Favorite "Light" Songs #9 - "White Light/White Heat"
@teamfreak16 (43685)
Denver, Colorado
January 28, 2017 3:44pm CST
#9 in my Favorite "Light" Songs series wasn't exactly Top 40 material, but it's definitely a classic: "White Light/White Heat" by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's The Velvet Underground.
The Velvet Underground (classic lineup: vocalist and guitarist Lou Reed, multi instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Maureen Tucker) formed in New York City in 1964. Closely associated with Andy Warhol (the legendary artist managed them briefly, and served as producer of the band's debut album. They also were the house band during Warhol's legendary party's at his Factory art studio.) The Velvet Underground didn't sell a a lot of records, but they were extremely influential. Simply put, NOBODY sounded like this at the time.
The title track to their 1968 album (which was recorded in only two days!,) "White Light/White Heat" was definitely not hit material, although it was released as a single in 1967. It's a song about injecting speed into your veins, for God's sake, which didn't quite fit in with the whole Summer of Love thing that was popular at the time.
Lou Reed later released a solo version of the song, and it was covered by David Bowie, who also performed it live throughout his career.
(Info verified by Wikipedia)
One of my favorite tracks by them. Just love how grainy and dirty the recording is.
8 people like this
9 responses
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Jan 17
That's funny about not being hit material. The Velvet Underground was out there even for the 60s.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (238393)
• Walnut Creek, California
31 Jan 17
@teamfreak16 I want to get Lou Reed's Transformer album. Amazingly, I never bought it.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43685)
• Denver, Colorado
29 Jan 17
Not too many bands singing about transvestites, smack, and amphetamines back then.
3 people like this
@FourWalls (86950)
• United States
29 Jan 17
That song starts out so deceptively, almost like it could be a Beach Boys melody or something like "Lady Madonna." Totally a 180 from the lyrics. And you know how I love that!
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43685)
• Denver, Colorado
29 Jan 17
Oh, totally. Such a shame that the vast majority of people that appreciate them are only musicians, critics, and hardcore music fans.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43685)
• Denver, Colorado
28 Jan 17
Something tells me you don't want to play this in a bar, though. I once played their song "Heroin" in a bar. Didn't sit too well with the regular's .
2 people like this
@msiduri (5687)
• United States
28 Jan 17
@teamfreak16 Oh. Could be wrong. Maybe I'm missing something here.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43685)
• Denver, Colorado
28 Jan 17
@msiduri - Oh, no, probably not. Two different types of songs, musically. I'm over thinking myself again!
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43685)
• Denver, Colorado
29 Jan 17
Does it have a banana on the cover?
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40230)
• United States
29 Jan 17
I do love how they did that sound before anyone else, unique in it's time and place
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (238393)
• Walnut Creek, California
31 Jan 17
Oh snap! I forgot that my own Moth Song, posted by Vanny, has "light" throughout it.
@TheHorse (238393)
• Walnut Creek, California
31 Jan 17
My favorite "light" song has to be Rose Above the Sky, by Bruce Cockburn.
Beautiful song from one of his best albums ' Humans' released 1980, its an affirmation of faith in the darkness , of waiting for God in the heart of loss and...
