Pre-1980 Velvet Underground covers + hommages + rip-offs

Spun off from this thread: Big Star

Tyler and others listed some great early covers like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beUcnN9ULhA

Also looking for really early bands who were heavily influenced by VU - like Hackamore Brick - this is from 1970, released on Kama Sutra Records
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdF-aGR8-_s

1965 - pre-VU reed/cale song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyDIa8C-V30

A more freakbeat take on the same:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uyepraHu6U

The Yardbirds live, 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBRmpNXQF4w

The Riot Squad, with David Bowie, 1967.
Full story here: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/call_in_the_riot_squad_david_bowie_covers_the_velvet_underground..._in_1967

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lPwCSem3cUQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPwCSem3cUQ

Modern Lovers, 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWkbu_98fpo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XgG4Tl7sFM

Mitch Ryder's Detroit, 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mag6jxiHXXk

"As Mick Jagger confessed to Nick Kent of NME in June 1977, "Even we've been influenced by the Velvet Underground. No, really. I'll tell you exactly what we pinched from [Lou Reed]. Y'know 'Stray Cat Blues' [from the Rolling Stones' 1968 album Beggars Banquet)? The whole sound and the way it's paced, we pinched from the first Velvet Underground album. Y'know, the sound on 'Heroin.' Honest to God, we did!"
from: http://www.richieunterberger.com/vumyth.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5frrDY9Tys

Alex Chilton solo acoustic demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6EWkKNo5WA

Original song by England's Glory, 1973, with Peter Perrett later of The Only Ones.
Supposedly they tried to pass off their demos as unreleased VU recordings to get Nick Kent to listen to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp-5q8kQ6QA

Rocket From The Tombs, 1975
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MZ1qK_MuY

Subway Sect, 1978?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNf7paCRDnc

David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars, 1973?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT0T7TLuySI

The Runaways, 1976
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b9qZU0Tm1Q

right on the line: Joy Division, 1980
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vUNddDbJ-k

The Banana, 1967?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuRd7czXHis

Mott the Hoople, 1972

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5UHI1PtYS8

let's try that again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5UHI1PtYS8

Patti Smith, 1976

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6aPBiNMf9ZU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

one more time:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPBiNMf9ZU

I'll leave it at this, whether or not the link works:

Patti Smith, 1976:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPBiNMf9ZU

Soft Boys were covering 'train round the bend' at the tail end of the 70s

Matchless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdwUbk9W7jc

1978. Mike Rep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdAqw_bcXGY

With VU's "Temptation Inside Your Heart" as a model:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXb8NB3yt2A

search:

- 1967 7" by Dutch garage band The Riats, VU covers on both sides! Run Run Run b/w Sunday Morning (former is better)
- Ducks Deluxe's Fireball from 1974 is basically a VU pastiche
- same w/ the aforementioned Predictably Blonde by England's Glory, 1973
- The Real Kids, then known as The Kids, did a bunch of VU songs live ca. 1974/75, there's a recording of (at least) Foggy Notion (which as noted The modern Lovers also covered regularly, and my guess is that the Kids learned the then-unreleased VU tune from Richman)
- the rare Moe Tucker/Jonathan Richman cover of I'm Sticking w/ You (think this is from 1974, but I have no idea where/how it happened)
- The Pink Fairies did a seriously awesome live version of Waiting for the Man ca. 1975, I think it's on YouTube
- oh yeah and i should note that iggy and the stooges did waiting for the man live around 70-72. no great recordings out there, though there's a 1983 live recording of Iggy ( w/o Stooges of course) where he does No Fun and segues into Waiting for the Man and it's pretty great.

by the punk era there is an onslaught of VU covers, or I guess a steady stream in any event: Eater (Sweet Jane, pretty good), Slaughter and the Dogs (Waiting for the Man, eh), Wasps (Waiting for the Man, good), Action (Waiting for the Man--are you seeing a pattern? pretty good), Dictators (What Goes On, eh), Professionals (White Light White Heat, not bad), Subway Sect (Head Held High [!!], not bad but honestly I think this band is crazy overrated by the few who bother), The Black (Heroin, super-shambling cassette-only thing)

and then there are the kind of deconstructive post-punk covers, like Cabaret Voltaire's Here' She Comes Now, Doctor Mix and the Remix's Sister Ray, Marquis de Sade's White Light White Heat, Stephan Eicher's Sweet Jane, OMD's Waiting for the Man.... my favorite from this era is probably the German band Die Hornissen's Pale Blue Eyes. gary numan produced a really numan-esque cover of Venus In Furs by his bassist(?) Paul Gardiner, it starts off nice and takes a turn for the irredemably (sp?) cheesy. but now we're getting beyond 1980.....

