Television

That's a dreadful thing to say.

This is a joke right? Television had been around for years before U2 even decided to become a band, and Edge cites Television as an influence. Edge couldn't hold a candle to either Verlaine's or Lloyd's playing, without effects boxes there would be no U2.

anyone heard (WTF?) the new richard lloyd hendrix covers (WTF?) and/or seen a recent show?
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/04/televisions_ric.html

I got his first solo album. Strikingly like mid-period Nick Lowe!

damn i didn't know he just played D.C. a couple weeks ago, i totally would've been into seeing Lloyd cover Hendrix

so i went last night. he didn't really play many hendrix songs but did do sterling versions of "friction" and "elevation." dude is an a-mazing guitar player. he had laryngitis though which sucked

Billy Ficca's playing drums with him right? That'd be a bonus for sure.

Sounds awesome.

I keep hoping Television get together and do another album like they did with that s/t one in, what, the early '90s?, that surprises me by actually being pretty good.

i think it was billy yeah and the two of them were having a lot of fun together. a few times it seemed like they were making up songs on the spot for a minute or two before going into something familiar

cool, wish Lloyd/Ficca would come to my neck of the woods.
there were some rumors that Television was recording an album -- without Lloyd!! -- a year or two back. Don't know if that would really end up being a Television album or just a Tom Verlaine solo record. Anyway, they had been playing about an albums' worth of new songs between 2002-2006. Not exactly the most ambitious band in the world, in terms of recording, though.

that brooklynvegan link upthread mentions that television are currently recording, with jimmy ripp on guitar.

ah yes, that is what I had heard. i think Lloyd made a big announcement a few years back about how he was quitting Television once and for all, but that he gave them his blessing to continue without him. Still, Television w/o Lloyd just seems like Tom Verlaine solo -- Ripp, Ficca and Smith have all played on his solo records, anyway. Whatever, it'd be nice to have some new Verlaine/Television material. What I've heard from various live tapes sounds prettty sweet.

Who is Jimmy Ripp :(

Dude who played guitar with Verlaine throughout the 80s and 90s. Great player actually.

at this point, he's probably logged more hours with Tom than Lloyd has.

at the last television show i saw, 2005 i think?, he played some great stuff i didn't reccognize. I particularly remember a long song with a terrific eastern motif.

Sounds hopeful. Still sad to think of that band without Lloyd.

yeah, would be pretty weird to have a Television album w/o Lloyd -- is there a single review of that band that doesn't talk about the dueling Verlaine/Lloyd guitars? it's pretty much their signature.

i've only seen television once - one of the early '00s reunion shows in DC - but my main takeaway was that i'd severely overrated verlaine and underrated lloyd as guitarists. verlaine was a mess (sometimes in a really good way, obvs) with flashes of inspiration, but lloyd was lyrical, hypnotic, and locked on. it was weird to realize how many times i'd listened to recordings and been like "omg verlaine!" when it was actually lloyd's playing. verlaine rules, but i think his stuff is more of an "if you catch him on a good night, wow" kinda thing.

yeah i don't think Verlaine's heart is in the epic intense guitar solos these days. he can still do great stuff, but i think he left the heavy lifting to Lloyd in the various reunions. Like when I've heard latter-day versions of "Little Johnny Jewel" Tom barely seems there, whereas he kills it on those 70s recordings.

yeah...you just hear Verlaine's name so much more than when you hear guitar stuff on the albums you kinda assume it's him until you learn otherwise...i wish they'd credited who did which solos/leads on Marquee Moon like they did for the self-titled album.

xpost

they did! it's on the vinyl, anyway.

