Radio with Pictures - John Cale and Tall Dwarfs

Television (Excerpts) – 1983

Former Velvet Underground member John Cale’s first visit to New Zealand in 1983 is marked with this Radio with Pictures special. Indie legends Tall Dwarfs opened for Cale, and part of their performance is captured too. The venue is Christchurch's Hillsborough Tavern, where the cameras catch Cale's intense solo readings of classic songs including VU's ‘Waiting for the Man’, and Cale’s own ‘Leaving it up to You’. The Welshman also reflects briefly on his early years in New York, meeting Lou Reed, and his then most recent album, Music For a New Society.

...getting to New York after doing some work with John Cage, and then doing a lot of avant-garde work with La Monte Young, it was very important for me to try and go back to what was really exciting in my youth and that was rock and roll.
– John Cale