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The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

The New York band that few heard in the 1960s but whose noise, drone, and deadpan songwriting rewired underground rock for decades after.

APPLE MUSIC

Venus In Furs - Live At The Matrix, San Francisco 12-01-69

The Velvet Underground

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About

MOODS · raw · experimental · deadpan · avant-garde · noisy · understated · gritty · hypnotic · provocative · droning

BIOGRAPHY

The Velvet Underground formed in New York City in 1964, with the classic lineup of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Moe Tucker. After performing under other names, they adopted the Velvet Underground in 1965. In 1966, Andy Warhol became their manager, and the band served as house group at his Factory studio, touring with his Exploding Plastic Inevitable show through 1967, often alongside singer Nico. Their debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), sold poorly but is now considered one of the greatest albums ever made. Cale left after 1968's White Light/White Heat, replaced by Doug Yule for The Velvet Underground (1969) and Loaded (1970). A final album, Squeeze, appeared in 1973 under the band's name, recorded mainly by Yule with outside musicians.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Despite minimal commercial success during their original run, the Velvet Underground are widely regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock history, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Critic Robert Christgau ranked them the third most important band of the 1960s after the Beatles and James Brown, and The New York Times called them arguably the most influential American rock band of their era. Their fusion of rock and roll with avant-garde experimentation, and their unflinching subject matter, helped shape punk, new wave, and generations of underground and alternative music.

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