From CTV:A bidding war has been sparked by an online auction for a rare Velvet Underground acetate album, which a Canadian bought for a mere 75 cents four years ago.
At the time this story was written, bids had surpassed a whopping US $124,000, about a week after the acetate was first posted for sale [on E-Bay].
...which is probably more than the Velvets ever made during their whole seven or eight year existence as a band.
The disc is a preliminary pressing of the infamous first album The Velvet Undergound and Nico (with the banana peel that peels) which, while it ushered in a new Rock era (you can't really imagine Punk without the Velvets), tanked financially, as did all of their subsequent efforts.
The recording features two fewer songs than the 11-track recording that went on the market.
At least four of the songs are completely different versions of classic songs such as "Heroin" and "Venus in Furs."
I only hope this material gets released in some form or another, although the sound quality is said to be (by modern standards at least) "unlistenable".
In an age (late 70s & and early 80s) of big hair and Van Halen, I tried forever to convince people that these guys were Rock Visionaries. None of my friends could stand them. People kept telling me that the singer (Lou Reed) couldn't sing and that the guitars were too noisy and there was too much feed-back. I mean, my god! feedback in Rock n' Roll! The Horror!
The best way I knew to kill a party was put on "Sister Ray" from the black album, or "The Black Angel's Death Song" from VU and Nico, and watch people run screaming for the exits.
PS. if you want to hear something really wild (not necessarily good), download the Zoobombs covering "I'm Waiting For the Man", and bathe in the electric mayhem.
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