For decades now, I've steered clear of admitting to a love for either The Velvet Underground or Nico, but...
Damn it. This is the first time I've seen this footage. And yes, I used to be fascinated by Nico - a couple of the shows she performed towards the end of her life were among the scariest, most chilling concerts I've ever witnessed. I was drawn inexorably towards her dying flame, her world-weary voice, her Gothic silences. When I was immersing myself in Chelsea Girl and The Marble Index and her live performance, I wasn't even particularly aware of the Velvets, beyond the stuff Stephen Pastel would put on mix tapes for me. (I was really put off them by the guy in the room next to mine in our Goldsmith College hall of residence, who'd put on his headphones at 3am and sing aloud to that line about, "Taste the whip in love not given lightly...")
Of course, there's nothing wrong with admitting to a fondness for either the Velvets or Nico. Both are great, foundation stone stuff. It's just that I often shy away from the obvious. But c'mon. Let's be upfront about it, just for today. THIS SONG IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE. As are many Velvets songs.
OK. This blog will be back to normal service shortly, piling obscure reference upon obscure reference.
The Velvet Underground and Nico - Femme Fatale
P.S. Apologies for not embedding the video directly. "Embedding disabled by request." Here's another cool video.
From the hair (Lou's 'fro, Nico brunette), the pedant in me would suggest that the Femme Fatale footage dates from about 1970, by which time both of them had left the VU. But I'm willing to be corrected.
ReplyDeleteI still maintain that the Velvets are the most important American rock band of all time. And on that, I'm not willing to be corrected.
I'll Be Your Mirror - quite possibly the best love song in all the world.
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Adrienne Jensen
How could anyone pretend not to like VU? Why would you? Sheesh.
Tues at 12:40 ·
Everett True
I'm not saying I'm proud of my actions. I'm just saying that, in the circles I move in, it's way too obvious.
Tues at 12:48 ·
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ReplyDeleteMike Powell
Never be afraid to state the obvious, Everett- sometimes, the hermeneutic is not enough (in fact, it isn't in general, and is in itself an irritating academic indulgence).
One of the strangest thing I can add to this was that during the sad end years of Nico's life, she was scoring her heroin from various dealers around South East London (you mentioned Goldsmiths, where I also went to university).
She used to score from the same dealer as my ex girlfriend- tragic and terrible tale.
I presume my ex is also dead now- last I heard 15 years back, she had Hep C.
And so it goes...
26 minutes ago ·
saying "the circles i move in" is as bad as being too cool to admit liking the velvet underground.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, I'm not proud of my actions - and there was probably never was any cultural capital to be gained from a studied disinterest of the Velvets, but it did feel that they (like The Smiths) were too often the 'fall-back' band for anyone with aspirations to being a hipster. "Oh, I like the Velvets... particularly their bootleg recordings?" "You do, man? Too cool!"
ReplyDeleteAnd so I took an oppositional position. I never went as far as saying I *didn't* like them. I just never publicly paraded my love.
I threw away any lingering aspirations to being 'cool' when I moved randomly to Brisbane.
ReplyDeletei lived and breathed the velvets, in my later teenage years.
ReplyDeletecouldn't be a better band to grow-up with... i got myself a little bit of street attitude, and wooed many a young lady with a reasonable impression of john cale.
later on of course, i wised-up to the fact that they were just a rockabilly band with long hair... but i still love everything they ever did.
Yes.... i stand up for the velvets despite their terrible connection to vacuous hipsters. To me their significant lies in the way they brought together the worlds of La Monte Young, Warhol and Country Rock. It's a pretty unlikely combination, but they made it work. The choppy rhythm guitars, the drones, and the orchestral percussion of Mo Tucker... you have to give it to them - they had a seriously distinctive angle. They also, as you correctly point out, wrote some very beautiful pop songs - Sunday Morning captures a moment and a feeling that resonates pretty broadly.
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