[primitive] when it's preferable

Given the recent gay mafia references, this might surprise.

When I was part of the gay scene some years ago, we had some interesting parties, usually starting late evening. There were always three groups - the gays themselves [with accompanying girls] occupying the plush pile living room and bedrooms, the potheads floating around wherever and the beer swillers who occupied the kitchen.

One of the iconic groups were the Velvets, led by genuinely subversive Lou Reed and John Cale. The Velvet Underground were groundbreakers in just about everything, considering when they operated at full force - up to 69 but they were raw and the production values were primitive. Contrast that with the slick Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music.

And of course there were Warhol and Nico to add to the mix. In this clip, you really do need to have a good system or use the headphones to catch the creative bass lines - ordinary speakers won't cut it:

For me, the rawness and simplicity were absolutely vital to the sound, an integral part of other later groups as well, such as the Stranglers - wait for the second half of this clip "Something better change". You can see Jean-Jacques Burnell as a prat bouncing round like a young punk or you can see him as a punk. A genuine one:

And the singers.

The Velvets without Lou Reed were not the same; the Stranglers without Hughie Cornwell were pointless. In both cases, it was the not always smooth flowing chemistry of these particularly dangerous singers with Cale's insane arrangements and Burnel's creative bass which made the sound - which made the groups uncopyable.

Put that together with either Warhol graphics or those of Anne Taintor, courtesy of Ivyology and it's a hi-primitive retro world I adored and still love to smithereens.