Andy Warhol’s Impact on Music

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s top music outlet, takes a look at the musical legacy of Andy Warhol

It has been 30 years since the death of iconic artist Andy Warhol. Known best for being one of the defining forces in pop art, he was so much more than just an artist, dabbling in photography, film, television and theater, among other ventures. But Warhol’s relationship to music was arguably one of the most important facets of his career.

Most people know about Warhol’s involvement with The Velvet Underground. Between 1965 and 1967, he managed the band, adding young songstress Nico to their line-up and producing their debut album, ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico.’ The band was also a big part of Warhol’s art. Many of The Velvet Underground’s early shows were as the backing band to his “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” multi-media shows, usually consisting of film clips of his Factory regulars. Though the band’s relationship with Warhol became strained towards the end, their work together laid the groundwork for much of the punk movement of the late 60’s-early 70’s.

Warhol even did some work creating album covers for some of the most influential albums to come out of the 1960s. He most famously painted the iconic banana design on the cover of ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico.’ Warhol also designed the legendary ‘Sticky Fingers’ album cover for The Rolling Stones, as well as covers for ex-Velvet Underground guitarist John Cale and soul singer Aretha Franklin.

Music was also a big part of Warhol’s Factory scene. Musicians made up a good portion of the artistic atmosphere present within The Factory. Aside from Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed and Nico hanging out there, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, David Bowie, Brian Jones, Madonna and others were regulars and oftentimes became the subject of Warhol’s art (his portraits of Debbie Harry are perhaps some of his most famous). Being across Union Square Park from the famed Max’s Kansas City, the scene spilled into the venue’s back room, leading to overlap between Warhol’s scene and the burgeoning punk scene with the likes of Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls. Together, the scene imitated a modern-day bohemia, a creative environment outside of normal cultural conventions.

Cementing his place in music, Warhol also briefly had two music shows on MTV. One of them, a play off his famous quote “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” was titled ‘Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes,’ which found the artist interviewing new musicians.

Andy Warhol’s impact on music was so strong that he has even been immortalized in song. The song “Andy Warhol,” which appeared on David Bowie’s 1971 album ‘Hunky Dory,’ was written by the singer to celebrate the inspiration the artist had provided for him. After his death in 1987, John Cale and Lou Reed reunited to release the tribute album ‘Songs For Drella.’ In 2012, Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna) and Britta Phillips (Luna) put music to some of Warhol’s screen tests, recording ’13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests.’

It is undeniable that Andy Warhol and his Factory scene played a big part in the music scene of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Between his work with The Velvet Underground, producing some of the most well-known album covers to date and fostering the kind of bohemian creative scene that spawned punk rock, Warhol left an indelible mark on music history. It is a mark that even 30 years after his passing is still felt in art and music communities today.

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Celebrate the legacy of Andy Warhol and the punk scene he helped foster at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles in a range of genres spanning punk, classical, R&B, rock and more. Choose from a wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs and cultural memorabilia. More music is being added all the time, so check out what’s new at Vinyl Bay 777 today!