DRUGS BROUGHT VELVETS TOGETHER

(JAN. 3) WENN - FOURTH - INTERNATIONAL MUSIC NEWS - DRUGS BROUGHT VELVETS
TOGETHER -- LOU REED had to inject his VELVET UNDERGROUND bandmate JOHN
CALE with heroin - because the musician was scared of needles.

Cale says it was an intimate experience between the two of them, not least
because he vomited.

He adds, "Shortly after that, though, I started to feel a lot better
because at first heroin makes you feel comfortable and friendly."

And although he wouldn't recommend heroin to anyone, Cale says he and Reed
benefitted from it at first. He says, "It was magic for two guys as uptight
and distanced from their surroundings as Lou and I.

"It opened up a channel between us and created the us-against-them attitude
which would become a hallmark of our band."

He adds, "The only things we had in common were drugs and an obsession with
risk-taking. That was the raison d'etre for the Velvet Underground."
(MA/WNS/VC)