I heard somewhere or other that Lloyd's parts were a lot more written than Verlaine's, much truth in that ya suppose?

ah really? I need to check my CD reissue to see if it's in there.

oh totally, re: Lloyd's parts. On Marquee Moon, Richard doubletracked every note he played.

xpost the guitar solo credits etc are def on the rhino cd reish

saw the reformed television twice this decade, and both times the tension between verlaine and lloyd was self-evident in the way that they played together, stood on stage together, glared at each other (mostly tom) etc etc - i wouldn't say that either of 'em was 'better' on the night, tho' the second time around (2004) the whole group was noticeably sloppier - the first time i saw 'em (at the Tortoise curated ATP in 2001) the version of 'little johnny jewel' they delivered was stunning and tom v was on fire

in 2006 i saw verlaine and ripp play a really sweet duo set at the 100 club - ripp was v. much the accompaniest and subservient to the master, and verlaine seemed much more engaged w/ the material and event, even when playing a few of the old hits - i don't ever expect to see tom in action so close up and personal, and he was def. on form that night - so he still has it, still

yeah i've heard some of the Ripp/Verlaine duo (mostly instrumental) -- really lovely stuff!

btw if yr interested in hearing a bunch of vintage Television bootlegs, I did a long overview at my blog a couple weeks back: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/ I'll get around to the reunion years someday.

hmm: http://aquariumdrunkard.tumblr.com/post/677685931/indieandyy-careful-by-local-natives-originally
Aquarium Drunkard will be digitally releasing L’Aventure on June 22, featuring 8 Los Angeles bands each covering a track from the 1978 Television LP, Adventure.
1.The Henry Clay People: “Glory”
2.Foreign Born: “Days”
3.The Happy Hollows: “Foxhole”
4.Local Natives: “Careful”
5.The Deadly Syndrome: “Carried Away”
6.Imaad Wasif [ft. Lykke Li]: “The Fire”
7.Dirt Dress: “Ain’t That Nothin’”
8.Growlers: “The Dream’s Dream”
don't know any of these bands ... good/bad/eh?

local la bands, seen most of them, none of them are that bad but nothing really that special about any of em

^^ tyler--any chance that you could re-post No Glamour-- later TV @ Academy '92?

yeah, sure i'll re-post that one. totally an amazing set. blows away the s/t record. lloyd's solo on 1880 or so = craaaaaazy.
i'm in the process of putting together a couple of comps covering unreleased Television songs from the 70s and the 00s for the blog, too.

Venus de Milo has no arms, fwiw

^^ thanks tyler--sounds great!

this covers thing has me thinking -- are there any really *great* television covers? i liked chris stamey's mellow take on "venus" ... feelies do a good see no evil. clientele did a nice version of "the fire" a few years back.

[ft. Lykke Li]

Huh? How'd she get involved? (swedish pop princess (imo :))

LOL Upthread somebody said Television was a rip-off of early U2. I fervently pray that they were kidding.

'Marquee Moon' remains one of the great guitar-oriented rock LPs, a distinction that was certainly not damaged by the inclusion of "Little Johnny Jewel" on the reissue. The arrangements are also spot-on, the melodies infectious. The other records are also very good. 'The Blow-Up' is a terrific sounds-like-you're-there live recording & the s/t comeback disc was better than I thought it was going to be. 'Adventure' isn't as crazy-good as 'Marquee Moon' but I think it suffers only by comparison. Pretty solid throughout & it makes me wish they had continued long enough to do a 3rd LP so we could really judge its sophtware (sic) slump qualities more accurately. BUt - there ya go...

Is there a list of his books (for sale or otherwise) posted somewhere? Currently having trouble seeing all of the Instagram post.

Doubt there's a list. I went yesterday and there were large sections of fiction (especially poetry), occult/religion/spirituality, art, movies and music (which had a ton of books about using vacuum tubes in recording).

they've put some pricey ones on line.

https://www.betterreadthandeadbooks.com/searchResults.php?action=browse&category_id=365

they had a few 'theresa stern' originals on the table for $600 each. and other things like that.

There's a magazine special on the band out at the moment that I saw at the airport and now regret not buying. Uncut. May have been older but was in there on Wednesday maybe shelflife longer in an airport newsagent.

That came out this year but I don’t think it reached U.S. newsstands until very recently. Still, I’d get one sooner than later just in case they didn’t stock many copies.

