Elvis Costello’s favourite Velvet Underground album
The world of punk and alternative music would be virtually unrecognisable without the innovative sounds of The Velvet Underground. Undisputed masters of the New York underground scene during the 1960s, the band went on to influence everybody from David Bowie to Nirvana. With John Cale and Lou Reed at the forefront, The Velvet Underground were also a major influence on the punk revolution of the 1970s, which brought them firmly onto the radar of one Elvis Costello.
After a handful of years as a small-town folk musician in his teenage years, Elvis Costello – born Declan Patrick MacManus – found his calling with the advent of punk in 1976. An angry young man in every sense of the word, Costello fit right in with the explosion of new groups espousing the joys of tearing down the musical establishment and challenging the status quo. In contrast to many of the prominent groups within the scene, however, Costello was able to back this anger up with truly talented songwriting.
Releasing his first single, ‘Less Than Zero’, in 1977, Costello immediately established himself as a prolific and important songwriter. Whereas many other musicians of the era were delivering surface-level youthful comments about “anarchy”, Costello was musing on the rise of far-right hatred in the UK, drawing upon figures like Oswald Mosley. Although he never particularly mellowed as such, Costello’s songwriting only became more profound and important as the years went by, tackling the authority of people like Margaret Thatcher.
In that sense, the parallels between Elvis Costello and The Velvet Underground are undeniable. After all, The Velvet Underground were not just another young garage rock band creating noise for the sake of it; they were true artists pushing the boundaries of sound and acceptability. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Costello was something of a disciple of Reed and Cale.
As if the appreciation for The Velvet Underground wasn’t apparent enough within the discography of Elvis Costello, the songwriter lists The Velvet Underground & Nico as one of his 500 favourite albums of all time, curated for Vanity Fair. The record should feature on every list of great albums, as it is one of those releases that changes everything that came after it. In fact, the lineage of rock and roll music could be categorised into the period pre-Velvet Underground, and post-Velvet Underground.
Their stunning debut album contains Costello’s favourite Velvet Underground track, in the haunting tones of ‘Femme Fatale’. Performed by Nico on the record, the track is a good encapsulation of The Velvet Underground as a whole, dark and brooding but with an undercurrent of revolution and sadomasochism. Equally, these are themes and atmospheres that Costello has repeatedly drawn upon throughout his own musical career.
Such was the extent of Costello’s adoration for Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground that, following the passing of Reed in 2013, Costello performed a tribute. Covering ‘Oh Sweet Nuthin’’ alongside the likes of Neil Young, Jenny Lewis and My Morning Jacket, Costello’s deeply rooted love for the New York band was made plainly evident.