1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: the Velvet Underground are insane. They sang candidly about heroine, speed, 3 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: in s and m and those subjects would be controversial 4 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: even now, but at the time, in the nineteen sixties, 5 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: they were completely taboo, unheard of in pop music. No 6 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: one's saying about drugs and sex like that, but no 7 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: one was the Velvet Underground. Their members included drug dealers 8 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: and junkies in their perverted stage show, offended liberal hippies. 9 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: Their first manager, Andy Warhol, nearly died during an assassination 10 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: attempt that left him physically and mentally shattered for the 11 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: rest of his life. Their songwriter Lou Reed, was hell 12 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: bent on transcending the art scene to achieve major commercial success, 13 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: no matter who stood in his way. Despite of him. 14 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: Because of all of these things, the Velvet Underground made 15 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: great music, some of the most cutting edge music, music 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: that predicted punk rock, music that launched a thousand bands. 17 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: Unlike that clip I played for you at the top 18 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: of the show that wasn't great music. That was a 19 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: preset loop for my melotron called Union Squared Dance MK one. 20 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: I played you that Loop because I can't afford the 21 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: rights to Missus Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel. 22 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 2: And why would I play you that specific slice of 23 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 2: Goo gook cheese? Could I afford it? 24 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 25 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: June third, nineteen sixty eight, And that was the day 26 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: that The Velvet Underground's former manager, In Warhol, was declared 27 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: clinically dead, a moment that had ramifications on both the 28 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: future of the band in the future of rock and roll. 29 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: On this episode, speed and heroin sex fetishes, an assassination 30 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: attempt Goot Googa Cheese in The Velvet Underground. I'm Jake 31 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: Brennan in this this disgraceland. Mariene Tucker didn't know what 32 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: the fuck she was looking at the flower in the hair, 33 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: long flowing blouses, fringe and technicolor tie. Die this one girl. 34 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: She didn't even have shoes on. And the girl stuck 35 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: out two fingers like bunny ears Peace and love, Peace, 36 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: And what the hell was wrong with these people? This 37 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: was nineteen sixty six. Look around California, Vietnam, Mississippi. Goddamn, 38 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: there was no peace back home in New York. The 39 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,399 Speaker 1: only piece you got was the few minutes it took 40 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: to give blood so that you could earn a couple 41 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: bucks to make it through the rest of the week. 42 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: And love. 43 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 2: Love was not free and it was not easy. 44 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: The La hippies were equally confused by Moe. Was this 45 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: a woman standing before them or is this a man? 46 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: Why did she or he play the drums? Standing up, 47 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: black clothes sunglasses inside the club at night? Mole people 48 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: moles on speed and smack instead of grass and LSD. 49 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: And though they were on the West Coast and they 50 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: had permission to be happy here, inner Bliss was just 51 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: a California dream away. Mo knew it was useless to 52 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: try to explain herself to these morons. They didn't even 53 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: get Nico, the most beautiful thing about the Velvet Underground. 54 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: Nico was tall, exotic, magnetic, but she was a dead 55 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: pan kind of knockout. Her deep voice was strange, and 56 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: her lack of affectation was even stranger. She was a 57 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: block of ice, way too cool to melt in the 58 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: hot California sun. Mo would take the repressed Midwest over 59 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: this fantasy any day, because that's what this was, a fantasy. 60 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 2: Jesus. 61 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: They even had a band called love. Love was the 62 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: biggest power of bullshit Mo had ever seen. It wasn't 63 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: just Mo, Lou Reed, the singer and the songwriter in 64 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: her band, The Velvet Underground. 65 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 2: He knew bullshit when he saw it. Lou Reed was 66 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 2: fluent in bullshit. Lou Reed pedaled bullshit. 67 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: As a former staff songwriter for Pickwick Records, he made 68 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: a living selling for gayzes to fucking rubes. The songs 69 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: were shit, and the bands that recorded the songs didn't exist. 70 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 2: It was just a cash grab. It was plastic. But 71 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 2: Lou's real songs, the songs. 