I wrote about Marquee Moon in the Uncut special! Came out in October I think?

I wrote about the band's live albums + bootlegs in the Uncut special! It is a cool mag, definitely grab it if you see it.

How do you even wind up with 50,000 books! Lets assume he showed up in NYC in 72 or whatever with >10 books. He really bought 20 books a week, every week, for the rest of his life?

He was at the Strand every single day, going through the dollar bins, so I can see that leading up to 50,000.

How do you even wind up with 50,000 books!

― Reeves Gabrels' Funko Pop (majorairbro)

It gets away from you fast, trust me

Doubt there's a list. I went yesterday and there were large sections of fiction (especially poetry), occult/religion/spirituality, art, movies and music (which had a ton of books about using vacuum tubes in recording).

― jbn, Sunday, December 3, 2023 11:27 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Apparently lots of really weird, cheap-o UFO books as well

i imagine verlaine bought a bunch of collections sight unseen, too – like those random ebay auctions that are like "12 boxes of books for $100" ... pretty funny, he must've at least entertained the idea of opening a bookstore at some point. tom would've been a great cranky dude behind the counter, glaring at your lame purchases.

Highlights:
-Running into Sang Freud & Wife!!
....
-couple of books concerning da blooze.
-Stockhausen interviews
-book of jazz interviews (a gift!)
-Photo/text book abt West Virginia traditional music
-2 copies of the Bernie Kraus book/cd of his nature recordings/journals. (one will be a gift.)
-A book about the history of Martin Guitars (also a gift)
-Ellroy & Gibson 1st editions
-Sidney Bechet "Treat It Gentle"
-book of Raymond Chandler essays/interiews/miscellany.
-book of essays about Ross MacDonald

some more stuff too.. from what I gather, yesterday was a lot mellower than Saturday.

You can see some of the items from the collection that have been listed on the BRTD website-
https://www.betterreadthandeadbooks.com/searchResults.php?action=browse&category_id=365

great seeing you, ian!!

between the two of us we amassed 31 books, mostly from the literature section and some music stuff. i'll list some titles at some point.

"1880 or so" is the best song ever written

"the fragrance sweet
in the evening air
i could leave this world
quite without a care"

Definitely my favorite non-Marquee Moon Television song.

i like "days"

anyway bumping because i was rabbitholing today and i ran across this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC9CyoMJq94

ty wrote a blog post:

Who asked for this? No one, not a soul, not even me until the idea rose up in my brain sometime in late October like a bubble of swamp gas or a midnight visit from the Golem.

sometimes the best things in life are the things that arise, unbidden. things i never even thought to ask for. things i never thought i _could_ ask for. this video is one of those things.

Not to burst your bubble but this video was shared on this very borad a little while ago!

oh i don't mind at all, i just missed it lol

i've been that girl who posts a meme to #memes that literally was just shared two days ago

Well, I'm saying wow, thanks Kate.

Doesn't Tom sound so young on that first version?

I'd missed it too - thanks for sharing, Kate!

For Patti Smith's current tour, she's been taking three-song breaks where her band plays three Television songs: "See No Evil," "Friction" and "Marquee Moon." Nice tribute.

oh wow, that’s awesome.

Lloyd is playing with his band here tonight. Tempting!

RIP Fred Smith!

bummer, what a great bassist.

oh damn

saw Chris Stein post it but wasn't confirmed.

yeah richard lloyd and jimmy ripp both confirmed.

oh, damn

Should've shared this here, but this was posted by Jimmy Rip on their official IG account (which includes a slideshow of some wonderful moments with Television off-stage - I've never seen Tom Verlaine joking around with his bandmates before):

