Al Aronowitz, the journalist who introduced the Beatles to Dylan, got the Velvet Underground a gig opening for the Myddle Class, the band Aronowitz managed with Carole King and Gerry Goffin, at Summit High School in New Jersey on December 11. Soon Aronowitz began managing the Velvets himself.

On December 15, Andy Warhol’s film partner Paul Morrissey saw the Velvets playing at the Café Bizarre and convinced Warhol to manage them. Aronowitz was a pretty well connected manager himself; he brought Brian Jones to Lou Reed’s pad to score some acid for Jones and Dylan the night of the Northeast blackout (November 9). But the Velvets jumped ship for Warhol, and within two weeks were spotlighted on The Walter Cronkite Show in a piece called “The Making of an Underground Film.” The vignette focused on Morrissey making a short film about the Velvets’ song “Venus in Furs.”

The July 1965 demo version of “I’m Waiting For the Man”:

A song written for the Myddle Class by Goffin/King from December 1965: