Another revolutionary figure passes away . . . . . .
TOM VERLAINE
R.I.P. 1949 - 2023
Tom Verlaine, whose band Television was one of the most influential to emerge from the New York punk rock scene centered on the nightclub CBGB - but whose exploratory guitar improvisations and poetic songwriting were never easily categorisable as punk, or for that matter as any other genre - died on January 28 in Manhattan. He was 73. His death was announced by Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Verlaine’s fellow musician Patti Smith. She did not specify a cause, saying that he died “after a brief illness.”
After putting out a 7-inch single in 1975 on their manager Terry Ork’s label, Television would sign with Elektra and release Marquee Moon in 1977 to critical and commercial success, cracking the Billboard 200 album chart. They quickly followed it up with the more subdued Adventure in 1978, and broke up shortly after. The band would briefly reform in the early ‘90s to record a self-titled studio album.
“Tom Verlaine is the guitarist to mention these days if you’re a young rocker with some pretense to intelligence and originality,” Robert Palmer of The New York Times wrote in 1987.
The layered, often ethereal sound that Verlaine and the other members of Television developed was a far cry from the stripped-down approach of the Ramones and other leading lights of the punk scene. But that scene - which also included bands as disparate as Blondie and Talking Heads - was never as one-dimensional as it was often portrayed.
After hearing of Verlaine’s death, countless musicians have posted tributes in his honor, including the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Thurston Moore, Real Estate, Heems, and Ryley Walker, among others. “Tom Verlaine was a true great, tweeted Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite. “His role in our culture and straight up awesomeness on the electric guitar was completely legendary. Name 10 minutes of music as good as Marquee Moon. You can’t. It’s perfect. Rest in peace Tom x.”
TELEVISION
New Adventure In Lo-Fi
Live at the University Of London Union; June 23, 2004. Very good audience recording.
The review for Television’s 1977 debut album, Marquee Moon, in BigO’s 100 Best Albums 1975-1995 is still relevant when listening to Television live in 2004:
“Marquee Moon vacillates between the New York sound of CBGB and the then current rock style of long songs and meticulous soloing which earned Television the unwanted title, Grateful Dead of punk. Fronted by twin guitarists in Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, both played in a finger-picking style that showed no traces of the usual heavy metal/hard rock cliches… The CBGB side of Television was in the stream of consciousness lyrics that some critics accused of being meaningless and also in Verlaine’s less than macho singing. This was against the grain in ‘77.”
While it might have been uncool then to use the word “epic” for Television, there is certainly a sense of the epic on tracks such as The Dream’s Dream, The Sea and Persia, a similarity found on some of the songs by Calexico. Interestingly, Persia would well be the theme song for what’s currently unfolding in Egypt and the middle east. And for those who felt that the usual 10-minute Marquee Moon wasn’t long enough, here’s one that goes for 13 minutes.
Strong musicianship, their presence at CBGB, drawing influences from the Velvet Underground to Steve Reich and the bands they shared the stage with, not only are Television considered one of the founders of New York punk and new wave, they are still influential to this day (Marquee Moon was No. 2 on Uncut magazine’s 100 Greatest Debut Records).
While the artwork for this show, which was received in a trade, says New Adventure In Lo-Fi, the tracks are tagged as “In To The Dream”, possibly taken from a Japanese boot.
Television - Live at The Union, London University 2004 - For Tom
Thanks to Alice over at O My Soul
for this reminder . . . . .
Television - Days (1978)
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