The Velvet Underground was an American rock band, active between 1964 and 1973, formed in New York City. The group achieved little commercial success during its career, but is now recognized as one of the most important and influential of its era. The group was briefly managed by Andy Warhol, and served as the house band at the Silver Factory and Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable events from 1966 to 1967. The provocative subject matter, musical experimentation, and often nihilistic attitudes explored in their music proved influential in the development of punk rock and alternative music.
Their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico featured German singer and collaborator Nico and 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.
The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock group the Velvet Underground. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule, John Cale's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California. The album's sound—consisting largely of ballads and straightforward rock songs—marked a notable shift in style from the group's previous recordings. In 2003, the album was ranked number 314 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
Lou Reed, the group's main songwriter, said of the album: "I really didn’t think we should make another White Light/White Heat. I thought it would be a terrible mistake, and I really believed that. I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Otherwise, we would become this one-dimensional thing, and that had to be avoided at all costs."Maureen Tucker said, "I was pleased with the direction we were going and with the new calmness in the group, and thinking about a good future, hoping people would smarten up and some record company would take us on and do us justice." Doug Yule said the album "was a lot of fun. The sessions were constructive and happy and creative, everybody was working together."
The Velvet Underground is a paperback by journalist Michael Leigh that reports on paraphilia in the USA, published in September 1963.
Cover text: Here is an incredible book. It will shock and amaze you. But as a documentary on the sexual corruption of our age, it is a must for every thinking adult.
Leigh investigates aberrant sexual behavior between consenting adults, that is, everything other than simple intercourse conducted in privacy by a heterosexual couple, e.g., husband and wife swapping, group sex, sex orgy parties, homosexual activities, sado-masochism. The author reports on the various ways in which such practices are solicited (newspaper advertisements, clubs, etcetera), and by following these leads, manages to get into touch with many of its participants, usually through written correspondence. The book liberally treats us with quotations from this material. This is complemented with quotes from various magazines.
The author's general aim is to establish that a shift in attitude toward sexuality is taking place in society that not only allows a large cross-section of the American population to partake in such non-standard sexual practices, but also allows them to believe that what they are doing is perfectly healthy and normal. A central passage in the book is a quote/paraphrase from a 1961 article in the French Esprit magazine, which calls this liberal attitude toward sex the sexual revolution, and attributes it to the general availability of contraceptives.
Velvet Underground (Hebrew: ולווט אנדרגראונד) is an Israeli blog.
Its creator was anonymous and followed meticulously all the recent events in all the newspapers and media arenas in Israel. As she referred to herself by the pseudonym "Velvet", she documented each and every development, and also some behind the scenes actions that took place—such as new personas that are being appointed for key media roles and big media scandals—sometimes exposing them herself.
In a post dated May 14, 2006, Velvet made local history by publishing for the first time a rough assessment of the wages paid for journalists, for article and magazine stories, in the leading media newspapers and portals in Israel, such as Walla!, Maariv, Yedioth Ahronoth and Globes.
On June 29, 2006, 04:31 Israel time, Velvet revealed her identity to be Dvorit Shargal (דבורית שרגל)—an Israeli journalist who writes film reviews on the weekly Rating magazine. As for her conclusions from Israeli press, after carefully observing it for six months, she writes: "What did I learn of Israeli journalism that I did not already know? Nothing new, actually. Mostly it was the fact that there are too many journalist that don't know their work: don't know how to interview, investigate, or write properly—not to mention to read and or to edit. I also learned that most of them are not even bothered by the responsibility that lies beneath their keyboards. Some of them even insist that they were correct, even after proven otherwise."
They were wild like the USA
A mystery band in a New York way
Rock and roll, but not like the rest
And to me, America at it's best
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
A spooky tone on a Fender bass
Played less notes and left more space
Stayed kind of still, looked kinda shy
Kinda far away, kinda dignified.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Now you can look at that band and wonder where
All that sound was coming from
With just 4 people there.
Twangy sounds of the cheapest types,
Sounds as stark as black and white stripes,
Bold and brash, sharp and rude,
Like the heats turned off
And you're low on food.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Like this...
Wild wild parties when they start to unwind
A close encounter of the thirdest kind
On the bandstand playing, everybody's saying
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Well you could look at that band
And at first sight
Say that certain rules about modern music
Wouldn't apply tonight.
Twangy sounds of the cheapest kind,
Like "Guitar sale $29.99,"
Bold and brash, stark and still,
Like the heats turned off
And you can't pay the bill.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Both guitars got the fuzz tone on
The drummer's standing upright pounding along
A howl, a tone, a feedback whine
Biker boys meet the college kind
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Wild wild parties when they start to unwind
A close encounter of the thirdest kind
On the bandstand grooving, everybody moving
How in the world are they making that sound?