Christa Päffgen, known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress and model. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966). Reviewer Richard Goldstein describes Nico as "half goddess, half icicle" and writes that her distinctive voice "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning".
The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. The album features experimental performance sensibilities and controversial lyrical topics, including drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and sexual deviancy.
John Davies Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.
White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released on January 30, 1968, on Verve Records, it was the band's last studio recording with multi-instrumentalist and founding member John Cale. Recorded after Reed fired Andy Warhol, who had produced their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, they hired Steve Sesnick as a manager and hired producer Tom Wilson who had worked on the band's debut. White Light/White Heat was engineered by Gary Kellgren.
Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 18 April 1980. It is the first Black Sabbath album to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who replaced original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in 1979.
"Here She Comes Now"/"Venus in Furs" is a split single by American rock bands Nirvana and Melvins. It was released in June 1991 by The Communion Label.
Shelleyan Orphan were a British alternative music group that peaked during the 1980s and early 1990s. They played a style of pop influenced by chamber music, and which featured dual male-female vocals.
Blessed Be is the fifth studio album by Finnish rock band the 69 Eyes, released in 2000 by Gaga Goodies/Poko Rekords. The first single was "Gothic Girl", followed by "Brandon Lee".
"Queen Bitch" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released on his 1971 album Hunky Dory before appearing as the B-side of the single "Rebel Rebel" in the United Kingdom in early 1974. It was debuted on BBC radio in June 1971 before being properly recorded at Trident Studios in London between late June and mid-July. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, the lineup consisted of the musicians who would later become known as the Spiders from Mars: guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey.
"Heroin" is a song by the Velvet Underground, released on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964, the song, which overtly depicts heroin usage and its effects, is one of the band's most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming of Allmusic writes, "While 'Heroin' hardly endorses drug use, it doesn't clearly condemn it, either, which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners." In 2004, it was ranked at number 448 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and was re-ranked at number 455 in 2010.
"European Son" is a song written and performed by the American experimental rock band The Velvet Underground. It appears as the final track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It is also the album's longest track at more than seven and a half minutes.
Imaginary Records was an independent record label based in Heywood, Greater Manchester, England, which specialised mainly in indie rock and post-punk. It was started in 1985 by Alan Duffy, known for his lyrical contributions to Porcupine Tree's first two albums, On the Sunday of Life and Up the Downstair, and Andy Hopkins.
"Here She Comes Now" is a song released by the American rock band the Velvet Underground in January 1968, from their second studio album White Light/White Heat. As the shortest song on the album, the performance and mix of the song are both considered simple and traditional, making it somewhat distinct from the other five songs on the album, all of which contain some degree of experimental or avant-garde elements in terms of sound.
"Stephanie Says" is a song by American band the Velvet Underground, originally recorded in 1968. Although available on various bootlegs, the song was not released officially until 1985 when a remixed version appeared on the album VU, and subsequently on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See. The original 1968 mix of "Stephanie Says" was included on the 2005 Velvet Underground compilation album Gold.
New Fast Automatic Daffodils were an alternative rock group from Manchester, England, active between 1988 and 1995.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. It originally comprised singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965, who played on most of the band's recordings. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success, they became one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and nihilistic attitude was also instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and several other genres.
Heaven & Hell – A Tribute to the Velvet Underground is a series of tribute albums released by Imaginary Records in the UK dedicated to American rock band the Velvet Underground. While not technically part of the series, Imaginary Records also released another tribute album to the Velvet Underground, called Fifteen Minutes which is in fact merely a compilation of fourteen tracks from the three Heaven & Hell albums. In 2009 Ozit-Morpheus Records re-released this compilation under the title Unpiecing The Jigsaw - A Tribute To The Velvet Underground which appended two live tracks by Nico to the third disc, and - on a fourth disc - a lengthy interview with Lou Reed called "47 Minutes In Depth With Lou Reed".
Jellyfish Kiss were an alternative rock band from Leeds, England.
The Badgeman were a four-piece indie rock band from Salisbury, Wiltshire formed in 1988, although music journalist Pete Frame claims in his book Rockin Around Britain that the band hailed from Melksham. The band has been variously categorised as Alternative rock, shoegazing, indie rock, psychedelic rock, and post punk. The band released two albums on Paperhouse Records, and appeared on two compilation releases, along with artists such as Nirvana, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Echo and The Bunnymen, and The Wedding Present.
I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico is a tribute album, by various artists, to the eponymous 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico by American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico. The tribute album was released by Verve Records and Universal Music Group on September 24, 2021, and features recordings of the original album's 11 songs by artists including St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Bobby Gillespie, and Iggy Pop among others. The album released in proximity to The Velvet Underground, a documentary on the band by director Todd Haynes which was released October 15.