VU covers don't really become ubiquitous until mid-1980s. the covers get less interesting at that point, too reverent or just too familiar (tons of plaintive/twee versions of femme fatale, etc.)

the most interesting era is the early-mid 1970s when the VU were kind of a quasi-secret shared among hip bands, and the styles of cover versions were pretty diverse. I mean what besides VU do ducks deluxe, pink fairies, big star, iggy pop, and jonathan richman have in common, aside from being oddballs.

don't even get me started an all the weird (and mostly terrible) euro-pop versions of both VU and solo lou reed songs from the 1970s. although i gotta give a shout out to lasse martenson's cover of walk on the wild side, "milta meno maistuu." if life was fair it would be in a kaurismaki movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC3108hKNZA

oops https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC3108hKNZA

i'd love to hear more about 1970s tracks that aren't strictly speaking VU covers but show the influence of the VU very very strongly

i'd esp. love to here about anything by the japanese (and no, I don't mean japan's all tomorrow's parties)... did they dig the VU over there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1jli9L1gyI

Dunno if this got posted already but this Simply Saucer song has the sort of VU influence that I really love, that whole demented ramped-up rocket-powered guitar strut thing, so good.

Motorhead finished their first show in 1975 with an extended jam on Silver Machine/Waiting For the Man
just seen that that was up here on a blog
http://soundaboard.blogspot.ie/2010/11/motorhead-first-show-1975-soundaboard.html

but I had it from a torrent that I think didn't sound that great, though you could hear that the gig itself was pretty good.

http://www.pretenders.org/velvet.htm

Chrissie Hynde reviews "Live 1969"...

Possibly already been mentioned but there's a great take on Heroin on the Pere Ubu live set Shapes Of Things which was recorded in April '76. Also good takes on The Seeds and the Stooges

David Bowie - "Little Toy Soldier" (1967, includes the "taste the whip" lyric from "Venus in Furs")
http://youtu.be/-JAvtM_K3_c

and of course "Queen Bitch" (1971) is inspired by VU
http://youtu.be/S5P63qGTm_g

YouTube of The Riats - "Run, Run, Run" (1967), mentioned by amateurist
http://youtu.be/voV_e0IKwzs

OMD right on the cusp, 1980:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4ZlwD6-XSk

the Soft Boys did "Train Comin' Round the Bend" and "Caroline Says" live (both were included on the Soft Boys 1976-1981 Ryko anthology. Caroline is particularly stunning.

parts of this are probably as Velvet-y as Television ever got
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032bsV9SeWg

actually recorded the same night as the rocket from the tombs version of "foggy notion" posted above

ha yeah otm that's their roadrunner.

thanks guys. i should put together a comp or something.

the more i investigate all this stuff the more i appreciate how "ahead of his time" (sorry for that overused phrase but it applies here) jonathan richman was, and how much of a tastemaker he was in his limited circle.

the first incarnation of the modern lovers is almost like a VU tribute band but warped by JR's sort of bent persona. by the early 70s there was a small set of boston-centered bands showing a very proto-punk VU influence but JR was there first, following the VU around the east coast (and maybe to California too?). I wonder what Lou and John et al made of this kid sitting at the foot of the stage for all their shows.

"I sure hope he and the other 29,999 people who bought our record each start a band."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki-2gk9CEoo&noredirect=1

there is a recording that is better quality than the one featured here, I think.

tell me more about this mirrors

another cleveland band! jamie klimek from mirrors is actually responsible for some of the best VU bootlegs. boston and cleveland were really the VU hotspots in the 60s.

Seriously?
They are one of the three bands featured on the Those Were Different Times comp, along with the Electric Eels and The Styrenes.
Classic Cleveland pre-punk! I think that they shared members with the Styrenes, they do some of the same songs.
lol xpost

Here's a review of the most recent issue of their songs, it's really great.

can't find it on youtube, but pere ubu did a pretty amazing version of "heroin" early on (w/ laughner on vocals). and laughner did tons of vu/reed songs with his various other bands.