FRED SMITH 1948-2026
The legendary bassist for Television, Tom Verlaine and many others, Fred Smith, was not only my bandmate for 46 years — he was my true friend. He was a great running buddy and exactly the guy you wanted around when road life got wearisome. His sense of humor, much like his musical voice, was dry, subtle, to the point, hilarious and always left you wanting a more. Yesterday, he left this world, leaving so many who loved him wanting so much more…of him.
We met in 1980 playing, with Jay Dee Daugherty on drums, in The Eve Moon Band, and soon after, the three of us were the NYC version of Holly and The Italians with Holly Beth Vincent. In 1981 when Tom Verlaine was preparing to tour for his disc Dreamtime, which Fred and Jay had performed on, they recommended me as second guitar, leading to very long and rich musical, and personal friendships.
If you are a lover of melodic bass lines and counterpoint, you could go to school on what Fred created so effortlessly. He was a natural — never flashy, always essential — always serving the song in ways that only the greatest musicians can…
He fought his illness long and hard these last few years, looking always forward to new projects… we had big plans to play Tom’s music live this year… but it just wasn’t meant to be. Thankfully, we were able to say goodbye, “love you” were our last words to each other.
I will miss him more than anyone can imagine.
-Jimmy Rip

In remembrance, possibly my favorite recording by a “supergroup":

Tom Verlaine (Television) – guitar, vocals
Ricky Wilson (The B-52’s) – guitar
Fred Smith (Blondie, Television) – bass
Jay Dee Daugherty (The Patti Smith Group) – drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnpdMAJBbqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwbyH9A5cU

^ i shared this interview with Jimmy Rip on the guitar thread a couple of weeks ago, he talks about his plans to tour with Fred on that. Lots of stories about Tom too, including the fact that later on in his career he really came to detest the sound of the bass and would always have the soundguy shutting the low end off. Poor Fred :(

Per rock journalist Jim Sullivan, Smith was getting treated for cancer for the last five years.

I used to work at Strand bookstore in NYC, in the basement. The uncorrected poetry proofs were stored there and Tom Verlaine came in for them all the time. At least once a week. My friend Jack - dead these last 16 years come May - knew I was a huge fan. So he played a trick on me. He waited until Tom was behind me one day and I didn't know it. "Hey, aren't you a huge Television and Tom Verlaine fanatic?" So of course I gushed like a little girl.

Jack spun me around and I was immediately staring up into Tom's face. He smiled this really sheepish smile and just said "Wow, thanks, what's your name, man?" After that day he greeted me by name.

I left NYC. 5 years later I went back, walked by Strand and he was outside on the sidewalk looking at the discount racks. I caught his eye as I walked by and I heard "Hey (real name) what's going on? I haven't seen you in a long time." We talked for about 20 minutes. That was the last time I saw him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/10ojpwk/my_cool_little_tom_verlaine_story/

that is a very needed heartwarmer

^this

oh i love that so much

every Verlaine story re The Strand is so good <3

Can't remember if I ever told mine

tell it tell it

Maybe it's not that good

Or else I might have trouble organizing and typing it into the chat box. But I will sleep on it and maybe I can come up with something tomorrow

TELL

IT

^^^

we need a story, Redd!

Don't make us beg!

(begs)

Aww man RIP

as I posted today on Adaam Jacobs thread, Lucy Sante says:

Some of you may already have seen this, but the tape I made at CBGB of a Television/Talking Heads show on January 24, 1976, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary by being shared all over the internet: https://archive.org/details/television1976-01-24.unk The T-Heads archivists had approached me and digitized and cleaned it, and I encouraged them to make it public. I'm sorry my batteries were dying during the second Television set; "Guiding Light" is especially wobbly. Overall, though, the tapes, made on generic cassettes with a cheapo recorder and stored in a shoebox all these years, sound at least as good as most of the commercially distributed bootlegs from those years. It's also ghostly for me, because at the end of some of the Television numbers you hear a whoop from my old girlfriend Eva, dead now almost 28 years. Oh, and the Talking Heads (trio and still pretty green): https://archive.org/details/th1976-01-24.unk.sante

A reminder for me to read her memoir.

I believe Eva and that Noo Yawk era are in Maybe The People Would Be The Times, maybe among others.