Timeline: 1998
Co-producing The Jesus Lizard EP
Co-produces with Andy Gill and Jim O'Rourke the track Needles For Teeth on the self-titled EP by American rock band Jesus Lizard.
The song is included on the Conflict & Catalysis: Productions & Arrangements 1966-2006 compilation album (2012).
On Dutch NPS Television
On March 9 Dutch televison shows footage of the February 25 show at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The show was billed as With A Little Help From My Friends. He shared the stage with Siouxsie & The Creatures, Carol van Dijk (singer with Bettie Serveert) and Het Metropool Orkest conducted by Dick Bakker.
Performs Dying On The Vine, Chinese Envoy and Paris 1919 and with the orchestra, Silent Spring with Carol van Dijk, I Was Me, Gun and Murdering Mouth with Siouxsie. The latter was written during the rehearals in the run-up for the show. The footage is repeated regularly over the years on Dutch Television.
Maureen Tucker's Waiting For My Men
(and) Then He Kissed Me, I'm Not and I'm Waiting For The Man, the tracks that Cale played on Maureen Tucker's I Spent A Week There The Other Night album, are included on her Waiting For My Men compilation album, which is released in Belgium and Germany only.
BBC Wales Cale Documentary
First airing (on March 25) of John Cale, a BBC Wales documentary by James Marsh. Contains interviews with Cale, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Chris Spedding, Maureen Tucker, La Monte Young, biographer Victor Bockris, choreographer Ed Wubbe et al.
Live footage of Ship of Fools, Dance Music, Heartbreak Hotel and Memphis, and the Velvets 1993 reunion tour. Filmed in Garnant, Wales, New York and Rotterdam. Released on DVD - John Cale: An Exploration of His Life and Music in 2006.
On tour with The Creatures
In June, July and August 1998 he performs a string of dates with The Creatures, basically another name for the core members of Siouxsie and The Banshees. The two acts play with their own bands, sitting in with each other as the shows progress.
Daybreak
Records Daybreak, a translation of La Aurora from Poeta en Nueva York by Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director Federico Garcìa Lorca. This is released on the tribute 2CD Federico Garcìa Lorca - De Granada a la Luna.
Dance Music
Release of Dance Music, music for the ballet for Nico. The album was recorded live in The Netherlands, Fall 1997, by Ice Nine, except España by John Cale (recorded at L.P.G. Studio, NYC, by Jack Wall) and Nibelungen by Nico from her The Marble Index album (note: this is a bonus track from the CD re-issue, and not included on the original vinyl version; mixed by John Cale in May 1990)
Nico's spoken words in Ari Sleepy Too were edited and reassembled by John Cale from the flexi disc that came with The Andy Warhol Index Book (1967).
Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography
Victor Bockris publishes his biography about Patti Smith. Cale features in the part about the recording sessions for her debut album Horses in 1975 and acting as the support act during her American tour in January 1976.
"At that point something clicked. There was a track she died where she read poetry. I had her read poetry against her poetry and there were two lines going on and I had her mix it. When Clive Davis heard that, he said, 'Hey, you've got a collaborator.' And that's exactly the thing that made that record different. She was really a poet and you had to respect the fact that she was not a musician but out of sheer bravado and desire was making herself into a rock-and-roll singer and basically wanted to be Keith Richards. But I was awed that she had gotten all that input from Bob Dylan and Lou Reed to some extent. She had a Welsh Methodist idea of improvisation, in that it was like declamation. Lou was kind of psychological, but a lot of Patti's impulses came from preaching."
Jack Smith's Silent Shadows on Cinemaroc Island
Plays sonics on Jack Smith's Silent Shadows on Cinemaroc Island: 56 Ludlow Street 1962-1964 Volume II album. The sessions for this album were in 1962-1964.
Lou Reed Documentary
Features in Rock and Roll Heart, a documentary about Lou Reed, directed by
The DVD of this documentary contains 15 extra minutes.
The Hope Blister
English ambient band The Hope Blister cover Hanky Panky Nohow on their ...smile's ok album.
Somewhere In The City
Release of the Somewhere In The City soundtrack.
He composes five short instrumental pieces for this movie directed by Ramin Niami, which also features the track Indistinct Notion Of Cool from the Walking on Locusts album.
Alan Stivell
Produces the I Douar (One Earth) album by Celtic musician Alan Stivell. He also plays bass on one track: Ever.
Dollhouse Noah
The Hall Of Mirrors In The Palace At Versailles, a track from the Church of Anthrax album, is used in the soundtrack of the Dream Thrum video by Dollhouse Noah, screened at the Design Festa in Tokyo, Japan on November 22 & 23.