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The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol Connection - 2



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Who where The Velvet underground and Andy Warhol

The Velvet Underground was a New York based rock band who released 4 albums at the end of the sixties and in the early seventies. The original members were:

Their music was based on black rhythm and blues mixed together with experimental modern classic music. Put together it sounded like monotone noisy pop/rock music. All their albums sounded very different but The Velvet Underground and Nico album which I will focus on sounded very different from everything else that came out in the sixties. The characteristic elements on this album were Cale`s electric Viola and Lou Reed`s special lyrics.

John Cale:

When I first met Lou, we were interested in the same things..., We both needed a vehicle; Lou needed one to carry out his lyrical ideas and I needed one to carry out my musical ideas...

John Cale:

There was commitment there. That was the powerful advantage that all of Lou`s lyrics had. All Bob Dylan was singing was questions - How many miles? and all that. I didn`t want to hear any more questions. Give me some tough social situations and show that answers are possible. And sure enough, «Heroin» was one of them. It wasn`t sorry for itself.

Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) was a painter, printmaker, occasional sculptor and film maker. He is considered as one of the leading iconclasts of the American Pop Art movement. About his work it has been said that he was one of the most challenging, brilliant and provocative artists of our era.

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