Det er ingen hemmelighed, Gasolin’ var martret – måske også skærpet? – af musikalske magtkampe. Således satte Franz Beckerlee tydeligvis ikke pris på Kim Larsens mere viseinspirerede sange. At en næsten identisk virkelighed har udspillet sig i The Velvet Underground afslører dette citat fra John Cale, som blev fyret af Lou Reed i 1968 efter White Light/White Heat.

– Being in a rock ‘n’ roll band was my fantasy that I couldn’t live out in Wales. It was imporant that it was different, that’s why we had the viola in there. I was glad that Lou had that lyrical ability, but I didn’t like his folk songs. I hated Joan Baez and Dylan, every song was a f*cking question!
But Lou had these songs where there was an element of character assassination going on. He had strong identification with the characters he was portraying. It was method acting in song. The melodies weren’t great, so we put arangements around them, trying to get that grandiose Phil Spector feeling.

John Cale i Beyond The Velvet Underground

“The melodies weren’t great”? Et vildt statement. Har svært ved at finde nogen, der skrev bedre enkle melodier end Lou Reed i de år. Men måske netop det enkle ikke tiltalte den klassisk musikuddannede Cale, der tydeligvis var/er mere til formeksperimenter end regulære tunes. Lou Reed derimod kom til VU med sin specielle baggrund af kærlighed til simpel doo-wop og tvungne behandlinger med elektrochok.