal! My dearly departed friend Dick Wagner was one of the guitar players on that album! It was actually a gold album in the UK! It was only the US, where like Transformer, it’ didn’t do well.
@@Producelikeapro , Dick is somebody you should talk about on the channel. His work with Reed and Alice Cooper would be enough to cement his place in R&R. But I also love his early work with The Frost and Ursa Major. I am a huge Dick Wagner fan, glad to know you are too!
@@jppagetoo yes, I got to record an amazing charity single for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital that Dick wrote and Produced! He was a dear friend and I miss him dearly!
A hippie in a commune in 1967 played Heroin for a few of us youngsters, saying this will freak you out. And it did. I saw them later in the year in Vancouver. Memorable times. I used to play Heroin and I'm Waiting for the Man throughout the seventies as my party songs
Haha I thought "Today I don't watch TH-cam for a day" .. checked my Inbox - Warren - Velvet Underground - and here we are enjoying another amazing episode haha best series about music ever ✌
Got to do Damned Damned Damned. I instantly wanted to be in a band with I heard the album, my mate older brother said we needed to play it. Neat neat neat and New Rose blew my brain apart
Oh man! I love Velvet Underground, I love that song! I’ve even seen them live in Straßbourg, France when they were opening for U2 on the Zooropa Tour. When Lou Reed came on stage again to perform ‘perfect day’ together with U2 …. Goose bumps as I have never had goose bumps ever again!! Velvet underground -> Biggest influence ever for me… as are The Doors who actually also should be in this category. Don’t know which song yet 🤔 Mr. Huart, I’ve got to say your choice of songs is rather fantastic. Thank you very much this series! 🙏🏻
They were one of the House Bands at Andy Warhol's club The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, that was on St. Mark's Place in the East Village. I lived on St. Mark's Place, directly across the street at the time. The Dom was next door. The Velvet Underground's album, which I still own .. bought new at the time ... and every cut is outrageous. Listen to Heroin! Prior to Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, there was The Balloon Farm ... and afterward, it turned into The Electric Circus. Those were the best of times.
Good stuff, thanks! Nick Drake, Big Star, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Eva Cassidy, MBV & the Incredible String Band all spring to mind as influential far beyond their inital sales
I have a 5 year older brother who used to listen to the Velvet Underground. As a young kid, I was listening to them with him. I think it's a good thing our parents didn't always know what kind of music we were listening to.... On the other hand, I don't think I understood it all at that age. But I did like the music, and it has pretty sure determined my taste!
Here are three ideas: 1. The band Love’s third album “Forever Changes”. 2. Television’s song “Marquee Moon”. 3. (Please bear with me on this suggestion because this may seem so out of left field) Glen Campbell’s song “Wichita Lineman”. This song is such a simple song but it carries a lot of weight. If you like a good read about an interesting slice of musical history check out the book, “The Wichita Lineman: Searching In The Sun for the World’s Greatest Unfinished Songs” by Dylan Jones. As a kid back in the 1960s I was fascinated with this song based on a couplet in it and as it turns out many people were/ are and this book is a deep dive into some cool musical philosophy, theory and history. All three of my suggestions might fit in nicely with how you present your videos (which are always top notch). ✌🏽
TELEVISION. The world would be a better place if more people knew Marquee Moon. Such a mind blowing album. Elevation or Torn Curtains are my favorite tracks.
@@Producelikeapro i have to be deep into music snob territory here in Oklahoma to find people who know my favorite groups... Velvets, Television, Psychedelic Furs, STONE ROSES, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre... Mr Produce... If you are not familiar with the BJM, I highly suggest their greatest hits "Tepid Peppermint Wonderland". Best concert of my life, ahead of McCartney, Who, Waters The Wall, etc.
Thanks for talking about this song. It’s such a gem. One small thing tho: I don’t think the protagonist heads home to get on..he says the man …”has got the works, gives you sweets taste…”..so he has it or some of it before leaving. For me the songs overall rawness leaves the biggest impression…so good!
Great video Warren! It would be great to see a breakdown of White Light/White Heat LP someday. They had a great catalogue of music, for a such a short period of time. Amazing to see how their writing evolved over those years, in such an unexpected way. But I too think they were the first Alternative Band ever. =)
For both a band, an album and a song that so much has been said before, it is still as fascinating as it's always been to hear what others have to say. Awesome work!
It's a straight line between the Velvet Underground and so much 70s-90s underground music. If you did a video just listing the name-checks of VU from punk, post-punk, jangle-pop & alternative bands it would be longer than the video you actually did make (which is great, btw)
Malcolm McLaren's Paris is an album I keep coming back to, even after 25 years. It's such an interesting album to listen to, I never get bored of it. McLaren was well known for The Sex Pistols but he was so much more than a manager of a punk band!
Great video as usual. I would say that it was not only the lyrics and subject matter that made the VU proto-punk. The simplicity of so many of the songs in terms of chord progression, and the frequent driving 8th notes of both guitar and drums are also influential, in my opinion.
I'm always impressed by these mini Docs. But I'm also impressed by the writing. Your prolific man! I can't imagine where you find the time and energy to put out the amount of quality content that you do. I bow to you sir.
Thank you for featuring this song, Warren. They've always been my favourite band since I first heard them back in the 80s. I'd never heard anything so powerful before. It was a totally visceral experience, and I've never looked back. By the way, have you ever done a feature on Joe Meek? I'd love to see you delve into his life and achievements.
Amazing video about one of my all time favourite songs/album! Thanks again Warren! Maybe you could take a look into an Echo & The Bunnymen track next? The Killing Moon comes to mind amongst a lot of others! Thanks again
Lou Reed is a lyricist who any rock and roll songwriter can look to for inspiration when they are having trouble figuring out what they want to say and how to say it with clarity and impact. No joke, if asking yourself "What would Lou Reed do here" doesn't help you get unstuck, you probably need to consider a new line of work.
Another brilliant segment, Warren. Take "I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN", double its harmonic rhythm & lay the tempo back et voila: "HEROES". So interesting that while the Velvets were happening on the US east coast, Buffalo Springfield was taking off in LA; 2 completely different bands that shaped a lot of the music that was to follow. Fun to see Mo Tucker actually sitting down at a drum set as well!
Thank you so much for this one! I probably bought that album twice. Whenever I miss my former home of NYC, I always put on that album and I immediately remember what it felt like to walk down the streets of New York and how there was nothing else like it.
I look forward to each of these videos. Thank you. This is one of my favorite records of all times. I burned out several tapes of this album in the 1980's.
Great video, thanks Warren! In the early 70s I used to read interviews with my heroes in NME etc and they'd all mention the Velvets. Lou Reed was big at the time with Transformer. I knew the VU records thanks to an older friend who had them all, and I assumed they were as famous as my heroes. What a shock to learn the opposite . . . that album still sounds out of this world
Indeed Willem! Lou Reed was such a huge influence on all of us! As a Gen Xer I can say that every band that was spawned in the 80s and 90s owed so much to the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed!
One album that was a commercial flop but influenced a lot of electronic bands was 'Electric Storm' by White Noise, released in 1969 and featuring Delia Derbyshire who realised the Dr Who theme. There are songs from it on TH-cam, worth checking out, especially Love Without Sound.
I exited the subway while meandering through New York a few years ago, just generally moving via public transit toward the airport & my flight back home after a weekend museum haunt. When a crosswalk signal enroute to the bus stop halted the final leg of my trip, I read the street sign above & suddenly realized that I was at Lexington and 125th! Needless to say: many selfies were taken.
The Yardbirds were probably the first band to cover the Velvets, they used to cover "I'm Waiting For The Man" in concert in the Spring of 1968. When a band as important and seminal as the Yardbirds cover your song you know that's some high praise. Speaking of influential bands how about doing a Yardbirds video?
A friend gave me the Cassette of this album around 88 - when i left his house i put it on my Walkman and Hearing Sunday Morning into Waiting for the man was just a mind blower for me. It's still my favourite l.p 30+ years later.
Nice one that you mentioned John Cale as the main protagonist for their groundbreaking sound, a fact a lot of people still aren't aware of. Cale should have been co-credited for the music on TVU&N and WL/WH, but Reed's enormous ego would have none of that. I'm still baffled that his enormous contribution in the early shaping of the alternative sound is generally overlooked or even ignored. Together with Nico he laid the foundations of Goth as her producer and arranger on her album trilogy The Marble Index, Desertshore and The End. He also produced the debuts by Iggy's Stooges, Patti Smith and Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers. There is no other musician that can claim to have had such an impact on the shaping of the early alternative sound. Without John Cale Punk and Alternative music sonically would have taken a different path. No VU, Stooges or Patti Smith as we know them, and all the bits in between and thereafter. His solo recordings for Island records Fear (1974), Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy (both 1975) were a musical glimpse of things to come: Talking Heads, Siouxsie or Bauhaus have all been inspired by the Welsh maestro. It's about time the real story of John Cale is being told, as the real Godfather of Punk (at least from a sonic perspective). So dear Warren, how about John Cale as a subject matter as pioneer, creator and innovator of the alternative sound. Cheers
Definitely a band that changed music! I love his lyrically driven, "this is my music, and I don't care what the music trends are, or what they are looking for, or what you call 'good music'...I am making art". Kind of like the Allen Ginsberg of rock music. I hear so much of Lou Reed in 2000s alt-rock bands like The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, as well as new wave bands like Talking Heads and The Cars. Of course, I hear him in Bowie, too!
