The "Velvet Underground"
The "Velvet Underground"
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The "Velvet Underground" by Rob Jovanovic
Perhaps no other band can claim such scant chart success and so enduring a musical legacy as The Velvet Underground. Artists including David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Roxy Music, Nirvana, U2, R.E.M. and dissident Czech playwright and eventual president, Vaclav Havel have all cited the Velvets as a major influence. Yet only two of their albums even scraped Billboard's Top 200. Formed by the mercurial Lou Reed and classically-trained Welshman John Cale, the band first achieved notoriety after being adopted by Andy Warhol, who set himself up as manager and producer and included the Velvets in his Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia roadshow. However, much more than a pop art support act, the freedom Warhol's patronage brought enabled the group to chart hitherto unexplored regions of the rock 'n' roll soundscape, producing unforgettable and unsettling music that veered from droning, avant-garde experimentalism to folk-infused pop, taking in taboo-busting tales of drug addiction, prostitution and sexual deviance along the way. Creative tensions and frustrated ambition eventually saw both Cale and Reed leave the band, with Doug Yule taking over on lead vocals before an entirely unoriginal lineup came to an ignominious end in Europe. But in the decades since - and several abortive reunions later - The Velvet Underground's music has attained classic status, revered alongside The Beatles and The Beach Boys as one of the well-springs of modern pop. Now Rob Jovanovic peels back the mystique to tell the story of one of the most important bands in rock history
'An absorbing account of creative tensions, taboo-busting behaviour and avant-garde experimentation' Metro 'Satisfyingly in-depth, written in an easy but eloquent style.' Record Collector 'An excellent book...well researched.' Buzzinmusicblog.co.uk
Rob Jovanovic has written about music for more than a decade, contributing to magazines including Mojo, Q, Level, Record Collector and Uncut. His most recent book is The Velvet Underground: Peeled, published by Aurum, and he has published books on artists as diverse and unique as Kate Bush, Beck, R.E.M., Pavement, Nirvana, George Michael and Big Star.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781845135720 |
| ISBN 10 | 1845135725 |
| Title | The "Velvet Underground" |
| Author | Rob Jovanovic |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Quarto Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2010-09-09 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |