The Velvet Underground and Nico was an experimental and unique rock band formed in New York City with a famous pop artist Andy Warhol as the band’s producer in 60’s. Andy Warhol influenced the image of The Velvet Underground & Nico strongly because he wanted to make The Velvet Underground a combination of music, art, and film experimentally. Their music also was very unique and odd back then and resulted in little commercial success. Even though their music didn’t have huge success, the band is treated as one of the most important bands of the 60’s. In their album, they used abstruse and serious lyrics and messages with a dark and avant-garde melody while the rest of U.S music indulged in drugs and psychedelic rock.
Lou Reed and John Cale were founding members of the Velvet Underground in 1965. Both of them played important role as guitarists, vocalists, and primary songwriters for The Velvet Underground. Lou Reed was born in Free Port, Long Island on March 2, 1942. He was one of the primary songwriters in the band and wrote about topics that were influenced by Andy Warhol and were not so openly expressed in other bands at that time such as personal experiences, drugs, and sexual expression. In 1970, Lou Reed left the band and started his solo career. John Cale was born on March 9, 1942. He created avant-garde, unique, and experimental music and sounds with his violin for the band.
Lou Reed and John Cale were founding members of the Velvet Underground in 1965. Both of them played important role as guitarists, vocalists, and primary songwriters for The Velvet Underground. Lou Reed was born in Free Port, Long Island on March 2, 1942. He was one of the primary songwriters in the band and wrote about topics that were influenced by Andy Warhol and were not so openly expressed in other bands at that time such as personal experiences, drugs, and sexual expression. In 1970, Lou Reed left the band and started his solo career. John Cale was born on March 9, 1942. He created avant-garde, unique, and experimental music and sounds with his violin for the band.
Andy Warhol promoted, supported and produced The Velvet Underground. In 1965, Andy Warhol became the band’s manager and brought the band to his studio, The Factory. He also brought a German model and avant-grade artist Nico into the band. Andy Warhol influenced the band in artistic ways a lot and gave unique pop-art ideas.
The Velvet Underground and Nico album was set apart from all of the other recordings in 60’s. The majority of bands wore same suits with matched hair and sang love songs. The Velvet Underground tried to create unique and experimental image and music. They put their thoughts and expression to lyrics with experimental sound. They also tried to connect art and pop music. With famous pop artist Andy Warhol, they could be more experimental and unique. The album cover had an artwork of a yellow banana with removable skin that could be peeled off by the consumer to reveal a pink peeled banana, which was a sexual expression and became a huge issue to the public.
As a listener, The Velvet Underground & Nico has left a unique impression on me. Their sound was so experimental and odd to me. Melody was very exceptional and lyrics were dark and metaphorical to me. As an industry professional, The Velvet Underground evolved music before the band. They tried to create completely new things and experimented with their music as pop art. Their music was revolution.
Your blog entry covers mostly everything, except other members of the band. I think talking about how some other elements influenced the band's style could be added. For instance, how the drummer's simplistic repetitive style added to the drone of the music.
ReplyDeleteThis entry makes a variety of good points. The information about the album cover was a good thing to include in the blog, which I didn’t think to do. The only major issue I have with this entry is the amount of grammatical mistakes, but this is understandable since you are Korean, and English is your second language.