Anna Awe the Velvets sound was mainly John Cale's achievement, implementing classical and experimental sounds and structures into their music. Reed being a selfish dick wouldn't credit the others for their musical contributions, made almost everybody believe it was all down to his 'genius'. John Cale should have been co-credited for the music on TVU&N and WL/WH.
Warren, you truly have a knack for featuring those songs/artists who get to be slightly overlooked, yet are so influential. Another great installment! On a sidenote: I have been trying to do some research into Reed's post-VU guitar-tone and guitar rig and found nothing. From his biography I know he was really obsessed with finding the perfect tone, and it shows on his solo work, epeciallly Magic & Loss (an amazing but extremely underrated album.) Does anybody reading this have a pointer on this subject? A youtube-video, a link to an obscure article, whatever's out there... Thanks and keep up these great videos!
This song plus the rest of the lp is such a strange patchwork that its a pleasure enjoying your work on the video. Ya can't beat Cale/Reed at the height of their powers. Wilson's ear is amazing...now those Norman Dolph acetates are something...Scorpio studios in NYC...i think...
Thanks for this Warren. "Waiting for the Man". Sad Lou is gone, but his attitude, insight and style live on. Love the performance of Lou and Bowie doing this at Bowie's 50th. (Reeves Gabrels adds a nice touch to it in that performance) Cheers
Remember discovering them in the 90’s felt like I was the first. Had a huge impact on me and hope it still does on future kids looking to find music that can change your life
Hi Warren sandy Denny's who knows where the time goes, surely is one of the greatest folk songs of all time. It was even judged to be in a poll. And surely sandy is as great as Nick Drake. Her self penned songs resonate to this day.
Mate, you forgot the best VU history ever: their first concert was in a psychiatrists congress! It was dealed by Warhol as an "artistic surprise". They were shocked!
Didn't know those 3 songs where re recorded. Funny enough, I think these are the three songs I must have listened to the most. Great album altogether. Again a great episode!
Eno was right. I bought the album and I started a band. Actually I bought "Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground featuring Nico" which was a compilation double album released in 1971But is had most of the tracks from the banana album. :)
What other songs and artists do you think changed music? Share your thoughts by commenting below!
Great choice Warren
VU are one of the most influential bands ever, without a doubt!
More VU, more Iggy and also MC5!
The Stooges - 1969
Love - forever changes would be a good one
Scary fact. My aunt lived on 125th and Lexington Ave. She was late to everything. And yes, I bought this album a couple years before I started my first band. So... there could be something to this.
Excellent! Thanks ever so much Bobby!
..and she was a man!!! :)
@@hanstun1 She was "THE MAN".
Did your aunt own any "shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather"?
@@aisforapple2494 The line, "He doesn't hurry, he's always late" came from William S. Burroughs' book "Naked Lunch."
For me, The Velvet Underground are the only band from the sixties that don't sound dated today - just about every other band from that time sound so 'sixties' and really of the era - but The Velvets still sound fresh, and daring. They're timeless.
Fantastic! Thanks ever so much
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys ? That sounds 60s to you ? You must be an avant garde genius then,cause that album sounds like it's from 2230.
This is because they influenced so many future rock acts of the '70s, '80s and '90s.
The lyrics are realist narrative par excellence.
Buy METAL MACHINE MUSIC.
So true
One of my top 10 bands. Lou is my favorite songwriter from NY. Love what he said, "We had a rule in The Velvet Underground, NO blues licks."
Agreed, incredible songwriter
@@Producelikeapro that 50th birthday concert for Bowie has THE best version of "White Light/White Heat." Reeves Gabrels RIPS that one apart.
one of the best indeed!@@Producelikeapro
The Velvet Underground = Greatest and still underrated
Agreed!
Such a great, highly influential band. Sunday Morning is one of the most beautiful songs ever written in my opinion.
Agreed 100%!!
Pale Blue Eyes. But 5hat might be personal on my part. Lou was our poet. Musically VU were so far ahead of the pack it's taken two generations to catch up. And 90percent of the stuff even now is still far behind. Two other bands for consideratio. Tonto Expanding Headband, and the first Faust album ( Bridget Riley sleeve.)
words cannot describe how influential the VU was to the "alternative" world especially their first 2 albums look at every rock band from the 80s and 90s they were inspired by the VU even if they didn't know it
Agreed 100%!!!
@@Producelikeapro I once joked at the height of "New Wave" music, "New Wave is the genre in which all the women sound like Yoko Ono and all the men sound like Lou Reed."
I began my VU obsession in 1995. I still remember purchasing the Peel Slowly and See box set that year with the peel-able banana on the cover (just like the original LP) and playing the hell out of it all summer. Cale's slashing viola still sounds like the ultimate bliss to me.
