The Velvet Underground review – avant-garde cool brought back to life

The Guardian ^ | 10/16/2021 | staff

[Kid Shelleen]

How do you make a rock doc without any concert footage? In his electric portrait of the Velvet Underground, the film-maker Todd Haynes elegantly sidesteps this conundrum. Unable to rely on archive material of their gigs, he turns instead to the early films of Andy Warhol, their friend, publicist and one-time manager.

[discostu]

VU hasn’t existed for almost 50 years and they’re making documentaries about them. History has remembered them pretty well. I think Nico is more remembered for her time in VU than La Dulce.

[Flick Lives]

Velvet Underground “Rock and Roll” is one of the great songs of that band with their unique sound...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_bQMsqUoD4

[sunny bonobo]

One of the most entertaining comedies/westerns ever despite Jane Fonda. Check out my profile for a picture of the Kid sleeping one
***************** Agree. IMHO that is one of the most iconic pics ever.

[sunny bonobo]

I always thought it was “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, that started it.
**********************
No it was Lou Reed, David Bowie, T. Rex and others. They all predated TRHS. TRHS did still have a great influence on that genre.

[colinhester]

Bflr

[dfwgator]

The also hated Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention which seemed weird since they were pushing the same antiestablishment themes. I think the real reason they hated him is that he was actually a talented virtuoso on his instruments and a more creative composer than anybody from the VU.

Also since Frank Zappa was a staunch defender of Capitalism.

[dfwgator]

I still can’t figure out what the hell Lou Reed was doing with Metallica on “Lulu”. Definitely one of the weirdest collaborations, ever.

[real saxophonist]

I saw John Cale at a place that doesn’t exist anymore in Atlanta, The Metroplex.

[caver]

That whole album is great!

[bleach]

Always liked John Cale’s album 1919. it was nothing like his collaborations with Eno and the experimental forays.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Many years ago I was driving some work colleagues to a golf outing. One of them grabbed the tape I had been listening to - which just happened to be VU & Nico - and said “let’s see what you listen to” and stuck it in the cassette player. It happened to be in the middle of “Sister Ray” so we listened to that and “Venus in Furs”. They never touched my tapes again.