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| Seattle Gay History: The great Andy Warhol |
by Don Paulson -
SGN Contributing Writer
No other art venue captured the public's curiosity and controversy more than Andy Warhol. More so than the New York Armory art show of 1913 that ushered in Modern art, more so than Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s. As if Warhol's Soup Cans and visceral Underground Movies were not enough to secure his fame, he and others created Multi Media in New York, especially when he connected with the Velvet Underground. They became an outrageous rock band and a crazy artist! "Underground" was the auspicious key word with the hip crowd in 1966, only Kenneth Anger and Bob Dylan knew what it meant, but everyone knew it was big.
When Warhol and the Silver Factory people met the Velvet Underground, "all hell broke loose," culminating in a joint multimedia event called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable Disco. To test the waters, they planned an event at the Filmmakers' Cinematheque in a small theater in midtown Manhattan. About 300 people packed the house, sizzling with anticipation. You would think it was a family reunion with Warhol, the shy patriarch of Pop, surrounded by an endless supply of superstars, wannabes, and worker bees.
My first impression of the event about to take place was a flurry of people setting up extension cords and slide projectors while the band warmed up. I thought, this is not very organized, they should have got all this together beforehand, but happenings have no rules. All of a sudden, the show began without fanfare or an emcee. The Velvets began to play full volume while a movie of a woman being tied up was projected behind them. What surprised everyone is the drummer for the band was a woman, unique! We all figured she was Gay (but is not). She was good at keeping up an unusual primitive beat. The second thing I saw was John Cale and his massive rhinestone choker. How could any man be so brave? When I first saw him on the subway, I figured he had to be somebody, especially with a Richard the Third haircut. Only a few men wore their hair really long then, and then everyone surmised they were Gay.
The Velvets wore black: Dungarees, leather jackets, high-heeled boots and sunglasses to look eerie and sinister, but Lou had the face of angel.
While the band played on, dancers came on stage such as beautiful, stoic ice goddess Nico in a white pantsuit and a long cape with bright red lining, swinging a rope and a tambourine. She never cracked a smile while singing in her unearthly voice. Poor little rich girl Eddie Sedgwick (Andy's current bauble) was right out there. She tried singing, but her real talents were her fashion model good looks, her beautiful legs, the shortest miniskirt in the universe and her "everyone wants to fuck me' admission.
Joining Eddie, Nico and other dancers on the stage was Gerard Malanga in tight leather pants (that Jim Morisson copied) with a long black whip on his side which he began to manipulate doing his whip dance. No one was struck but Nico, who then took the whip and began her sexy whip dance while Gerard, tying up with his tie, pretended to shoot up with his fountain pen while the band played "Heroin." "The sound is a savage series of electronic feedback. The lyrics are sadomasochistic frenzy." Several people literally fled up the isle. The strobe light was pointed at the audience and at least one third shouted violently to turn it off.
And so we have it, an early rock/light show/dance and a chapter in Andy Warhol's remarkable life, despite the remark by Oliver Stone, "The Silver Factory was a psychedelic nightmare peopled by vampires." Who said vampires can't have fun?
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