The best part of the song lyrically is the last part:
"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling so fine
until tomorrow but that's just another time"
which shows the cycle of drugs. You feel good now but the next day you're back to scoring.
you only truly understand that if you are a junky. You get well and then tomorrow morning you are dope sick. You will ALWAYS have to wait too.
i remember when i first listened to a velvet underground album seriously i was looking at the cover and saw when it was released and just wondering how it was possible that they were so apart from what most people were doing at the time. the word visionary seems to fall short of where they were at artistically. amazing.
Agreed 100%!
When I was 14 years old (1970) we were encouraged to bring a record to play in class on Fridays as 'music appreciation.' Once, I brought John Lennon's recently released "Cold Turkey" but someone else brought his older brother's copy of Velvet Underground & Nico. I knew I had to get that album and listen to the whole thing, Calling it 'underground' was an understatement, especially at that time. It remains at the top of my favorite albums.
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society sold poorly upon release and is now recognized as a classic. That album, and The Kinks in general, was also highly regarded in indie rock circles in the 80s and 90s, much as VU was. X is another band that was hugely influential yet never sold a lot of records. They seem almost completely forgotten, which is strange to me given how high their profile once was.
I love that band so much and that album so much that my first band was called 'The Village Green Preservation Society'!
I've been surprised at how many people know about Village Green that I wouldn't have expected to be familiar with it. The right people know about good music. Arthur Lee & Love, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.... I could go on for a while.
One of my favorite all time records. I love its nostalgic vibe which went against the whole hippie thing in the late 60s.
Village Green and Preservations act one and Act two.... some of my fave kinks stuff
Man, X was such a great, underrated band. They must have launched a thousand bands that launched another ten thousand... punk-rock first stage!
I think the first R.E.M. album Murmur is worthy of your channel. It's truly amazing and groundbreaking as well. Thank you.
It's a wonderful album!
I didn't hear VU & Nico until about 1973ish. I didn't know what hit me. It totally shattered all my "Peace Love & Woodstock" sensibilities. I couldn't believe it was so old, couldn't believe how anyone could even get a record so frank recorded, couldn't believe such a powerful record had evaded my notice for so long. It scared me as well, I'm not ashamed to say.
What an iconic band! Always enjoy hearing these!
Yes, hugely influential!
@@Producelikeapro Absolutely!
Shuttup
Now with The Internet and Spotify, you can pull up anything and listen to it. When The Velvet Underground started, you had to in that orbit to even know that VU existed. Underground radio wasn't really a thing either, so Velvet Underground were ignored by the world at large during their initial run.
I was reading "The Oral History of David Bowie" and he covered "Waiting For The Man in the early 70's. Many at the time swore that Bowie had written it.
Velvet Underground and "Peel Slowly and See" is where "alternative music" that became world conquering Nirvana starts.
Fantastic episode again. That album contains many beautiful songs too; Femme Fatale, Sunday Morning, I’ll Be Your Mirror.
Thanks ever so much
$26. That in itself tells a story.
See, you can snort dope, smoke it off tin foil or even toss it straight under your tongue, but $26 means something.
$25 for the dope and $1 for a "new one". A new, clean, diabetic's needle.
Rest in peace, Lou Reed and thanks for the easter eggs.
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless.
Definitely
@@Producelikeapro Nice. On that note, could you cover the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds & the Smile Sessions? Hit us with the wall of sound, Warren!
If you allow me, here's a suggestion:
The Beach Boys: Smile!, the trilogy:
1st: Following up on Pet Sounds & the trainwreck that was the actual recording back in 66-67
2nd: Smiley Smile vs. The Smile Sessions
3rd: Brian Wilson's Smile from 2004
But seriously, just Pet Sounds would be amazing already. I just keep coming back to these videos, great work m8
I preferred their earlier stuff, TBH. The compression on Loveless is so extreme that I can't really enjoy listening to it.
@@ThreadBombI have the opposite opinion: their earlier work, while often good, the production felt a little too loose/raw for the type of music they made. Loveless feels utterly filled sonically, and I appreciate that density/psychedelic haze.
Pere Ubu - The Art Of Walking. There's nothing else like it. Nothing.
Marvellous Scott!
Saw Pere Ubu play in Chicago, 1980 or so. Hadn't actually heard their music, I was too poor to buy their record, and they certainly weren't on the radio. A friend had called me from NYC, told me, "See these guys if they come to Chicago!" Cost maybe $2.00 to see the show, about 50 people there. They started with I Will Wait. Blew my mind! David Thomas came out onstage about two minutes after the song started. Wonderful memories!