I think that heroin cover is on The Shape of Things live ubu release.

yes, that's the one! a great set overall.

I think there used to be a youtube of Devo covering "Guess I'm Falling In Love" from 1977 or so

is that right? never heard that one... they would've been ahead of the curve -- had that even been bootlegged at that point?

I was wondering the same thing about Rocket From The Tombs' "Foggy Notion."

yeah, those boston tea party tapes (or maybe the "lost album" demos) must've floated around pretty early on without being officially "bootlegged." I think "Foggy Notion" came out on seven inch sometime in 76-77. I almost believe that Richman was just covering that song from memory.

or i guess the cleveland crowd would know "foggy notion" from klimek's la cave tape.

I assume none of the VU recordings were bootlegged; the only song that had been mixed down from those sessions prior to 1985 was "Ocean." But yeah, I'm sure the Tea Party tapes got around, and Quine probably made a few dubs of his tapes for friends (who dubbed them for their friends, etc. etc.)

Ah yes, and La Cave.

there was this
White Heat
7 inch EP, AEB 100, UK, June 1976
Side 1: ALB 100 A
Side 2: ALB 100 B2

Side 1 : 1. Foggy Notion (6:20)
Side 2 : 2. Inside Your Heart (2:20) / 3. I'm Sticking With You (2:10) / 4. Ferryboat Bill (2:00)

1: May 6, 1969, Record Plant Studios, New York / 2: February 14, 1968, A&R Studios, NYC / 3: May 13, 1969, Record Plant Studios, New York / 4: June 19, 1969, Record Plant Studios, New York.

First appearance on vinyl of 4 songs which will finally appear on VU and Another View mid-80s "unreleased recordings" albums. The tracks offered here are however acetate rough/acetate-real versions.

Back cover reads: "all composed by L.H. Read" (sic!) and "BABBLE ON & MEGAN". Nice rear sleeve photo shot by Stephen Shore at Philip Johnson's Glasshouse in New Canaan CN, June 3, 1967, with Lou Reed and U HAUL truck...

and there was a tape called 22 demos which circulated in the 70s I think, with raw mixes of VU/Another VU stuff.

Wow, cool! Didn't know about that 7". It'd be nice to hear the pre-'85 mixes of those; the credits on VU implied that only "Ocean" had been mixed (since that's the only 60s mix they used).

i would agree that Richman probably knew a lot of these songs by heart from attending a million VU shows, he was doing foggy notion live in 71.

yeah and he knew all the words which amazed me. i remember arguing with a friend over the lyrics to run run run (it was "gypsy death and you" which we never got), of course i never saw them live, let alone 50 times

richman probably asked sterling morrison to show him the chords

laughner did tons of vu/reed songs with his various other bands.
Here's a good one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkhO28r2Rss&list=PLVhPQQ-T5TpL1VNSQoSAX206uha0Wq2Zq&index=3

that's a good one

yeah. i had that comp of unreleased laughner stuff on vinyl, then lost it somewhere. i see it's pretty hard to find these days.

anyone wish to //ahem// share that cleveland comp? it's way way out of print and pricey.

There is a ton of Peter Laughner stuff on youtube. Surprising for a guy who never officially released any music and died at 24.

http://spacemanmick.blogspot.com/2011/05/thank-you-cleveland-lou-reed.html

i moved to cleveland in '83 and had never heard a note of the VU until '85. ended up missing everything and had no idea who these people were except for Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys.

wasn't this scene way over by 1983?

oh yeah, completely. nothing came after that as far as I could see.

though honestly i'll never understand why every review of a release by one of these bands has to make remarks like "really?! cleveland?!" or "the vast post-industrial wasteland that was cleveland..." i mean, cleveland was going through some tough shit in that period, no doubt, but so were a lot of cities. it wasn't exactly "mad max," though, and i really don't see why it should be surprising that what had recently been one of the largest cities in the US would have a scene of forward-thinking rock bands. weirder scenes have been known to emerge from smaller, more unlikely places.

i guess the whole "from this blighted urban landscape came the futuristic genius..." meme is just a really persistent rock-criticism cliché.

