There's always been a dark side to the career of John Cale, whose 70th birthday we celebrate this Friday (9 March).

Going to America, founding The Velvet Underground and being part of the Factory, Cale and his bandmates were around drugs all the time. He indulged, as he freely admits.

In this video from the BBC archive, Cale talks about his own life and drugs, and about the situation his home country finds itself in:

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? Read about BBC iD, or get some help with registering.