Steve Sesnick

Stephen Sesnick was a club owner who served as manager of the Velvet Underground after the band ended their association with Andy Warhol in 1967.

Sesnick was the owner of a club in Boston at the time that he became involved with the Velvet Underground. Over the next few years, he influenced the group members to move toward a more commercial direction in their music. Sesnick also seems to have been instrumental in forcing John Cale out of the band and replacing him with Doug Yule in September 1968. Lou Reed later accused Sesnick of similarly driving "a wedge between" him and Yule during the recording of Loaded in 1970. Sesnick also owned the tapes that were to become 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, and managed to get Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker to sign over their rights for $1500 each (US$7,284 in 2016 dollars).