History Music / JohnCale

* RecordProducer: Cale's other career since leaving the Velvet Underground, especially other ProtoPunk, PunkRock, and {{New Wave|Music}} acts working with fellow VU member Music/{{Nico}}, Music/TheStooges, Music/PattiSmith, Music/{{Squeeze}} and Music/TheModernLovers, among others.

* CoolOldGuy: As with the other surviving VU members, he's turned into one, especially with his collaborations with younger artists.

Cale's career continues to this day; he received a substantial boost when his cover of "Hallelujah" was featured in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' (although it is Wainwright's version that appears on the film soundtrack). He continues to produce some [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic pretty awesome music]].

* {{Angrish}}: "Leaving It Up To You" is a smooth (if slightly menacing) midtempo rock song up until the end of the second verse, and then it all starts to get... weird.

A highlight of his 1980s output is generally considered to be ''Music for a New Society'', which is a thoroughly bleak album along the lines of Reed's ''Music/{{Berlin}}'', Music/JoyDivision's ''Music/{{Closer}}'' and the trilogy of Music/{{Nico}}'s albums Cale produced. In 1990 his collaboration with Music/BrianEno was released, ''Wrong Way Up''. It proved to be one of the most commercially successful albums of either artist as a performer. The same year, he also released his collaboration with Lou Reed, ''Songs for Drella'', a tribute to Creator/AndyWarhol, a major mentor of the Velvet Underground. 1991 saw the release of his famous cover of "Hallelujah", which notably served as the basis for nearly every cover version done afterwards (including Music/JeffBuckley and Music/RufusWainwright's (arguably, in Wainwright's case) even more famous versions).

* CoolOldGuy

At the same time, Cale launched his solo career. His first released album, ''Vintage Violence'', is generally regarded as folk-pop; around the same time he also worked on a collaboration with Terry Riley, the mainly instrumental ''Church of Anthrax'', that is often categorised as ProgressiveRock or avant-garde. A number of other solo albums included ''Paris 1919'', regarded as one of the great BaroquePop albums, and a trilogy of albums for Creator/IslandRecords that is probably best represented by his disturbing cover of Music/ElvisPresley's "Heartbreak Hotel", perhaps comparable to Music/TheResidents' cover of Music/TheRollingStones' "Satisfaction" in terms of how radically it reworks the original.

--> "Making any form of art is always personal to my mind. During the making of M:FANS, I found myself loathing each and every character written about in those original recording sessions of ''Music For...'' Unearthing those tapes reopened those wounds. It was time to decimate the despair from 1981 and breathe new energy, re-write the story. Then, the unthinkable happened. What had informed so much over lost and twisted relationships in 1981 had now come full circle. Losing Lou [too painful to understand] forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!"

Cale was born in 1942 in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}. After a traumatic childhood (suffice it to say that literally being unable to talk to his father until he was seven[[note]]Long story short: at his mother's insistence, he was raised speaking only Welsh; his father only spoke English[[/note]] was the ''least'' of his problems), he studied music at Goldsmiths College, University of London, after being recognized as a potential viola virtuoso, and then moved to America, where he studied under Music/AaronCopland. He also collaborated with Music/JohnCage on the first ever full-length performance of Music/ErikSatie's "Vexations", and later worked with La Monte Young's Dream Syndicate.

* DarkReprise: "I Keep a Close Watch", from ''Helen of Troy'', gets one of these on ''Music for a New Society'', which in itself gets one with the release of ''M:FANS''.
-->'''John Cale:''' During the making of ''M:FANS'', I found myself loathing each and every character written about in those original recording sessions (...) What was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!!

Cale was born in 1942 in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}. After a traumatic childhood (Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cale the sordid details]]; suffice it to say that literally being unable to talk to his father until he was seven[[note]]Long story short: at his mother's insistence, he was raised speaking only Welsh; his father only spoke English[[/note]] was the ''least'' of his problems), he studied music at Goldsmiths College, University of London, after being recognized as a potential viola virtuoso, and then moved to America, where he studied under Music/AaronCopland. He also collaborated with Music/JohnCage on the first ever full-length performance of Music/ErikSatie's "Vexations", and later worked with La Monte Young's Dream Syndicate.