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Wed 19 November 2025 13:00, UK
The “mythical ’60s”, as Lou Reed once so lovingly called it, is too often tied to the bands that made it, without much credence given to the fact that people didn’t immediately understand or appreciate so-called controversial alternative acts, like The Velvet Underground.
The Velvet Underground fits as easily into conversations about legendary rock acts as names like The Rolling Stones and The Doors, but, while they’re no doubt one of the best and most impactful bands to come out of underground rock, their rise was considerably slow. In fact, when looking at the trajectory of TVU, it’s best summarised by that familiar Brian Eno quote about The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The record only sold around 30,000 copies in its first few years, but, according to Eno, “everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band”. Of course, there’s probably a lot of truth in such a claim, literally and figuratively, especially when you consider the fact that, at the time, TVU were considered by many as too direct and daring for commercial appeal, set back by the fact that the underground scene hadn’t really taken off yet.
What most hadn’t realised – except for those who went on to form their own bands, as Eno said – was that TVU were majorly advanced, more so than many of their peers, especially when it came to the foundations of traditional rock and rock arrangements. Lyrically, it was dismissed by many as too dark. Sonically, it was too avant-garde and no match for the explosive psychedelic scene that was keeping underground from taking flight.
It was the ultimate venture in artistic expression outside of any expectation, which meant that, come 1970 when the band put out Loaded, making a commercial move came from Lou Reed’s desire to shed his underground skin and become a more established name in his own right – probably also bolstered by the fact that, until then, they’d failed commercially, and their label had become a little impatient.
At the time, Reed partially jested about the name and that it came from the fact that it would be “loaded with hits”. In his quest, he toned down all the previous features of their music that people deemed too daring, controversial or overly underground and kept radio appeal in mind, coming up with a string of songs he felt guaranteed their place in commercial positioning.
Reed actually left the band before it was released, but one song stuck out in particular – one that he took with him even on stage as a soloist: ‘Sweet Jane’. Inspired by the whimsy of being a rock and roll star, ‘Sweet Jane’ became one of Reed’s favourites, not because of his attempts at making things more accessible, but it took the core principles of rock and turned it on its head, sparking a legacy of its own.
As he explained to Guitar World, “[B minor is] the key to the whole song. That’s how it’s not ‘Twist and Shout’ or any of the other three-chord songs that go that way. I remember sitting there playing this lick. To me, it’s one of the great, great licks to play. And it’s because of the B minor—that little hop to the minor chord. And I said, ‘Sterling, you gotta hear this. Check this out.’ It was exciting to do that. I still get a kick out of that. I don’t know why.”
He went on to explain what it was that made the song stick with him, saying it’s “something about those kinds of changes” that you don’t have anywhere else. “You don’t have that in jazz, really,” he said. “You have it in rock. There’s just a great deal of satisfaction in going from a I to a IV chord. And I think there will be for as long as time exists. You heard those changes in folk music, hillbilly music, African music. You will always hear them. Of course, part of it is probably because that came from Africa in the first place. The real basic changes are very, very beautiful.”
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