72 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: He didn't write for the Pickwick for Gazy Machine, those 73 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,239 Speaker 1: were real, real as a spike in your vein, realer 74 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: than anything anyone had. 75 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 2: Ever heard before. 76 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: A while the Beatles were busy singing coded drug songs 77 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: like got to Get You Into My Life, The Velvet 78 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: Underground weren't coding a damn thing. I'm waiting for The 79 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: Man in Heroin were metaphor free songs about junkies and aheads, 80 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: guys like lou himself, copping a fix, shooting speed shooting, junk, 81 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: popping seconds and thorsine. Anything that allowed you to see 82 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: the white light and feel the white Heat. And it 83 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: wasn't just drug music, lous song, Venus in furs. It 84 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: was all about kinks and sexual taboos, about servants tasting 85 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: a whip and mistresses with boots to worship. It was 86 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: Venus in Furs that were playing now on stage at 87 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: a Sunsets strip club called The Trip. Lou Reed and 88 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: fellow band member Stirling Morrison's guitars conjured a drone, the 89 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: drone of a sixty cycle, hum of a Westinghouse refrigerator, 90 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: the drone of Western civilization, the alpha rythm of the 91 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: sleeping brain. John Kle's amplified viola squealed eerily. Motucker beat 92 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: out a primitive rhythm on a drum kit. As diminutive 93 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: as she was, it was hypnotic, and it was loud, 94 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: and the walls of the little club shook. But there 95 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: was more to the show than just the sound. The 96 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: exploding plastic inevitable Andy Warhol's roving brainchild of New York Freaks. 97 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: It was a multi media assault on the senses. The 98 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: intent of the exploding plastic inevitable wasn't merely to hypnotize, 99 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: to control the imagination of everyone in the room. This 100 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: was done not just with sound but with vision. Andy's 101 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: experimental films were projected directly onto the band, like Blowjob, 102 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: a thirty five minute single take of a man's face 103 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: as he will you know It's on off camera, the 104 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: strobe lights and the movie flickered while the Velvets kept playing. 105 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: That drone like a B fifty two is coming through 106 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: the fucking roof, the kind of drone that John Cale 107 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: had learned about at the feet of La Monte Young. 108 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: But the minimalist composer didn't just supply John Kele with 109 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: music lessons. He supplied the dope, the good dope, the 110 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: dope that John Cale dealt for La Monty Young on 111 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: the side, and then the dope that got lou read 112 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: off hardcore. The band sounded like nodding off felt. Two dancers, 113 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: Gerard and Mary, appeared on stage holding oversized plastic needles 114 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: while the Velvet song played on an audio visual representation 115 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: of La Monte Young's teachings. They pressed the syringes into 116 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: their arms and went through the motion of shooting heroin, and. 117 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 2: The music got louder. 118 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: Mary cracked a cruel bullwh and the sound of it 119 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: brought poor Gerard to his knees. 120 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 2: Mary motioned to him. Gerard began to crawl. 121 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: John Cale's viola sounded like corrosive liquid running down a 122 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: Ringmurro lou Reid's guitar began to feedback like a cornered animal, 123 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: and Gerard crawled on his hands and knees. That's a 124 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: good little sub Mary cracked her bull up again. Gerard hustled, yes, yes, 125 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: strike me, dear mistress. 126 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 2: He made it to Mary's feet. 127 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: He could smell the sweat on her body, He could 128 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: taste her in the back of his throat. 129 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: He looked up. Mary looked down at him from on high. 130 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: Gerard opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and licked 131 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: her leather boots clean. When the show let out, the 132 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: La audience scratched their heads. Lou Reid should have known better. 133 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: You can't reprogram brains with sound and images, not unlike 134 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: lou Reid's own brain couldn't be reprogrammed when his parents 135 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: sent him to that place where he laid down on 136 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: a wooden gurney and some quack and a white coat 137 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: stuck a rubber block between his teeth, and that shit 138 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: didn't work. You couldn't shock someone's brain into being up tight, 139 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: just like you couldn't shock the gay. 140 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: Out of them. 141 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: Uptight as an anxious or tense. I meant it in 142 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: the way Stevie Wonder meant it when he's saying that 143 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: everything was all right, clean out of sight and was 144 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: uptight interesting something instead of nothing. La was nothing. San 145 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: Francisco was even worse. San Francisco's Bill Graham didn't just 146 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: misunderstand the Velvets. 