The Velvet Underground & Nico poll

hard as fuck

but i gotta vote Heroin

1, 2, 4, 6 or 9

love nico?

yeah those two songs especially, but choosing between the five is impossible.

These days it's 'I'll be your mirror', but in three weeks it might well be another. 1-2, 4, 6-7 and 9 are all contenders in my book.

by elimination - i wouldn't vote for 1,3,6 and 9 - they are great of course (except maybe Mirror), but the others are even better.

no love here for Femme Fatale (yet)

you know why i made this poll?

because lou reed is dead! that's why!

lol tell mazzy star 9 ain't great

I don't dislike it or anything, the chorus is great, especially the backing vox. But it's not a favorite of mine, no.

xpost

the songs here are basically divided to 1/3 arty twee 1/3 garage 1/3 psych/experimental/ proto everything

Has to be "Heroin". As mentioned in one of the Lou Reed threads, it's the one I played in the school common room to annoy my fellow pupils after I'd sneaked my sister's copy of the album into school one day. I also took this album to the school Rock Appreciation Society (run by an eccentric right wing teacher who had a massive collage cut out from NMEs/Melody Makers on his wall) and my friend David Judge brought in his brother's copy of "Dance of the Lemmings" by Amon Duul II.

8 just makes me think of this johnny marr interview where he said when he wrote the intro to there's a light that never goes out he was trying to catch people out because the vu were very in vogue at the time and everyone would think he lifted it from 8 but in fact he lifted from the stones version of hitchhiker (wtf?)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aq2VpBYzwHQ/ThE_AcRqWtI/AAAAAAAABY0/uyFzmlhRCOs/s1600/poster.jpg

btw 11 divided by 3 is 3 and two-thirds

1, 4, 6, or 7

^4 of the greatest songs ever

"Waiting for the Man" vs. "I'll Be Your Mirror" -- would have to flip a coin.

I think "Run Run Run" is maybe the most underrated, if anything on this album can be called underrated. Though it's also the most Dylanish -- you could sing the verses of "Highway 61 Revisited" over it.

femme fatale

Impossible poll...

^

One of the most consistently great all the way through records for sure

All Tomorrow's Parties has it all.

voted I'm Waiting For the Man. Something about the pulse of that song, the way it's just like ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE instead of 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4. I had never heard anything like that before I heard this record and it made a huge impression on me.

Something about the pulse of that song, the way it's just like ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE instead of 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4

Owes something to "Season of the Witch" perhaps? Actually I don't know when that was released, so maybe not.

It reminds me more of minimalism

I'll never forget the first time I heard the Velvet Underground, watching Oliver Stone's THE DOORS.
Venus in Furs

I abstain. I played "Run Run Run" alone yesterday cuz I wanted to hear it; but I don't think you can, if yer taking this srsly, vote for that or "FF" bcz if all the tracks were like either of those, it wd not be a landmark album.

... uh, not. "Season of the Witch" was released in September 1966. (xxxxp)

agreed morbius, but that's damn cool filler we're talking about

agreed about Run Run Run but not Femme Fatale. Maybe I just have a special place in my heart for that song because my wife and I have had a years-running thing of imitating Nico in that song to each other.

"WHAT A CLOWN"

VAT A CLOWN

clone

The line in "Venus in Furs" where Lou impersonates Nico "Bleeeeeeeeeeeeed for meeee" then audibly smirks...

it's VAT A CLON

lol fish bringin the mathematical realness

Her voice plus the fuzzy red-line production makes FF so weird. You don't know whether to laugh or run away.

VIF: is it bleed or plead?

no it's what a clown, just in a berlin accent

the songs here are basically divided to 1/3 arty twee 1/3 garage 1/3 psych/experimental/ proto everything

^^^ this (math be damned) and each third balances out the other two wonderfully. Hell of a journey between "Sunday Morning" and "European Son."

I guess I'm playing it this week cuz I don't remember how "European Son" goes

It goes drone/scrape/drone/squeak/drone...

This may be discussed on another thread, but has anyone read James Young's Nico book? Any good? I mean, is there value to it beyond just, "boy was Nico a wreck in the '80s"?

...and sound of breaking glass

"European Son" is my vote and tbh the one i always want to hear off this, the others blow in and out

This may be discussed on another thread, but has anyone read James Young's Nico book? Any good? I mean, is there value to it beyond just, "boy was Nico a wreck in the '80s"?

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Monday, November 4, 2013 4:39 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...and sound of breaking glass

― OutdoorFish, Monday, November 4, 2013 4:41 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bleak lol at this xpost

after listening to this alb, on and off, for the best part of 30 years, I finally got to stand at Lexington/125 earlier this year, so just had to vote for 'Waiting...'

Forget the lyrics. "Venus in Furs" is so sexy and odd and wondrous.

