Lane’s Favorite Musical Artists

LANE: And the amazing thing is, all these girls are screaming and none of them are getting the joke. He’s playing the character of a rock star. I mean, Beck is a genius and all these stupid girls are screaming at him just because they’re buying into the rock star image. I love Beck. I understand Beck. And the Foo Fighters – gods. I mean, have you heard the acoustic version of Everlong? I can’t even talk about it you know? Hey, you know who I’ve really gotten into lately? The Velvet Underground. Oh and Nico – she’s amazing. Depressing scary German chick. I have the CD if you wanna borrow it sometime.

Lane rather nervously attempts to make conversation with her crush, Todd by giving him a list of some of her favourite musical artists in the desperate hope of finding something they might share in common.

Beck Hansen (born Bek Campbell in 1970), known professionally as Beck, is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter, music producer, and musician. First performing in the mid 1980s, he rose to fame in 1994 due to his single Loser, releasing his first album the same year. His most successful album is Odelay, released in 1996. It’s amusing to think that all the “stupid girls” probably also believe they “understand” Beck.

Foo Fighters is an American rock band founded in 1994 by Dave Grohl, the drummer for Nirvana; he conceived of it as a project for himself after Nirvana dissolved following the death of frontman Kurt Cobain. Their 1997 song Everlong is from their second album, The Colour and the Shape; it went to #3 on the alternative music charts and is regarded as a classic rock anthem. Dave Grohl played an impromptu acoustic version of the song on Howard Stern’s radio show in 1997, and it proved so popular that an acoustic version was recorded for radio use in 1998 and became more famous than the original. The band is now more likely to play the acoustic version live.

The Velvet Underground is an American avant-garde band formed in 1964 by founding members Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Angus MacLise. They were first active between 1965 and 1973 and were once managed by Andy Warhol who used them as his house band. They had little commercial success and met with critical indifference, but they were highly influential in the development of punk and experimental rock, and are now regarded as one of the greatest musical acts of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. The Czech writer and activist Václav Havel, earlier mentioned, was a big fan of theirs, and coincidentally or not, a leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989.

Nico was the stage name of Christa Päffgen (1938-1988), a German singer, songwriter, musician, model, and actress. When Andy Warhol began managing The Velvet Underground he suggested they use Nico as a singer, which they reluctantly agreed to. She sings lead vocals on three songs and backing vocals on another for the band’s 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Initially ignored, it is now regarded as one of the greatest albums in music history. This seems to be the CD that Lane is talking about.