Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

4. The Velvet Underground & NicoThe Velvet Underground & Nico

I originally had the album on cassette, but it was missing the last track. Even to this day, when that final song comes on it’s a nice surprise. I remember every Sunday when I lived in London, we would put it on. The tape player was in our bedroom, but it was connected to huge speakers in our front room, where lots of visiting bands would sleep. The Telescopes virtually lived with us there. So that was probably annoying for them in retrospect.

I had tickets to see the Velvet Underground at Wembley, but I did my back in just before the gig. I couldn’t go – I just cried and cried. I did finally see them at Glastonbury in 1993. I was there working for Oxfam and skipped my shift to see them. I feel really guilty. I’m sorry Oxfam!

At that Glastonbury, even though there was so much music playing, I still spent every night in our car listening to Nick Drake. I didn’t sleep.

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