For a band that never had a hit single between 1965 and 1970, the Velvet Underground (VU) had an almost mythic influence on subsequent rock artists, from 1970s singers such as David bowie and Patti Smith, to 1990s grunge rockers like Sonic Youth. The main creative architects of the VU's dark, confrontational sound were Lou Reed and John Cale , who met at Syracuse University in upstate New York.
After graduating, Reed (b. March 2, 1942) became a staff songwriter at...