I would have thought they'd have roped Cale and Tucker in here somehow.

You'd think something baring "executive produced by Hal Wilner" would have at least one or two leftfield selections

These songs are on a level so high that I'm happy to hear almost anyone perform them.

xp yeah, Willner should've gotten the Sun Ra Arkestra to do VU & Nico.

Not having Mdou Moctar doing "Run Run Run" seems like a real missed opportunity

yeah at this point with VU covers, you may as well go in unusual directions. a bunch of indie rockers is a little dull. kurt vile doing "run run run" sounds exactly like you'd expect it to.

Idk a lot about Gillespie but I think it's actually pretty smart for Thurston to focus on the guitars in "Heroin" and let someone more, uh, experienced handle the words. He wouldn't be a very convincing junkie.

Iggy Pop / Matt Sweeney is kinda cool pairing.

only 10,000 people bought the first Velvet Underground album, and all of those people formed bands, but all of them are now free to also get into some more recent music

it's hard to actually hear this album over all the overbearing mythology. including about its influence which the tribute album makes look narrower and more insular than it probably is

what was the thread about things you don't like but have to admit are good? this album and band are mostly that for me. I like the dream pop songs but reed and nico are unlikable characters (presumably the point) and the whole grimy nyc boho heroin thing is so unappealing. which may also be the point but if they weren't glamourising it the subsequent mythology certainly has done

oh it was a movie thread

Please shut up

Last three tracks are making me sit up..

Could potentially be great.

Mickey Stripe on track one is a safe, certainly...

R.E.M. already covered two of the songs from this record.

Idk a lot about Gillespie but I think it's actually pretty smart for Thurston to focus on the guitars in "Heroin" and let someone more, uh, experienced handle the words. He wouldn't be a very convincing junkie.

HI DERE!

hey ward eat shit

the influence of the band is certainly wider than suggested by the tribute album lineup but if i were to take that at face value then it has not been a positive one at all afaic. moore/gillespie says it all really

I'm more interested in this:

What Goes On: Songs of Lou Reed
The latest in Ace Records’ Songwriters series takes the listener from a version of ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now’ from Lou Reed’s pre-Velvet Underground days through selections from the band’s albums to songs from 1972’s solo “Transformer”. Tracks: 1. I'm Waiting For The Man - Beck, 2. What Goes On - Bryan Ferry, 3. Vicious - Lloyd Cole, 4. Perfect Day - Kirsty MacColl & Evan Dando, 5. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams - Nico, 6. New Age - Rachel Sweet, 7. I'll Be Your Mirror - The Primitives, 8. Run, Run, Run - Echo & The Bunnymen, 9. Train 'round The Bend - The Soft Boys, 10. Pale Blue Eyes - Alejandro Escovedo, 11. All Tomorrow's Parties - June Tabor & Oysterband, 12. Why Don't You Smile Now - The Delmonas, 13. Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies, 14. Jesus - Swervedriver, 15. Femme Fatale - Tracey Thorn, 16. I'm Set Free - Yo La Tengo, 17. Sunday Morning - Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, 18. Rock 'n Roll - Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, 19. Walk On The Wild Side - The Dynamics, 20. We Are The People - Iggy Pop

(Always craved more country takes----Elizabeth Cook did cover "Sunday Morning." and Lee Ann Womack/Willie Nelson (or Kelly Hogan/Mike Ireland) "Pale Blue Eyes"= mah ideeel)

surely these people can find black artists who cover these songs?

It is true that thanks to Lou Reed I took heroin and now the heroin and I are married.

i'm sure they could have done if they'd tried but also it's not at all surprising they didn't or couldn't xp

yep. looking at these tribute albums really puts the vu in the past in a way that feels like a misstep. also the songs are maybe less interesting if the people who are interested in covering them are like median age 50.

“The Black Angel’s Song of Death”

It would be funny if all the titles were like this

9. Walk On The Wild Side - The Dynamics. The Dynamics are Black. Black Rock Coalition members Eye & I covered "Venus In Furs," which was pretty good, I thought, but can't think of other Black covers of Reed. although his friend from pre-VU days Garland Jeffreys has some live versions of "I'm Waiting For My Man" on the 'Tube.
Most of those Ace comp versions were recorded when the cover artists were under 50 (a long time ago), and the ones I'm familiar with are really good, esp. Nico's "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams" and Detroit/Mitch Ryder's "Rock & Roll."

unbelievably boring choices of cover artist imo

Reminds me: most of this (12 out of 17 tracks so far) is good---...Modern Love, a diverse compendium of specially commissioned cover versions of rarities and classics in tribute to David Bowie.
Featuring an array of artists such as Jeff Parker, We Are KING, Meshell Ndegeocello, Helado Negro, Khruangbin, Matthew Tavares, Nia and more, Modern Love seeks to champion Bowie’s lesser-known connection to soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel. The prominent jazz influences throughout Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, were a key inspiration for curating this collection of reimagined Bowie songs with these artists. The resulting album is an eclectic tribute featuring a group of artists who not only fit together creatively, but who, like Bowie, straddle different worlds musically, with soul and jazz at their core...https://bbemusic.bandcamp.com/album/modern-love

"European Son" would seem ripe for a jazz musician, but I love Iggy so I can't complain.

