On first listening to the Velvet Underground and hearing Nico's tuneless voice I was quite on the side of those who would ask what is she doing on the record. Then again the song on the end whose name I forgot and which probably came from John Cale's head wasn't a bag of fun either. But as I listened more and more to the album the off-key singing of this beautiful Germanic model made sense. But there was no way I would buy her her solo album. That much I couldn't take. So for years, all I heard were the Velvet Underground songs.
In the 80s I did go to see her play live at the Jump Club in Collingwood. It was really a horrible night and because I didn't pay to get in I didn't have that investment in trying to enjoy the show and spent most of the night upstairs drinking.
But a few years back I saw "The Royal Tennenbaums" a film by Wes Anderson, whose vision I find simply breathtaking. I was addicted to watching the "Rushmore " DVD for ages. Same with each film he brought out. One of the best things about his films is his use of music. To me, he is the master of putting songs to scenes. And digging up slightly off-center songs by big artists. So it was that I heard "These Days" and was knocked out. Together with "Fairest of The Seasons" (both songs written by Jackson Brown) I got quite hooked on listening to these terribly depressing Nico songs. I even bought the Chelsea Girl album which has a great cover but I think Wes Anderson used the best two songs in his movie.
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