Truly underrated band. Saw them at Stirling Uni in 1981 after two years of listening to 'The Modern Dance' and 'Dub Housing'. During a tuning up problem David Thomas decided to help matters by singing the whole of The Flintstones theme tune. 'I Will Wait' is also a masterpiece in cramming raw excitement into 1m 50s.
And "Final Solution" too.
@@lancecox8084 Dead right there mister. Absolutely one of the best driving songs ever. Don’t get me started on ‘Heart of Darkness’.
Throbbing Gristle is a good example of an influential band. :)
who
@@aaronrodriguez7852 Proto-industrial band
Holy shit, I gave this comment like number 23!
RIP Genesis and Sleazy.
@PaulLeHat YES!!
That I share wholeheartedly. After growing up with post-punk, new romantics, new wave, independent and industrial I finally stumbled upon The Velvet Underground and had an epiphany and understood that they invented the sound all other bands had used as a blue print.
I think "Heroin" or "Venus in Furs" was more important. But actually you can pick any song of this album and it will be historically amazing. Love this series, greetings from Chile. Y love when you say "free goodies", i miss that
It;'s hard to pick one song from them album, however, from the point of view of a Gen X kid in the UK I can tell you that all of us who played in bands had this song and Sweet Jane in our repertoire!
Venus In Furs sets the benchmark for the Undeground's creativity - if you want to catch a new generation's interest then I'd suggest one uses that as the exemplar.
@@fincorrigan7139 indeed, agreed 100%! I would point out that one of the first comments said that it was a weak track! Haha The whole album is a masterpiece!
@@Producelikeapro I don't envy your putting of the head above the parapet with this type of exercise. Shots Ring Out - Memphis Sky 😉
I always like The Black Angels Death Song.
This song literally defines rock music.
It created punk too.
That rugged drum and guitar with that contradictory upbeat jolly piano and bells when it’s a song about picking up drugs like it’s a present on Christmas... I never heard anything since I first really listened to it
An artist who I've found musicians love but very few others know much of - Captain Beefheart. Also a great singer that's mostly only name-checked by other singers is Laura Nyro.
I’m a huge fan!!
Talk Talk. Highly underrated, but so influential!
Great band!
Talk talk - spirit of Eden is a sonic masterpiece
Lou Reed's work was so powerful. Listen to "Rock and Roll Animal" his 1974 live album. You can't unhear that one. "Transformer" was maybe his only brush with a hit album but even that was never a huge selling record. "Berlin" was depressing, dark, dissonant, distant, and amazing and it took 20 years for people to really understand it. He was never afraid to make the album he wanted, and, it all started here.
I love Rock and Roll Animal! My dearly departed friend Dick Wagner was one of the guitar players on that album! It was actually a gold album in the UK! It was only the US, where like Transformer, it’ didn’t do well.
@@Producelikeapro , Dick is somebody you should talk about on the channel. His work with Reed and Alice Cooper would be enough to cement his place in R&R. But I also love his early work with The Frost and Ursa Major. I am a huge Dick Wagner fan, glad to know you are too!
@@jppagetoo yes, I got to record an amazing charity single for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital that Dick wrote and Produced! He was a dear friend and I miss him dearly!
A hippie in a commune in 1967 played Heroin for a few of us youngsters, saying this will freak you out. And it did. I saw them later in the year in Vancouver. Memorable times. I used to play Heroin and I'm Waiting for the Man throughout the seventies as my party songs
Walking down The Kings Road as a teenager and heard Take a Walk on the Wild Side belting out from a pub. I was blown away...
Yes! Incredible
Haha I thought "Today I don't watch TH-cam for a day" .. checked my Inbox - Warren - Velvet Underground - and here we are enjoying another amazing episode haha best series about music ever ✌
haha thanks Ady!
Got to do Damned Damned Damned. I instantly wanted to be in a band with I heard the album, my mate older brother said we needed to play it. Neat neat neat and New Rose blew my brain apart
It's coming!! haha Two of my favourite songs!
Both of those songs are dynamite! Kicked me in the butt!
Great one. I'd love to see your take on The Fall.
Coming soon!
"I'm totally wired!"
You left out the best line.
Feeling sick and dirty, more dead than alive.
Oh man! I love Velvet Underground, I love that song! I’ve even seen them live in Straßbourg, France when they were opening for U2 on the Zooropa Tour. When Lou Reed came on stage again to perform ‘perfect day’ together with U2 …. Goose bumps as I have never had goose bumps ever again!! Velvet underground -> Biggest influence ever for me… as are The Doors who actually also should be in this category. Don’t know which song yet 🤔 Mr. Huart, I’ve got to say your choice of songs is rather fantastic. Thank you very much this series! 🙏🏻
Thanks ever so much Jo! I really appreciate it!
