6. The Velvet Underground & NicoThe Velvet Underground & Nico

It all started when a cassette tape labelled “Velvet Underground” had been left in the games room / office at the end of the garden of my parents’ house in Dorset. Since leaving for university that year, my old bedroom, which I had shared with one of my siblings, was now theirs, leaving me a nomad. It was 1992, and I’d held a Christmas party in this communal garden room with lots of old-school friends coming and going. After everyone had left, I found the tape on the floor, put it in my Walkman, and settled into the sofa bed. I listened to both sides in the dark, surrounded by empty bottles and overflowing ashtrays. I knew then that I’d heard glimpses of their songs before; however, this was my proper initiation to the Velvets, and I couldn’t get enough of them. 

After hearing this album, I became a fan of Nico and devoured Chelsea Girl and Desertshore. I hadn’t heard The Marble Index until Luke Haines gave me the CD for my 24th birthday. I unwrapped it, and he said, “It’s one of the darkest records you’ll ever hear. You’re going to love it.” He was right. I’ve never stopped playing it. Nico’s voice mirrored her unravelling life, and her deep, mysterious vocals often felt both raw and majestic to me. It was my awakening to the real depths a singer can reach. However, The Velvet Underground and Nico album is the one I go back to time and time again.