I remember someone talking about the influence that “the Velvet Underground”’s first album had on rock music.
Someone else dismissed it saying “they only sold a few thousand copies”.
To which the person replied “Yes, but everyone who bought one started a band!”
Bowie had an acetate of the album before it came out and was already incorporating it into his live sets. It changed the course of his music.
And it certainly had an effect on the songwriting of “alternative” bands from the late 1970s-early 1980s. And subsquent bands were getting it second and third hand.
“I remember someone talking about the influence that ‘the Velvet Underground’’s first album had on rock music.”
Yes, we’ve all heard “the album that launched a million bands” stuff. i’ll take that as given. Now, don’t you think Elvis, The Beatles, or any number of more popular groups started more? I do.
Then there are people like James Brown or groups like The Ramones/Sex Pistols or Black Sabbath that were influential enough to start a whole subgenre. So why all the focus on The Velvet Underground? They were a nerd’s band. A band for rock critics. Unlike The Beatles, who were a band for everyone.
” I remember someone talking about the influence that “the Velvet Underground”’s first album had on rock music.
Someone else dismissed it saying “they only sold a few thousand copies”.
To which the person replied “Yes, but everyone who bought one started a band!” “
The musician who said “ Yes , but everyone who bought one started a band “ was none other than Brian Eno .