They were one of the House Bands at Andy Warhol's club The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, that was on St. Mark's Place in the East Village. I lived on St. Mark's Place, directly across the street at the time. The Dom was next door. The Velvet Underground's album, which I still own .. bought new at the time ... and every cut is outrageous. Listen to Heroin! Prior to Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, there was The Balloon Farm ... and afterward, it turned into The Electric Circus. Those were the best of times.
Good stuff, thanks!
Nick Drake, Big Star, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Eva Cassidy, MBV & the Incredible String Band all spring to mind as influential far beyond their inital sales
All amazing ideas!!
I have a 5 year older brother who used to listen to the Velvet Underground. As a young kid, I was listening to them with him. I think it's a good thing our parents didn't always know what kind of music we were listening to.... On the other hand, I don't think I understood it all at that age. But I did like the music, and it has pretty sure determined my taste!
The "Loud" Reed and David Bowie live version sounds very Pixies to me. Great work, Warren as always
Here are three ideas: 1. The band Love’s third album “Forever Changes”. 2. Television’s song “Marquee Moon”. 3. (Please bear with me on this suggestion because this may seem so out of left field) Glen Campbell’s song “Wichita Lineman”. This song is such a simple song but it carries a lot of weight. If you like a good read about an interesting slice of musical history check out the book, “The Wichita Lineman: Searching In The Sun for the World’s Greatest Unfinished Songs” by Dylan Jones. As a kid back in the 1960s I was fascinated with this song based on a couplet in it and as it turns out many people were/ are and this book is a deep dive into some cool musical philosophy, theory and history. All three of my suggestions might fit in nicely with how you present your videos (which are always top notch). ✌🏽
All amazing ideas Richard! Thanks ever so much for the suggestions! Three of them are in progress!
TELEVISION. The world would be a better place if more people knew Marquee Moon. Such a mind blowing album. Elevation or Torn Curtains are my favorite tracks.
@@BobbyGeneric145 agreed 100%!
@@Producelikeapro i have to be deep into music snob territory here in Oklahoma to find people who know my favorite groups... Velvets, Television, Psychedelic Furs, STONE ROSES, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre... Mr Produce... If you are not familiar with the BJM, I highly suggest their greatest hits "Tepid Peppermint Wonderland". Best concert of my life, ahead of McCartney, Who, Waters The Wall, etc.
Excellent choice! Love it
Thanks for talking about this song. It’s such a gem. One small thing tho: I don’t think the protagonist heads home to get on..he says the man …”has got the works, gives you sweets taste…”..so he has it or some of it before leaving. For me the songs overall rawness leaves the biggest impression…so good!
The band Sparks. they're underrated nd need some recognition
Great Band! Thanks ever so much
My bloody valentine's loveless is an obvious one. I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest it.
Yes, masterpiece!
this was the exact one I was thinking of
@@nicholasromig5506 Agreed 100%!
Yes, Sonic Youth are on the list!
@Soy Orbison Daydream is wild. I like the songs better on Goo but Daydream is probably better overall
Great video Warren! It would be great to see a breakdown of White Light/White Heat LP someday. They had a great catalogue of music, for a such a short period of time. Amazing to see how their writing evolved over those years, in such an unexpected way. But I too think they were the first Alternative Band ever. =)
Great album, agreed 100%!
For both a band, an album and a song that so much has been said before, it is still as fascinating as it's always been to hear what others have to say.
Awesome work!
It's a straight line between the Velvet Underground and so much 70s-90s underground music. If you did a video just listing the name-checks of VU from punk, post-punk, jangle-pop & alternative bands it would be longer than the video you actually did make (which is great, btw)
Agreed Underground and mainstream!
Been listening to it for decades and still love it.
Me too! Thanks ever so much
So fantastic! Thank you for this! They really pin the "VU" meter! Haha. Couldn't resist! Love you, Warren!
Thanks ever so much Aaron!
About time dude. Been waiting for this one , my man. VU changed my world in 1978.
Me too! Huge fan
Malcolm McLaren's Paris is an album I keep coming back to, even after 25 years. It's such an interesting album to listen to, I never get bored of it. McLaren was well known for The Sex Pistols but he was so much more than a manager of a punk band!
Great video as usual. I would say that it was not only the lyrics and subject matter that made the VU proto-punk. The simplicity of so many of the songs in terms of chord progression, and the frequent driving 8th notes of both guitar and drums are also influential, in my opinion.
I'm always impressed by these mini Docs. But I'm also impressed by the writing. Your prolific man! I can't imagine where you find the time and energy to put out the amount of quality content that you do. I bow to you sir.
Thank you for featuring this song, Warren. They've always been my favourite band since I first heard them back in the 80s. I'd never heard anything so powerful before. It was a totally visceral experience, and I've never looked back. By the way, have you ever done a feature on Joe Meek? I'd love to see you delve into his life and achievements.
