The King of New York by Will Hermes review – Beauty and the Beast

Photo: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

On the evening of January 13, 1966, the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry held its annual dinner at a hotel on Park Avenue. The menu included string beans, roast beef and potatoes. The entertainment was less conventional: a local artist named Andy Warhol was invited to say a few words, but instead gave a multimedia performance with the band he led. The Velvet Underground and Nico turned up the volume and played Heroin ("Cause when the blow starts flowing, I really don't care anymore") and Venus in Furs ("Kiss the boot of shiny shiny leather... tongue ...