Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground

Some folks don’t know that aside from being an artist, filmmaker and general mover and shaker, Andy Warhol also dabbled in music production. The band he ushered into the limelight (thanks, by the way)? The Velvet Underground.

Velvet Underground Live

Only the first true punk band; only the first band to harness the power and beauty of the drone; only our first introduction to Lou Reed, John Cale, and chanteuse Nico. The Velvet’s changed everything, and the cover of their first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, became one of Warhol’s most absorbing, playful, and not-so-subtly transgressive images:

If you look closely at the top, you can see the lettering: “Peel slowly and see.” A pretty blatant come-on, even for the late 60s. Of course if you did peel it, your prurience was rewarded with the mock-innocent image beneath the peel;

Well, what did you think was under there?

We’ll go out with the Velvet’s masterpiece:

Heroin