Amazing video about one of my all time favourite songs/album! Thanks again Warren! Maybe you could take a look into an Echo & The Bunnymen track next? The Killing Moon comes to mind amongst a lot of others! Thanks again
Thanks Ciaran! I love Echo and the Bunnymen!
Lou Reed is a lyricist who any rock and roll songwriter can look to for inspiration when they are having trouble figuring out what they want to say and how to say it with clarity and impact. No joke, if asking yourself "What would Lou Reed do here" doesn't help you get unstuck, you probably need to consider a new line of work.
I’m a huge fan of Lou Reed’s and of course, his lyrics are amazing!
Thanks ever so much for your great comment
awesome inputs
Thanks ever so much!
Another brilliant segment, Warren. Take "I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN", double its harmonic rhythm & lay the tempo back et voila: "HEROES". So interesting that while the Velvets were happening on the US east coast, Buffalo Springfield was taking off in LA; 2 completely different bands that shaped a lot of the music that was to follow.
Fun to see Mo Tucker actually sitting down at a drum set as well!
Took me a long time to get my head around this album- but it remained there forever.!
Omg, you did it!!!! Awesome, awesome, AWESOME! My favorite band EVER!!! Warren, these videos are the best
You're very welcome Randal! Thanks ever so much
Thank you so much for this one! I probably bought that album twice. Whenever I miss my former home of NYC, I always put on that album and I immediately remember what it felt like to walk down the streets of New York and how there was nothing else like it.
We have a same songs who changed our life, every time since the first
Indeed! Anyone who works in the music industry understands their importance!
@@Producelikeapro I would like working in the music industry in the future...
Do something on Big Star, the best band you've never heard of
Huge fan!
@@Producelikeapro I would love to see you cover "September Gurls"
Yes! Thirteen or September Gurls
Big Star would be awesome.
Saw them live, thanks!
Great choice yet again Sir!
Thanks ever so much Jim!
I had previously suggested VU’s song Heroin for the series. This works too 👍
Indeed! Picking any single song from the band is fraught with danger! Their whole catalog is very impressive and very important!
It’s Angus MacLise. Big fan of your channel I think it’s awesome you featured VU. They are one of my favorites!
Awesome! Thank you!
Lol... was 'Agnus' his wife? :P
Great choice Warren
Thanks ever so much!
I look forward to each of these videos. Thank you. This is one of my favorite records of all times. I burned out several tapes of this album in the 1980's.
Great video, thanks Warren! In the early 70s I used to read interviews with my heroes in NME etc and they'd all mention the Velvets. Lou Reed was big at the time with Transformer. I knew the VU records thanks to an older friend who had them all, and I assumed they were as famous as my heroes. What a shock to learn the opposite . . . that album still sounds out of this world
Indeed Willem! Lou Reed was such a huge influence on all of us! As a Gen Xer I can say that every band that was spawned in the 80s and 90s owed so much to the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed!
This series is brilliant. Insightful, and great taste. Love it.
Thanks ever so much
They had two geniuses in the band , Lou and John Cale . How about doing a John Cale song rundown
One album that was a commercial flop but influenced a lot of electronic bands was 'Electric Storm' by White Noise, released in 1969 and featuring Delia Derbyshire who realised the Dr Who theme. There are songs from it on TH-cam, worth checking out, especially Love Without Sound.
Yes, amazing!!
As always thank you so much Warren! MC5 perhaps?
Absolutely
I exited the subway while meandering through New York a few years ago, just generally moving via public transit toward the airport & my flight back home after a weekend museum haunt. When a crosswalk signal enroute to the bus stop halted the final leg of my trip, I read the street sign above & suddenly realized that I was at Lexington and 125th!
Needless to say: many selfies were taken.
I need to go there and also take a photo! Amazing!
The Yardbirds were probably the first band to cover the Velvets, they used to cover "I'm Waiting For The Man" in concert in the Spring of 1968. When a band as important and seminal as the Yardbirds cover your song you know that's some high praise. Speaking of influential bands how about doing a Yardbirds video?
Brilliant! Thx Warren!
Thanks ever so much
The Blue Nile is a really interesting band that deserves more exposure.
Same goes for The Chameleons, very underrated band
Blue Nile's Hats album is one of my favorite albums of all time.
The stand-out track for me is Venus in Furs - a song I use when people want to know about my taste in music (which is not very often :-))
A friend gave me the Cassette of this album around 88 - when i left his house i put it on my Walkman and Hearing Sunday Morning into Waiting for the man was just a mind blower for me.
It's still my favourite l.p 30+ years later.
Thanks so much for your wise words at the end.
Thanks ever so much for watching until the end!