Downtown had the empty buildings and was kinda wonderful in it's own way - you had streets to yourself. Every big city had them i guess.

Where the VU played (La Cave) wasn't even downtown but up by Case Western, the Cleveland Clinic and the museums.

to me the whole meme is just a reflection of coastal attitudes toward the rest of the country. cleveland is "flyover country" for a lot of new yorkers, thus the surprise that a CBGB's-esque scene would develop in (can you believe it?!) ohio.

finding objectionable stuff in pitchfork reviews is like shooting babies in a barrel but here's a good example of what i'm talking about:

I wasn't there, so I can't say I have firsthand knowledge, but my impressions, based on what I've read and heard, is that Cleveland in 1974 was an industrial wasteland and a cultural desert, all mangled metal and shattered glass sprawled upon the rusty shores of a lake that was so polluted it periodically caught fire. Just ask anyone who was there at the time-- they're almost proud of how shitty it was. And Rocket from the Tombs perfectly embodied the bleakness of the city.

the author tries to skate by, by attributing these ideas to nameless other writers, but the last sentence is truly gagworthy.

i mean there was also a lot of soul music out of northern ohio, did that too "embody the bleakness (sic) of the city"?

wankers.

Glad to see this thread from a link in the documentary thread. Want to also mention the Twinkeyz, Bizarros, Simply Saucer as a few other velvets damaged proto punk/punk outsiders.

Curious what the Television song is which was recorded the same day as the Rocket From the Tombs version of "Foggy Notion."

Plastic People of the Universe, "Run Run Run", 1971

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml7mjXP4HKQ

The Scratch Orchestra apparently did a 45 minute version of "Sister Ray" at a concert in '69/'70 - even longer than the Velvets were doing themselves at the time. (Also, in a footnote earlier in the book, Tilbury attributes the composition of the music in "Sister Ray" solely to John Cale - which seems very bourgeois of him.)

― The Return of the Thin White Pope (Tom D.), Tuesday, January 19, 2016 9:58 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

This seemed unlikely but the VU doc reveals Cale knew Cardew pre-VU.

... from a Cornelius Cardew thread, sorry.

Curious what the Television song is which was recorded the same day as the Rocket From the Tombs version of "Foggy Notion."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=032bsV9SeWg

Thanks!

Was there another thread on this subject, I feel like I've posted these videos before? Bryan Ferry from 1978.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnYGdGgqs4

What goes on...here on your face
I think Bryan needs a shave.

a few pre-1980 things here, the whole thing is worth a listen! https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/07/20/the-worlds-behind-you-the-velvet-underground-nico-reimagined/

pre Velvets song covered by London based r'n'b band whose 3rd lp I've loved since i was like 13. Apparently band was a major influence on Van Morrison forming Them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyaus17wWZ4

USBM group Krieg did a pretty nice version of "Venus In Furs."
Way past 1980 but I love it so I am posting it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_4J8xgA-EU

this was posted 8 years ago but reposting here because a) it slays, and b) the insane story behind its recording: taped in 1967 by a band of soldiers in Vietnam. is this common knowledge? certainly news to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIfY7gQGVkk

Per rolling stone: "A group of U.S. servicemen, performing under the name the Electrical Banana during their off hours, were sent a copy of The Velvet Underground and Nico by a friend who thought they would appreciate the fruit on the cover. They appreciated the music as well, and resolved to record a version of "There She Goes Again." Unwilling to wait until they returned to the States, they built a makeshift studio in the middle of the jungle by tossing down wooden pallets, pitching a tent, fashioning mic stands from bamboo branches and plugging their amps into a gas generator."

Some brief footage and photos of them performing in-country here. I guess there's a memoir by one of them, I'm kinda curious.

that backstory sounds like that fake 'lost' eastern bloc krautrock comp, but could very well be true

i was ready to write it off as apocryphal until i saw the footage of them with their gear in nam. which admittedly doesnt 'prove' it either, but i lean towards believing it. there were half a million americans there in 68, makes sense that thered be a few bands and one or two cool records floating around

apparently there are viet cong still hiding in the jungle who still don't believe that their version of sister ray has ended yet

Soldiers fighting with the Cong?

RIP Jamie Klimek of Cleveland ‘s Mirrors who also recorded Velvet Underground shows in Cleveland in late 60s