“My art teacher, Mr Jones, whom I loved dearly, gave me his copy of Andy Warhol’s Velvet Underground featuring Nico LP. Back then, I played in a school band with his son, Matthew, who played drums, poorly. It wasn’t long before the record became the closer friend.”
“I’m listening to it now. We share a common history in the same way I do with my human friends. It’s a being. It has a life force. Like you and me. I love that about my record collection. We’ve stumbled together, with reference. A map of sorts as to where we came from and who we are now.
From the first beatific hit of the xylophone on “Sunday Morning” I was taken away to another place where everyone has enough of everything. Transcendence. Abundance. Nico. They’ll never be another voice like hers. The Femme Fatale embodying feminine Goddess. Sexy and scary, sensitive and stern at the same time.
“Heroin,” a musical mantra. Way punk rock. Nobody had a guitar feeding back until that point and even for years after. Today I hear the echo of Brian Eno’s famous statement about how although the Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, everyone who bought it formed a band. Well, I was given it. Typical. I suspect Mr. Jones recognized something in me that I didn’t in myself. What a gift! Thanks, Terry.
On the cover, it has the multiple Warhol lips animating towards a soda bottle. I guess it’s rare these days. Probably worth something. It’s for sale if anyone’s interested? I did however, come across the artwork just the other day whilst browsing in my local Brooklyn record store, Rough Trade. Was on a T-shirt.
I think that says it all really!”
—Royston Langdon
LEEDS’ Everthing’s Dandy, the debut solo LP from Royston Langdon, the former lead singer of Spacehog, arrives May 4, 2018—on vinyl. Pre-order the LP here.
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PHOTO: MARC SCRIVO