Nice one that you mentioned John Cale as the main protagonist for their groundbreaking sound, a fact a lot of people still aren't aware of. Cale should have been co-credited for the music on TVU&N and WL/WH, but Reed's enormous ego would have none of that. I'm still baffled that his enormous contribution in the early shaping of the alternative sound is generally overlooked or even ignored. Together with Nico he laid the foundations of Goth as her producer and arranger on her album trilogy The Marble Index, Desertshore and The End. He also produced the debuts by Iggy's Stooges, Patti Smith and Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers. There is no other musician that can claim to have had such an impact on the shaping of the early alternative sound. Without John Cale Punk and Alternative music sonically would have taken a different path. No VU, Stooges or Patti Smith as we know them, and all the bits in between and thereafter. His solo recordings for Island records Fear (1974), Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy (both 1975) were a musical glimpse of things to come: Talking Heads, Siouxsie or Bauhaus have all been inspired by the Welsh maestro. It's about time the real story of John Cale is being told, as the real Godfather of Punk (at least from a sonic perspective). So dear Warren, how about John Cale as a subject matter as pioneer, creator and innovator of the alternative sound. Cheers
Definitely a band that changed music! I love his lyrically driven, "this is my music, and I don't care what the music trends are, or what they are looking for, or what you call 'good music'...I am making art". Kind of like the Allen Ginsberg of rock music. I hear so much of Lou Reed in 2000s alt-rock bands like The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, as well as new wave bands like Talking Heads and The Cars. Of course, I hear him in Bowie, too!
Anna Awe the Velvets sound was mainly John Cale's achievement, implementing classical and experimental sounds and structures into their music. Reed being a selfish dick wouldn't credit the others for their musical contributions, made almost everybody believe it was all down to his 'genius'. John Cale should have been co-credited for the music on TVU&N and WL/WH.
At the Drive-in or The Mars Volta would be awesome. Love your channel man!
Great suggestion!
Thank you for your analysis. Great presentation as always!
I'll never forget getting wrecked and listening to this in my college dorm back in 67. It blew everybody's mind!
Warren, you truly have a knack for featuring those songs/artists who get to be slightly overlooked, yet are so influential. Another great installment! On a sidenote: I have been trying to do some research into Reed's post-VU guitar-tone and guitar rig and found nothing. From his biography I know he was really obsessed with finding the perfect tone, and it shows on his solo work, epeciallly Magic & Loss (an amazing but extremely underrated album.) Does anybody reading this have a pointer on this subject? A youtube-video, a link to an obscure article, whatever's out there... Thanks and keep up these great videos!
This song plus the rest of the lp is such a strange patchwork that its a pleasure enjoying your work on the video. Ya can't beat Cale/Reed at the height of their powers. Wilson's ear is amazing...now those Norman Dolph acetates are something...Scorpio studios in NYC...i think...
Thanks for this Warren. "Waiting for the Man". Sad Lou is gone, but his attitude, insight and style live on. Love the performance of Lou and Bowie doing this at Bowie's 50th. (Reeves Gabrels adds a nice touch to it in that performance) Cheers
Thanks, agreed, huge song and that's a great performance!
Believe it or not White Light White Heat was my favorite album in 1968 when I was a 7th grader. Thank goodness for big sisters.
Brilliant video! I've come to really appreciate this seminal band over the years!
Thanks ever so much!
The fact that it strongly influenced later developments makes it a truly seminal recording. And it’s just brilliant 👍
Thanks ever so much
Remember discovering them in the 90’s felt like I was the first. Had a huge impact on me and hope it still does on future kids looking to find music that can change your life
Hi Warren sandy Denny's who knows where the time goes, surely is one of the greatest folk songs of all time. It was even judged to be in a poll. And surely sandy is as great as Nick Drake. Her self penned songs resonate to this day.
Mate, you forgot the best VU history ever: their first concert was in a psychiatrists congress! It was dealed by Warhol as an "artistic surprise". They were shocked!
Haha I do remember reading their first paid show was at a kid's School! I'll have to check out this other first show!
Link Wray! One of the coolest guitar players and almost no one know who he was.
Great Video. Stereolab is surely up there as one of these massively underappreciated bands!
Yes they are!
Didn't know those 3 songs where re recorded. Funny enough, I think these are the three songs I must have listened to the most. Great album altogether. Again a great episode!
Eno was right. I bought the album and I started a band.
Actually I bought "Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground featuring Nico" which was a compilation double album released in 1971But is had most of the tracks from the banana album. :)
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
Venus in Furs is another killer song from that album
thanks Warren
Agreed 100%! Thanks ever so much
Thomas Dolby's first Album. Airwaves and science are great songs and introduced a special sonic palette
Great album!
Roxy Music. They blew my mind when i was 16; now i am 58 and still a fan.
Me too! Huge fan!
Me too! Huge fan!
Wow thank you Warren Huart and PLAP , really enjoyed this.
Thanks ever so much!