Guess I'm Polling in Love: The Lou Reed Memorial Velvet Underground (and solo material) Ballot Poll Thread

have a lot of ballots come in already?

also, damn "Hedda Gabbler" is awesome! never heard it before today.

I only have 2 so far

i don't closely follow the Timing and Order of ILM Polls thread (or whatever it's called) so i missed the argument about how to conduct the VU (& friendz) poll. but i can't imagine who was arguing that there wouldn't be enough interest in the solo members to warrant their own polls. i'm sure there'd be lots of interest in them! and plus it's your poll, you should do it the way you want it!

anyway, i realize you probably already had the debate and made your decision, and plus you've probably already received some ballots with solo songs on them and don't want to force those people to revote.

yeah it's too late to turn back now. the initial debate was on the Timing and Order thread and there were several people who said they would not vote in a solo careers-only poll, and consensus was that a combined VU+solo poll would attract more voters. I was basically alone in wanting the solo careers-only path (I don't really care about the Velvets' part tbh) but felt I was on the hook to do something, so this is it.

i'll definitely be looking forward to seeing the full ballots of everyone and finding some lesser-known solo gems. enjoying the cale's 1977 Animal Justice EP so much.

I have never heard a John Cale record. I don't really know why, other than when I first got into the Velvets I liked guitars and I liked Lou, and I figured Cale records wouldn't have much of either.

i can't imagine who was arguing that there wouldn't be enough interest in the solo members to warrant their own polls

balls, clemenza, somedude, seandalai, Euler, WilliamC

I'm considering an all Angus Maclise and Willie Loco Alexander ballot in protest.

Jail them (xp)

Wait, I'm totally wrong, I have those Sun Blindness Music records and I love them.

I have never heard a John Cale record. I don't really know why, other than when I first got into the Velvets I liked guitars and I liked Lou, and I figured Cale records wouldn't have much of either.
Wha?! Not even Vintage Violence?!

Yeah, Cale's a fantastic guitarist.

Church of Anthrax? I sincerely hope Church of Anthrax doesn't get buried but I suspect it won't.

Wha?! Not even Vintage Violence?!

― sweat pea (La Lechera), Friday, November 1, 2013 2:37 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

(sheepishly)...um...no.

But I love The Marble Index nearly as much as any Velvets record (and more than most Lou records), and Cale's obviously all over that.

then today is your big day! i think you'll like church of anthrax because it's extremely groovy iirc.

yeah it's a totally different john cale! he has a lot of sides. it's one of the things i like about him.

Listening to CoA on youtube now...holy crap, how did I miss this? Groovy indeed, and very Can-ny.

Yaaaay.

I know it's not groundbreaking or anything, but Gideon's Bible is one of my favorite songs of all time and it's just a plain old regular normal song that's special because it's John Cale singing it. (sorry for the embed if we're not supposed to do that)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EF0vSV2-TI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZaykeu_dis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRRtSmzkByE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0eqW7612KU

3 ballots in and so far results are very lol

I would just release the results now, every future ballot just waters down mine

I know it's not groundbreaking or anything, but Gideon's Bible is one of my favorite songs of all time and it's just a plain old regular normal song that's special because it's John Cale singing it. (sorry for the embed if we're not supposed to do that)

This is pretty great. I was checking out some other parts of Vintage Violence and it totally didn't square with my impression of what a John Cale record would sound like.

#TeamBrandenburgGate

it totally didn't square with my impression of what a John Cale record would sound like.

I had a similar reaction upon first hearing Paris 1919 years ago. For the longest time I had assumed that Cale's solo output was dominated by droning dirges (a la Nico) or aggro noise freakouts (what with album titles like the Church of Anthrax and Vintage Violence, etc.) and was totally surprised.

I probably won't vote in this, bcz I only really know the VU stuff really well. But this thread has been great for getting me to listen to some of the solo stuff I've never investigated. Hedda Gabler is amazing!

I know I said this somewhere else, but my first reaction when I finally found a copy of Fear was "jeez, I could have been listening to this great stuff instead of slogging through those lame solo Lou Reed albums"

and yes, Hedda Gabbler is amazing, top five Cale tunes for me

John Cale has some really excellent songs from the 80s. Dead Or Alive from Honi Soit and Hungry For Love from Caribbean Sunset are particularly strong.

Here is Dead Or Alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddR7zJcGjtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJis65pCrJI

My fave Cale song

Caribbean Sunset is exactly the sort of title I'd avoid, since we were talking about that! What's it like?

Caribbean Sunset will not make you forget Fear, but it's pretty solid. Hungry For Love is essential.

I don't want to clutter this thread with videos so just take the hyphen out if you want to hear it. And if you like good music, you'll want to hear it.

http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=U2xO94wEsDY

ehh caribbean sunset is pretty bad

oh man, i'm a fool. i had never heard VU before. i didn't realize there WERE studio versions of songs like Foggy Notion and I Can't Stand It! i'm familiar with most of the songs from various live releases and bootlegs, but it's still an eyeopener.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owest-or4gg

does moe have a chance at placing anything in this poll? i've never really heard any of her solo stuff. is there a consensus for her best song? can't really say i like her on I'm Sticking With You or After Hours

I dunno that I will put in a ballot but I'm gonna tag along for the ride so I can get some more listening recommendations & learn some more catalog learnin'. Have just cued up Vintage Violence from the talk itt and I'm already thrilled by it

v excited for the rollout

doing a poll of the solo careers of Reed, Cale, etc. together but not including the actual band they were in together would be kinda goofy imo. i could see doing just a Reed solo poll, but even then, his discography and VU's are inextricably tangled up with each other, it just seems willful. plus VU don't have THAT many songs so even if they dominate the upper reaches of the countdown there'll be lots of room for the other stuff in a top 50 or whatever.

can't really say i like her on I'm Sticking With You or After Hours

http://www.solaronemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Angry-Dog.jpg

From the White Knights soundtrack...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgd1hh_KaS0

like it!

what's the policy on collaborations w/non-VU people? Can I vote for "Spinning Away"?

There are a bunch of fabulous performances of "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" on Youtube. Here are two of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHaDnhHFiJY

Collaborations w non-VU members (ie Mettallica) are allowed

man some of these demo versions on Fully Loaded are pretty weird. that they managed to fashion pop-rock gems out of these is remarkable.

get those ballots in folx, only 3 so far....

i'm planning on submitting a ballot, but i'm trying to improve my familiarity with some solo stuff i haven't heard yet before i put it together.

thinking my ballot is gonna be all solo stuff

I will submit a ballot, but probably at the last minute

I had totally forgotten about "My Love Is Chemical" - thanks!

I made up mine on the weekend, will send it along tonight. I think I had a 14/6 group/solo split.

I'll definitely send a ballot, just gotta get past this week's deadline hell first.