John Zorn would be too right but maybe too familiar given his collaborations with Lou. If Ornette Coleman were alive and well, I would have loved to hear him try it.

*right (not too right)

It is true that thanks to Lou Reed I took heroin and now the heroin and I are married.

If this was a response to me, I am more than fine with people writing or singing about things they haven't experienced firsthand. (I'm not even sure Reed had done heroin yet when he write the song.) I just don't think Thurston Moore would be convincing delivering those lyrics but do think he could sound great doing the music.

*wrote

Thurston Moore could interpolate the words to "Junkie's Promise" while Gillespie sings the original lyric, so everyone knows where he stands.

Cale did some 50th anniversary shows where every song on the LP was performed and nearly every one covered by someone else with Cale accompanying. If it was recorded, it would be nice to put this out somewhere like on Apple TV, Netflix, Hulu, etc. The visual element was quite nice.

"wouldn't be a very convincing junkie" = "wouldn't do a convincing job as a vocalist of portraying a junkie", although it can get tricky to sort out what every mind-melting take is responding to

It's about three notes in all so Bobby should be able to handle it.

Halfway there OTM though

If this was a response to me, I am more than fine with people writing or singing about things they haven't experienced firsthand. (I'm not even sure Reed had done heroin yet when he write the song.) I just don't think Thurston Moore would be convincing delivering those lyrics but do think he could sound great doing the music.

― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Thursday, July 15, 2021 1:40 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

No. Left.

Thurston spent the early 80s selling Chipwich ice cream sandwiches out of a freezer-cart, those were nearly as addictive.

Ah, sorry, Alfred.

On my 90s show this week I had a 55th birthday celebration for this album:

FIRST HOUR:
Nina Hagen - Sonntagmorgen (1996)
Vanessa Paradis - I'm Waiting for the Man (1992)
Teenage Fanclub - Femme Fatale (1997)
The Ukrainians - Chekannya (Venus in Furs) (1993)
Bettie Serveert - Run Run Run (1998)
Bryan Ferry - All Tomorrow's Parties (1993)
Billy Idol - Heroin (1993)
John Doe - There She Goes Again (1995)
Richard Barone - I'll Be Your Mirror (1990)
Smile Kick - The Black Angel's Death Song (1999)
Ride - European Son (1990)
Mike Flowers Pops - The Velvet Underground Medley (1996)

SECOND HOUR:
Luminous Orange - Sunday Morning (1999)
Blackbird - I'm Waiting for the Man (1990)
Orly Zilbershatz-Banai - פאם פאטאל (Femme Fatale) (1991)
Psychopomps - Venus in Furs (1997)
Motorcycle Boy - Run Run Run (1990)
Iva Davies & Icehouse - All Tomorrow's Parties (1995)
Angry Samoans - Heroin (1996)
Cosmic Psychos - There She Goes Again (1992)
Los Nikis - Yo soy tu sombra (1987)
Clowns Smiling Backwards - The Black Angel's Death Song (1992)
Bettie Serveert - European Son (1998)

Three years ago, we had a string duo play Sunday Morning as our wedding processional. Best cover ever.

<3

I may be incredibly hungover but I struggle to hear European Son in that Ride track.

It's slowed down, but it's the same bassline and (such as it is) melody.

!

https://press.warhol.org/press/the-warhol-announces-the-discovery-and-digitalization-of-the-rare-master-tapes-of-the-velvet-undergrounds-debut-album-the-velvet-underground-nico/

The Andy Warhol Museum announces the discovery and digitization of the rare master tapes of the Velvet Underground’s debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967, Verve Records). Recently identified while processing Andy Warhol’s archive at The Warhol, the nine initial tracks recorded by the band were the bedrock of the album that became one of my most jarring and influential albums in rock music. The monophonic reel-to-reel ¼” tapes feature alternate versions and mixes of songs later issued on the 1967 release.

just in time for a 56th anniversary box!

assuming there's nothing unheard on here, but it'll be cool to hear the Scepter stuff minus the acetate crackles.

I keep getting very IA every time I see that damn YouTube/NFL Pass ad featuring "Sunday Morning".

Me too. I know I should be immune to this stuff by now, but it’s still so jarring

I heard that from the other room and tried to figure out what it was

As mad as we are about this, you should give other people just a little chance. In football anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMQrD-HK4SY