147 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 2: He hated them. 148 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: I hope you fucker's bomb, he said to Marien Tucker 149 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: as the group took the stage at the film More. 150 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: Graham was just jealous, Jealous that these people were cooler 151 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: than he was, Jealous that he'd never get to fuck Nico, 152 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: Jealous when he realized that he Bill Graham, the music 153 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: man of the Hate Ashbury, the guru of the Filmore, 154 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: that he was not the true originator of the trippy 155 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: rock and roll light show as he so often claimed 156 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: to be, and therefore was patently not uptight. It was 157 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: Marshall mccluan, the famous twentieth century philosopher at Mass Media, 158 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: who officially gave the Velvets credit over Bill Graham for 159 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: inventing the rock and roll light Show in his book 160 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: the medium is the massage. Yes, I said massage. That's 161 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 1: a pawn on mcclun's most indelible phrase, the medium is 162 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: the message. In nineteen sixty six, no rock band was 163 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: more aware of the potential of their own medium than 164 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: the Velvet Underground, and no band pedaled a more transgressive 165 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: message than the Velvet Underground. Speed, heroin, trash, novel, kink, 166 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: solicitations and acts deemed leude and indecent by local and 167 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: federal law, sins of bad taste, and sins against quote 168 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: unquote nature. The Velvet Underground was the medium, and the 169 00:10:37,040 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 1: message was crime. You are a rat, You're a fucking rat. 170 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol was pissed. His face was beat red. Lou 171 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: Reid had seen Andy in all his moods before, shy, clayful, combative, horny, 172 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: but he'd never seen him so angry. Lou played it cool, 173 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: more like ice cold. It wasn't personal, It was just, 174 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: you know, business. Andy could feel hurt and betrayed. All 175 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: he wanted didn't bother Loo at all. What did bother 176 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: Lou was what had become of his band. He was 177 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: the songwriter, He was the brooding provocateur John Kle could 178 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: argue with that all he wanted. John was there from 179 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: the start, after all, not just copying nickelbags of junk 180 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: with Lou, but providing a creative foil that juxtaposed experimentalism 181 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: would Lou Street tough poetics. But Lou Reid wasn't in 182 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: a rock band to be experimental. He wasn't here to 183 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: have some art film projected onto his body. Lou Reid 184 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: wasn't a fucking soundtrack. He was a rock and roll animal. 185 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: He was made to make people shake to that fine, 186 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: fine music. Lou Reid wanted to be a star, and 187 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: the way he saw it now in nineteen sixty seven, 188 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol was the star. And don't get him wrong, 189 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: Lou was grateful for Andy's help, no doubt. Without the 190 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: patronage of one of the most commercially successful disruptors of 191 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: the modern art world, the Velvet Underground wouldn't have a 192 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: debut album out on Verve Records. Andy had the scene, 193 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 1: Andy had the buzz, and most importantly, Andy at the 194 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: time anyway, had the dough. Andy's money paid for the 195 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: Velvet's instruments, their equipment. It paid for the rehearsal space 196 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: and their tour. But that money also gave Andy Warhol 197 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: the right to pull rank, like when he hired Krista 198 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: Pifkin aka Nico as the group's co lead singer alongside Lou. 199 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,439 Speaker 1: Any artist know the beauty is in the eye of 200 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: the beholder. But Andy Warhol wasn't just an artist. He 201 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: was a businessman. He knew that you needed more than 202 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: three irritated looking dudes and one androgynist drummer to sell records, 203 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: and a nex fashion model sold records. Lou, on the 204 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,719 Speaker 1: other hand, saw Nico as a fem fatale, a double cross, 205 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,840 Speaker 1: there to marginalize his involvement, there to sing his songs. 