POO:VU

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

For me"Pale Blue Eyes" or "Heroin"

― A Nairn, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Heroin" - Can't resist it (the song, not the drug). Love Nico's songs for their charm and seeming innocence, but it's the bite of the Reed songs for me today.

― Tim DiGravina, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sunday Morning", a track ten times more effective than a hundred chillout compilations.

― Dom Passantino, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Here She Comes Now"

― alex in montreal, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"I Heard Her Call My Name" - It's one of the songs that made me realize I really like noise. It's the only guitar solo that matters.

― Keiko, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

For me it's gotta be "Foggy Notion"; just the runaway traintrack energy of it, the shift in the middle to blues structure, the backing vocals...a band with so many great songs: these questions are difficult!

― Matt Riedl (veal), Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"New Age" even if it's Yule singing!

― Aaron A., Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oooh. Toughie!

I'm going to have to go with "Waiting for the Man," but cite "I Can't Stand It" (not least for Reed's pronunciation of "more" as "moooah") as a close second.

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The _Live 1969_ version of "What Goes On." Spawned at least a few bands by its lonesome.

― Douglas, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Impossible to choose, but I'm going to go with "Foggy Notion", because that's the VU I love - the minimal, incredibly effective rock band - with honorable mentions to "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (cause it's the goofiest song in the catalogue) and "Sister Ray" (which never fails to blow me away) and "I Heard Her Call My Name" (for the solo).

― J Blount, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"After Hours" -- it's quintessential VU, and yet it sounds like nothing else released in that era (except maybe Tiny Tim or Syd Barrett).

― Jody Beth Rosen, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Jesus"

I love Doug Yule's bass on that

― electric sound of jim, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

mmmm....

I don't like the atonal stuff that much, more of a melody man you know?

So.... Sweet Jane, with Candy Says and Sunday Morning close behind.

This Pick Only One thing is just another excuse for making lists isn't it?

― chris sallis, Sunday, 23 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Damn, this one's tough! Nearly every teenage memory I had was tied to a VU song. I think if I had to keep one, I'd say "Ocean" - it still provokes hideous acid flashbacks, but god it's such a beautiful song.

― geeta, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Heard Her Call My Name", if every single song of theirs were like that one then I wouldn't have felt like the victim of a crit conspiracy when I checked them out for the first time

― dave q, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

All of White Light/White Heat - if song specific, Lady Godiva's Operation for the seemingly random shift of lead vocal from Cale to Reed and back in the final two verses.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Dom has it exactly - "Sunday Morning".

― Tom, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

has to be all of ''white light/white heat''.

― Julio Desouza, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Another vote here for 'Sunday Morning'

― Jeff W, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"i heard her call my name" - white light white heat

― gygax! (i forgot my blog password), Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What Goes On, live version on the boxset. Perfect solo, and the bite in the live version makes the squall that much more precise and devistating.

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Who Loves the Sun", "Stephanie Says", "Sunday Morning". They were a great chamber pop band, but Mo Tucker's monotonous tom-thumping ruins most of the "rock" stuff for me (that or Nico). I do like "I Heard Her Call My Name", too.

― Kris, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Nico ruins whatever she's on is what I meant.

― Kris, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Looks Like I'm Falling in Love.

― JM, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Can't believe no one's voted for Rock and Roll yet. This was probably the first VU song I loved, before I owned any, so it was especially nice when it came on the radio.

― nickn, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Nico does not ruin "All Tomorrow's Parties", and that is my pick.

― Colin Meeder, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

JM: that's "Guess I'm Falling In Love" and it is indeed a good choice. For stride.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Esp. seeing as how Lou sed that he didn't want the band using blues licks...

― JM, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"what goes on" for me, but brownie points for john cale's use of the word 'icky' in "the gift"

― commonswings, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oh shit. umm today probably "venus in furs", but with the vu my fave changes all the time.

― queenoftheharpies, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sunday Morning", because it's like one of those pictures which is either an old woman's face or a young woman in a shawl & once you know the trick you can just imperceptibly flick your perceptions around; except instead of old & young woman it's a childhood lullaby from a revolving ballerina in a music box as the day stretches out like a cat before you; & a shufflestagger bleartattered paranoid stopwhispering voices-in-my-HEAD we-had-stayed-up-all-nite penance.

& I really wish that that was the VU that everyone desperately desired to be.

― Ess Kay, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Fuck it, I'm gonna cheat here too.

VU & Nico -- "Sunday Morning," because it's so lovely, the Cale viola perfect, and so-nineties dream-pop 25 yrs. before the fact.

WL/WH -- "The Gift" -- the way the band all goes "awwwwwww!" right after Cale recites how much Waldo misses Marsha always makes me smirk like an egg-suck dog.

VU (3d album) -- "I'm Set Free" (the line about his head rolling around on the ground is a great summary about the ambivalence of being "set free," as in equating it w/ death).

Loaded -- "Sweet Jane" (one of the sweetest songs ever written, really).

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

anything off 'Squeeze'. Just kiddin'. 'I know where Temptation lies' for the larry Grayson impression. no!wait! the Murder Mystery !

― oliver neilson, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I am cooling somewhat toward VU, which makes me slightly sad. Maybe that will reverse itself. Right now, the song I'm most likely to want to hear is "I'm Set Free."

― DeRayMi, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Black Angel's Death Song" - today

― Paul, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Possibly "Embassy Row" -- or was that solo Cale?

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.