The Velvet Underground created a wildly original sound by catalysing some very unusual inspirations. The shaggy garage rock of groups like The Seeds and The Kingsmen fuelled their danceable, distortion-soaked din; soul legends like Marvin Gaye modelled their stripped-back R&B underpinnings. And far-out experimentalists like David Tudor provided the avant-garde context for the band's shrieking viola and minimalist rhythms.