The Ostrich

This ostrich is not a ratite bird that buries its head in the sand, but a dance, though it remains to be seen if anyone ever performed it. The lead vocalist may sound familiar: it's Lou Reed. This song is historically - if not musically - significant as it got what would become The Velvet Underground together. Lou Reed at the time he was working as an in-house musician for Pickwick Records, recording copies of hit songs to be sold in drug stores and supermarkets. To promote this song, Reed got together with John Cale, and the two began working together. They added Reed's Syracuse University classmate Sterling Morrison to the fold the next year, and became The Velvet Underground.

Running to 2 minutes 25 seconds, the song is credited to The Primitives - a studio-only outfit and not to be confused with the later UK group of the same name. Reed wrote the song with three other songwriters who were working at Pickwick: Jimmy Sims, Jerry Vance and Terry Phillips.

The record's producer, Lee Haridan, was an imaginary person. The B-side, "Sneaky Pete," was credited to the same team. This record was also the first Reed recorded using his ostrich tuning, that sees the six strings of the guitar all tuned to the same note, which is generally acknowledged to give a droning effect, although one that can clearly be pleasing.