The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground was a rock band formed in New York, America, by singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise (who was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965). While the group's integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during their existence, the Velvet Underground are now recognized as one of the bands most influential to rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The provocative subject matter, musical experimentation, and often nihilistic attitudes explored in the band's work would prove influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music. The band was initially active between 1965 and 1973, and was briefly managed by the pop artist Andy Warhol, serving as the house band at the Factory and Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable events from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (with German born singer and model Nico), was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales, but over time has been critically acclaimed; it was called the "most prophetic rock album ever made" by Rolling Stone in 2003. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the band No. 19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 by Patti Smith. 2History 3Pre-career and early stages (1964–66) The foundations for what would become the Velvet Underground were laid in late 1964. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Lou Reed had performed with a few short-lived garage bands and had worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records (Reed described his tenure there as being "a poor man's Carole King"