206 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: Sunday Morning, the lead track from The Velvet Underground's nineteen 207 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: sixty seven debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, was 208 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 1: written by Lou four Nico, but when he found out 209 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: it was also going to be the album's lead single, 210 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: Lou took it back. He sang, the damn thing. He 211 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: wasn't having some fifty foot tall blonde bombshell casting a 212 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: shadow on his side of the fucking street. It wasn't paranoia, 213 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: it wasn't jealousy. Okay, maybe it was, but it was 214 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: something else too. It was self preservation. Just look at 215 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: the New York Times review of the Velvet's live show, 216 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: the same one that baffled the hippies out West. The 217 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: Times made sure they mentioned Nico, famous fashion model and 218 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: now singer, as well as John Kale, who was dubbed 219 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: the group's leader, but the article never mentioned Lou Reed, 220 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: not once. 221 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 2: And that gun under loose skin. 222 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: Now he had this album, this incredible album, and his 223 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: name was nowhere on it. Andy Warhol's name was on 224 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: the cover Twice produced by Andy Warhol was printed on 225 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: the back of the LP jacket in the font just 226 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: as large as the title of the record, which was 227 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: rich because you know, Andy knew fuck all about producing 228 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: a rock and roll album. And there it was again, 229 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: on the front of the LP jacket, just below that 230 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: giant dick. Okay, it wasn't actually a dick. It was 231 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: Andy's print of a yellow banana that he stole off 232 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: an ash tray from some promotional item printed a couple 233 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: decades before. That banana was actually a sticker they could 234 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: peel off slowly to see this bright pink banana flesh 235 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: beneath it. Okay, come on, now, that was a dick. 236 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: It's definitely a dick. 237 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 2: Lou didn't even mind that it was a dick. Lou 238 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 2: was fine with dick's. The problem was that Andy was 239 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 2: a dick, and it was Andy, Andy's name, and yes, 240 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 2: Andy's dick. And maybe Lou. 241 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: Would have looked past all that if the album had 242 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: just sold well. But no one was buying it. The 243 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: Velvet Underground and Nico was roundly ignored when it was 244 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: released in March of nineteen sixty seven. The record label 245 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: didn't promote it. No disc jockey was risking their job 246 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: to play songs about junkies and speed freaks and sm 247 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: M on the air, not even their own hometown. In 248 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: The Velvet Underground, a band that was a mirror to 249 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: the thriving, seedy underbelly of New York was effectively banned 250 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: by that same city. Louie didn't want excuses. Though he 251 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: wanted success, he wanted fame, and more than just those 252 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol kept going on about. 253 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: Andy could whine and moan all he wanted, but Lou 254 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: was tougher, and lou was more than tough in his mind, 255 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: he was a fucking king, a king fueled by metamphetamine, 256 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: wired on speed. Lou thought faster, talked faster, and acted faster. 257 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: And if Andy wanted to calm a fucking rat, then fine, 258 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: Luke could stand being a fucking rat. There was all 259 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: this other bullshit he couldn't stand anymore. The elevator made 260 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: its way up to the sixth floor of the Decker building. 261 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 2: When it arrived, the bell rang out. 262 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: And the doors of the elevator slid overen. Andy Warhol, 263 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: dressed all in black with a shock of silver hair 264 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: perched on top, stepped into the hallway and began to 265 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: walk towards his office. 266 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 2: A woman was waiting for him. He knew her. She 267 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 2: looked impatient. 268 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: Andy assumed she was there to talk about her script, 269 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: the script she wanted Andy to produce. But she wasn't 270 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: holding a script today. Instead, her fingers were clenched tight. 271 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 2: Around the handle of a thirty two Burretta. 272 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: After his professional relationship with the Velvet Underground came to 273 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: an end, Andy Warhol relocated his studio the Factory to 274 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: Union Square, the kind of neighborhood in the late sixties 275 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: that you'd find in a Lou Reed song. But Andy 276 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: no longer had Lou Reed or his songs, and New 277 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: York no longer had the Velvet Underground. Andy's old band 278 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: was busy creating a new family two hundred miles away 279 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: in Boston. No bullhips, no light show, no film projections, 280 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: just rock and roll. Andy couldn't help but take it personally. 