The Velvet Underground song Brian Eno couldn’t live without
Beginning in the 1970s, Brian Eno carved out a place for himself as one of the most in-demand producers around. The ambient pioneer has dabbled in glam rock with David Bowie, new wave with Talking Heads, and even worked with Britpopper Damon Albarn. Though he may be among the most celebrated producers of all time, Eno’s reputation has not always translated to commercial success.
“My reputation is far bigger than my sales,” he once stated in Musician magazine, but Eno’s legacy and impact goes far beyond numbers and streams – a revelation he once had during a conversation with The Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed.
“I was talking to Lou Reed the other day and he said that the first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in the first five years,” he added. “The sales have picked up in the past few years, but I mean, that record was such an important record for so many people. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band! So I console myself thinking that some things generate their rewards in a second-hand way.”
Alongside those who were inspired to start bands, the record also had a long-lasting impact on Eno himself. He even claimed that it made him realise he could be a musician. Since that conversation with Reed, the electronic pioneer picked out the iconic opening track, ‘Sunday Morning’, as part of his Desert Island Discs playlist.
“They were very, very contrary at the time,” he explained, “This was at a time when everyone was singing about wearing flowers in their hair and The Velvet Underground came out with songs like ‘Heroin’ and ‘Waiting for The Man’ and so on, which were very tough, urban, and, I thought, amazing songs.”
After he first listened to the record, Eno recalls going “completely crazy” about it, “walking around with the album for about a year saying to everyone, ‘You must listen to this band! This is the future!’ Well, it turned out to be true.”
“If you read interviews with young bands now,” Eno concluded, “at least 75% of them will say ‘The Velvet Underground was a big influence.’”
He’s not wrong – ‘Sunday Morning’ remains not only one of The Velvet Underground’s most well-loved songs but one of the most influential tracks in the genre, with the likes of Nick Cave, Courtney Barnett and Billy Bragg providing their own takes on it.
Similarly, if you read interviews with young electronic or ambient producers, they are likely to reference Eno. Like The Velvet Underground, the rewards of his own work can certainly be felt far beyond chart success and album sales in every budding ambient musician and in the sounds of those he collaborated with.
Revisit ‘Sunday Morning’ by The Velvet Underground below.
