Genres: Rock & Roll, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Proto-Punk, Experimental Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock Active: 60's, 70's, 90's Formed: 1964 in New York, NY
Chuck Berry, LaMonte Young, Bob Dylan, Ornette Coleman, Tony Conrad, Cecil Taylor, Wilson Pickett, Little Richard, The Fugs, The Five Keys, Dion, The Byrds, James Brown, Karlheinz Stockhausen New York Dolls, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Big Star, Patti Smith, The Stooges, The Fugs, Tony Conrad, Television, Suicide, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, MC5, Love, The Kinks, The Flamin' Groovies, Nick Drake, Modern Lovers, Frank Zappa Jane's Addiction, Unrest, The Church, Alex Chilton, The Fiery Furnaces, My Bloody Valentine, The Verlaines, The Cars, Jim Carroll, Can, New York Dolls, The Outsiders, Comus, David Bowie, Ric Ocasek, U2, Pixies, Iggy Pop, Mother Love Bone |  |
Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan. It was the group's lot to be ahead of, or at least out of step with, their time. The mid- to late '60s was an era of explosive growth and experimentation in rock, but the Velvets' innovations -- which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics -- were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle. During their time, the group experienced little commercial success; though they were hugely appreciated by a cult audience and some critics, the larger public treated them with indifference or, occasionally, scorn. The Velvets' music was too important to languish in obscurity, though; their cult only grew larger and larger in the years following their demise, and continued to mushroom through the years.
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| The Velvet Underground |
Sweet Jane (Video) |
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Release: April 27, 2010
Label: Polydor
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Release: September 29, 2009
Label: Sundazed
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