281 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:21,119 Speaker 1: The snub, the relocation, but the Velvet's exile to another 282 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: city was a self imposed middle finger aimed at all 283 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: of New York in general. Andy liked to think the 284 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: band extended an olive branch to him when they had 285 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: him create the cover art for their second album, But 286 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: the music had changed since the first record, White Light 287 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: White Heat was jittery, aggressive and the sound of amphetamines 288 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 1: in haste fuzzy and distorted, and it had one hundred 289 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 1: percent less Nico. Getting Andy out of the picture was 290 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: only the first step in Loo's plan. With Andy on 291 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: Lou set his sights on the German model. Nico was 292 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: a concept, a marketing ploy. She wasn't part of the band, 293 00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: not really. Lou did his fast talking, pill fueled king 294 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: rat thing and got John Klee to agree with him. 295 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: So when the time came to fire, Nico, and that 296 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: time came real fucking fast. John had loose back plus 297 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 1: white light, white heat was a brand new sound. It 298 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: was fast, It had nails and teeth. It was doggy, dog, 299 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: bitch on bitch, It was surviving. People who were gathered 300 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: near Andy Warhol's office scattered when the first shot went off. 301 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,919 Speaker 1: The barrel of the barretta was smoking in the woman's hands. 302 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: She pulled the trigger again. Andy watched in horror as 303 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: someone was hit. Andy went to take shelter behind a desk, 304 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: but in his panic he bumped into it and lost 305 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 1: his balance. His head hit the corner of the desk 306 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: on his way down, and his vision went blurry. 307 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 2: And then she was on him. 308 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,120 Speaker 1: The butt of her bretta pressed hard and his right side. 309 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: He heard the pistol fire again, then a burning sensation 310 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: just under his armpit. Blood began to pool on the 311 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: floor beneath him. The gunshot was so close, so loud, 312 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: his ears were ringing a drone one long note. It 313 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: rang out into infinity, smothering his head like the strings 314 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: of a bow across a viola, or feedback from an 315 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: amplifier turned all the way up to ten, or an 316 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: elevator bell cast down a hallway to hell, a soundtrack 317 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,360 Speaker 1: to his pain. He saw an array of colors made 318 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: of tears. He spat up blood. It hurt to breathe. 319 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 2: Jesus fuck. He'd been shot in the fucking lung. He 320 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 2: knew it. 321 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: He could see his business manager, Fred Hughes, out of 322 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: the corner of his eye, on his knees, hands raised, 323 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: bagging Valerie. 324 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 2: I'm innocent. 325 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: She walked over and aimed the gun at Fred's head. 326 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna shoot you, Fred whimpered. He knew the dear 327 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: mistress was about to strike Valerie. Don't shoot, and she 328 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: pushed the gun closer to Fred. 329 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:40,639 Speaker 2: I have to, she said. 330 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: Andy closed his eyes and waited to hear the gun 331 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: fire one more time. Before it did, the elevator bell 332 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: rang out. Andy opened his eyes. He struggled through double 333 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: vision to look, but there was nothing to see. The 334 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: elevator was empty. The room went dark, and Andy Warhol 335 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: dreamt for a thousand years, We'll be right back after this. 336 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 2: We're We're where. 337 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: Lou Reid was in Los Angeles when he heard that 338 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol was dead. Technically, Andy had been pronounced clinically dead, 339 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 1: but that was before the doctor's at Columbus Hospital went 340 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: to work. They cut his chest open, and they massaged 341 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: his heart with their hands, and they brought Andy. 342 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 2: Back to life. 343 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: The bullet from Valerie Salanis's beretta had ripped through Andy's stomach, 344 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: his liver, his screen, his esophagus, in both his lungs. 345 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 2: He should have died instead. He had a new lease 346 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 2: on life, but it was a lease that came to 347 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 2: a caveat. 348 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: He developed an incisional hernia during the five hour procedure, 349 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: which men he'd have to wear a corset for the 350 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: rest of his life to keep his internal organs in place. 351 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: Lou knew he should call, and that would be the 352 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: right thing to do, express his shock for what had happened, 353 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: his guilt for not being there, his gratitud that all 354 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: things considered, Andy was okay. 355 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,120 Speaker 2: But Lou didn't call, not right away. 356 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: He was busy thinking about that girl, the one at 357 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: the Boston tea party. Not the tea party, tea party. 