“The first Velvet Underground album only sold 30,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band” – Brian Eno

Two albums were released in 1967 that still resonate today: one was The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper on the British side of the Atlantic and the other came from America. When looked at in over 50 years of retrospect, it is easy to see how The Velvet Underground & Nico’s taboo busting album became such an important part of musical history.

The album had – and still has – a strange quality of tender but painful beauty. At some points it feels delicate and at others it feels rough. The lyrics of Lou Reed about hard drugs and hard sex seem to perfectly depict 60s New York like no other music managed to do.

Reverberations from this record were heard in Reed’s contemporaries David Bowie and Iggy Pop and can still be heard in punk and modern indie rock today. The album does not just still resonate with public sensibility but also music itself and other musicians. It seemed to mix so many aspects. Cale’s cross pollination of rock music and classical training that gave the songs tone and texture along with the contrast of Nico and Reed’s voices.

A truly brilliant album but more than that – a truly seminal one. Almost any modern rock, punk, indie, folk act, if looked at closely, clearly contain aspects inspired by The Velvet Underground & Nico. Sunday Morning, Heroin, There She Goes Again – truly timeless.

Last weeks Throwback Thursday if you missed it – Primal Scream, Screamadelica

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