358 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: Not that old ship docked off Boston Harbor that runs 359 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: towards at the top of the hour with kids making 360 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: minimum wage, dressed up like ye old sons of liberty. 361 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: I'm talking about the legendary music venue called the Boston 362 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: Tea Party, now defunct, that was once located on Berkeley 363 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: Street in the South End and later relocated to Lansdowne 364 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: Street next to Fenway Park. 365 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:31,919 Speaker 2: That Boston Tea Party, it. 366 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: Was where The Velvet Underground played regular gigs for a 367 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: diehard faction of local Boston fans who embraced the band 368 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: as their own. It was that place that Lou was 369 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: thinking of now, specifically the girl who walked right up 370 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 1: to him and said, you make me so crazy, I 371 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: want to kill you. She had that look in her eyes. 372 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: He'd seen it before. He wondered if Andy saw that 373 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: same look in Valerie's eyes when she pulled the trigger. 374 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: The Tea Party girl meant well, meant it as a compliment, really, 375 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: but it was unsettling all the same. At first, Lou 376 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: thought he'd just misheard her. It was loud inside the venue, 377 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: even if The Velvet's definition of a good turnout for 378 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: a show is like forty people. Hippi's held court in 379 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: one corner, bikers in another, drug dealers, skulp pass r teachers, 380 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: local thug sized up, a couple of Harvard students that 381 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: goofy kid Jonathan Richmond was around here somewhere, probably bugging 382 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 1: Sterling Morrison again to show him how to play those 383 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,400 Speaker 1: chords on his guitar. Lou asked the girl to repeat herself. 384 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 2: I said, you're making me so crazy, I want to 385 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 2: kill you. Yeah, that's what he thought. 386 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 1: Fucking weirdo. They're all freaks and weirdos. Some are lovable, 387 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: the others just fucking crazy. The girls walk up to 388 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: Paul McCartney and say. 389 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 2: They wanted to kill him. 390 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: What was going to stop someone like Valerie Sillanis from 391 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: walking right up to Loo, pulling a piece from her 392 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: pocket and blowing his fucking brains out. Andy should have 393 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: had locks on the doors security man instead of yes man. 394 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: He shouldn't let so many random people get that close 395 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: to him. Candy Darling, Duck and Sally Edie Said Edwick International, 396 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: Velvet Ingrid, Superstar, Sweet Jane, Ultraviolet, Teenage, Mary, Margarita Passion. 397 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: The cast of characters who were in and out of 398 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: the Factory were dreamers and artists and outcasts, but some 399 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: were also deviants and junkies and opportunists and criminals. And 400 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: then there were people like Valerie Salanis, people who were 401 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: obviously disturbed. You could laugh at Valerie's scum manifesto. That's 402 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: scum aka the Society for Cutting Up Men, the one 403 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: she sold copies of in Greenwich Village for a buck 404 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: two bucks. If you had to swing in dick, you 405 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: could call it satire, a big joke. But Valerie was 406 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: dead fucking serious. She was dead serious when she wrote 407 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: that women should quote overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, 408 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: institute complete automation, and destroy the male sex unquote. 409 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 2: Lou knew that being. 410 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: A man wasn't what got Andy shott. Andy let Valerie 411 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: get too close. He accepted a copy of her script. 412 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: He admitted that he didn't like the script and thus 413 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: wasn't going to produce it, and then in this is 414 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: probably the kicker here, he lost the fucking thing. That 415 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: was just Andy being Andy in the eyes of Valerie Selanis. However, 416 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: Andy was silencing her voice, or worse, Andy was stealing 417 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: her voice. Later that evening, on June third, nineteen sixty eight, 418 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: while Andy Warhol was fighting for his life in the hospital, 419 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: Valerie approached a cop in Times Square and gave herself up. 420 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,159 Speaker 1: She said that she shot Andy Warhol because he had 421 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: too much control over her life. Days went by and 422 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,400 Speaker 1: Lou still didn't call, But that didn't mean he wasn't 423 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: thinking about Andy, or that he wasn't thinking about what 424 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: Valerie Selenis had said about control. Control was the thing. 425 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,640 Speaker 1: Control was all you had. Andy lost it and Valerie 426 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: wasn't looking for it. That got Lou thinking about John Cale, 427 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: an integral part of the Velvet Underground before they adopted 428 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: that name, since way back when they were the Primitives, 429 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: and then the Warlocks and then the Falling Spikes. Where 430 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: once Lou saw a partner, Lou now saw arrival, someone 431 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: jockeying for position, someone jockeying for control. John Kele was 432 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: no different than Nico. John Kele was in the way. 433 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: John Cale was a hurdle, and Lou Reid didn't fucking 434 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: jump over other people. Lou was beginning to see the light, 435 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: not that Sterling, Morrison or Mo Tucker could tell. It 436 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: was impossible to tell if Lou was happy or sad, 437 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: pissed off or excited. Sterling and Moe sat across the 438 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,159 Speaker 1: table from Lou and watched uncomfortably as he tried to smile, 439 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: but he couldn't. Like he literally could not make his 440 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,159 Speaker 1: face form a smile. He tried, and his cheeks and 441 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: lips contorted into some painful monstrosity of confused emotion, the 442 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: junkie smile, the smile of a man whose muscula chair 443 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,959 Speaker 1: has been altered by meta amphetamine. Lou didn't need to smile, 444 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: He just needed to talk to remind Sterling and Moe 445 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: that The Velvet Underground had two albums out, two albums 446 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 1: on a major label, on Ella Fitzgerald's label, for God's sake, 447 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: and nobody was buying them. Nobody was playing them. No 448 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: one outside of a couple of weirdos that the tea 449 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: party knew who the fuck the Velvet Underground was. The 450 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: band needed to make a change. If they were going 451 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,719 Speaker 1: to survive, and not just survive, but thrive, they had 452 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: to make it, and to make it, they needed a hit. 453 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: No more noise, no more experimentation, just songs. Lou had 454 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 1: the songs. Lou just needed good players who could execute 455 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 1: those songs the way Lou intended. John Cale was not 456 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: one of those players. John Cale had his own ideas, 457 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: and Lou didn't need those ideas. Lou needed songs and 458 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:38,200 Speaker 1: Lou needed control. Sterling and Moe were shocked. John Cale 459 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: out of the band that would be a crime, But 460 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: any and all objections Sterling and Moe raised where quickly 461 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:48,880 Speaker 1: was drawn because if John stayed, Lou was leaving, and Lou, 462 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,439 Speaker 1: being the primary songwriter, meant the band but ceased to 463 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: exist if he was gone, which further men, Sterling and 464 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: Moe would be out of a job, and they had 465 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 1: no other choice but to agree with their leader. And 466 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,640 Speaker 1: did what leaders in control do. He delegated. He told 467 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: Sterling Morrison to go find John Cale and tell him 468 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: he was out of the band. Debbie Harry was stoned. 469 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: She fumbled the plate in her hands on her way 470 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: over to table five. She watched the cheeseburger go airborne. 471 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 2: Fuck. Debbie thought, not again. 472 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: This wasn't the first time Debbie Harry dropped a burger 473 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 1: in a customer's lap. 474 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 2: It was a miracle. 475 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: She hadn't been fired yet, not like there was a 476 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: line of girls dying to take her place waitressing in Maxis, 477 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: Kansas City, which despite its name, was a nightclub and 478 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: restaurant not in Kansas City, but on Park Avenue South 479 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: in Manhattan. She knew she wasn't destined to sling Burghers 480 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: the rest of her life. She wanted to be off 481 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 1: Max's dining room floor and up on Max's stage, just 482 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: like this band she was watching. 483 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 2: Now. 484 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 1: She knew she'd get there one way or another. Debbie 485 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: Harry wasn't the only one. There's a quote attributed to 486 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,680 Speaker 1: Brian Eno, but who knows really that goes The first 487 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: Velvet Underground album only sold ten thousand copies, but everyone 488 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: who bought it formed a band. The erroneous sales figure aside, 489 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: that quote gets to the heart of the Velvet Underground's appeal. 490 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: They were rough around the edges, they were out of tune, 491 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: they weren't pretty, They didn't sell a ton of records. 492 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 2: Few people actually knew about them. 493 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: But you know about them and you love them for 494 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: all those reasons I just listed. It's easy to create 495 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: an intensely intimate relationship with the band like the Velvet 496 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: Underground because they belonged to you. In August nineteen seventy, 497 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: the Velvet Underground once again belonged to New York City. 498 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: Three years had passed since they last played at manhatt 499 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: and the Hatchets were buried, or at the very least, 500 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: the Hatchets were hidden, like Andy's crowd was hiding in 501 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: plain sight in the back room of Maxis, Kansas City. 502 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: Debbie Harry wasn't part of any crowd, but she watched 503 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: the back room with a waitress's eli. She watched night 504 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: after night of routine violations of local law and good taste. 505 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: A couple fucking on the floor, a woman with a 506 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: wine bottle in her hand standing on a table screaming. 507 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: It showed time right before she spread her legs and 508 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: shoved the wine bottle up deep inside of her. All 509 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: this decadence churning, and there's Andy Warhol sitting still like 510 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: a man preparing himself to move on from mourning, holding 511 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: cord on the whole scene, while that fucking girdle held 512 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: his insides together, surrounded again by people strength in numbers. 513 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: It was a brave face, but everyone knew he was 514 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: forever changed. He would never be the same again. Ditto 515 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: for the velvet underground. Moe Tucker saw the writing on 516 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: the wall. Actually, she saw the other guy behind her 517 00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: drum kit and knew that Jake was up, that Lou 518 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: had gutten what he wanted. Moe watched her band, along 519 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: with the rest of the audience and felt glum. She 520 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: was a new mother in maternity leave meant this watching 521 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: from the wings, watching a Billy Yule hammered away at 522 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: the kit with a style that was far more flashy 523 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: than she ever played. Billy's brother, Doug was the new 524 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: John Kle and the Yule Brothers did what Lou wanted. 525 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: They harmonized and made songs like I'm Waiting for the 526 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: Man sore, like garage rock gems. They brought the kind 527 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: of chops that Lou and John and Moe had always avoided. 528 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: They were uptight in their own way, not in a 529 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 1: factory kind of way, but in a meat and potatoes 530 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: kind of way. No viola's, no bells and whistles, no frills, 531 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 1: just rock and roll. That was the whole idea behind 532 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: the title of The Velvet Underground's fourth studio album, Loaded. 533 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: The record was loaded with hits, honest to god FM 534 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: Radio friendly go down in the annals of history rock 535 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: and roll hits. It was exactly what lou Reid wanted, 536 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: in exactly what Lou Reid's scheme to make happen, and 537 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: it worked. It is the most successful record in the 538 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: band's career. Two songs from that album, in particular Sweet 539 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: Jane and Rock and Roll, remained stables of classic rock 540 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: radio to this day. This being the Velvet Underground. However, 541 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: the title had a dual meeting Loaded as in high 542 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: as fuck, a state of mind, and a message that 543 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 1: the band knew all too well. The thing was Loaded 544 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: wasn't even a Velvet Underground record. It had Lou, and 545 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: it had Stirling, but with her new baby mosat this 546 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: one out. Despite the fact that her name is on 547 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: the album jacket, it took four session drummers to replace her. 548 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: Lou Reed's war of attrition. This process of elimination had 549 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: reached its inevitable climax, first Andy, then Nico, then John, 550 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,040 Speaker 1: then Mo and finally himself. 551 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 2: Lou walked away from one of those. 552 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: Shows at Max's in the summer of nineteen seventy and 553 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: never went back. When Loaded was finally released in November 554 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy, just a few months after the band's 555 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: now legendary residency at Maxis, Kansas City, Velvet Underground. 556 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 2: As it began was over. 557 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: Lou Reid was back living with his parents, working as 558 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: a typist in his father's accounting firm for forty bucks 559 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: a week. His band had been all about degradation, anything 560 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: to put a spike in the status quo. But the 561 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: great new weed working in a fucking accounting office, Now 562 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:38,960 Speaker 1: that's a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. 563 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 564 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. 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