TELEVISION - LONDON 2004 [TOM VERLAINE R.I.P. 1949 - 2023]
February 3, 2011 – 4:35 amTOM 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 categorizable 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.”
+ + + + +
Click on the panels for a better view or to download artwork.
TELEVISION
New Adventure In Lo-Fi [no label, 2CD]
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.
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality MP3s - sample rate of 224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. Please try again later. Kindly email us at [email protected] if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files.
Disc 1
Track 101. Intro (3.0MB)
Track 102. The Dream’s Dream (10.0MB)
Track 103. 1880 Or So (9.8MB)
Track 104. Venus (6.7MB)
Track 105. Balloon (9.3MB)
Track 106. Stax (6.0MB)
Track 107. Little Johnny Jewel (11.6MB)
Track 108. Squaggle (5.8MB)
Track 109. Prove It (9.5MB)
Track 110. Call Mr Lee (9.1MB)
Disc 2
Track 201. The Sea (11.7MB)
Track 202. Persia (13.2MB)
Track 203. See No Evil (12.3MB)
Track 204. Stockhausen Psyche Jam (2.4MB)
Track 205. Marquee Moon (21.9MB)
Track 206. Glory (6.9MB)
Track 207. Psychotic Reaction (9.1MB)
Lineup:
Tom Verlaine - vocals, guitar
Richard Lloyd - guitar
Fred Smith - bass, vocals, guitar
Billy Ficca - drums
Click on the link to order Television
35 Responses to “TELEVISION - LONDON 2004 [TOM VERLAINE R.I.P. 1949 - 2023]”
Brilliant ! Thank you so much…
By Trippytvc15 on Feb 3, 2011
Best.
By William on Feb 3, 2011
this is fab gear stuff,please ,more of Tommy’s Telly Tunes,preferably the Lanier demos or I Need a New Adventure,or any unrelesed live stuff.Thanks very much.
By mm on Feb 3, 2011
I’m the odd man out here…I’ve always much preferred Adventure to Marquee Moon. Say what you will, I’m okay with that. I like the songs better and the way Mr. Verlaine’s voice propels them.
Thanks for the post!
By kingpossum on Feb 4, 2011
Yes,Adventure is a wonderful lp,never understood all the rock crit blah about it,its just more pastorally neurotic and song oriented-Dreams Dream and Days are two of the best tracks they ever did,the live version of the former on the Waldorf cd is staggering.
By mm on Feb 4, 2011
“Pastorally neurotic”, thank you mm! To my ear, Carried Away would mate with the two tracks you mention to make the triune that encapsulates that weird sensibility of Adventure.
By kingpossum on Feb 4, 2011
I dont think Tommy has ever put his name to a bad album,I wish people wouldnt just fixate on the guitar dynamics of Marquee Moon,he’s a really imaginative songwriter too,i also would put The Fire in a list of his great songs.The soundtrack he did with Jimmy Ripp for those expressionist movies betrays his real sensibilities-those wonky sci fi sounds and exotic textures in Mars from the eponymous lp(dont get me started on that-I love that too!)
By mm on Feb 4, 2011
“1880 Or So” mostly totally one of their greatest creations. LOVE that song.
By soy salami on Feb 5, 2011
I like the third TV album a lot. IMO since recording that album the shows have become more unique, too. Saw (and recorded) Tom’s solo show at Slim’s a few years back. Fabulous.
Thanks for this!
By soldout in San Francisco on Feb 12, 2011
You couldnt possibly let us have a peek at the Slim’s set could you-would be eternally grateful for any other Tom /T.V. stuff,especially any with unreleased songs.I think Persia and The sea could be classics,if they are ever released.agree that 1880 Or So is a real example of live extemporisation which developed in the live context,far surpassing the studio cut(even so,still love the studio version!)
By mm on Feb 13, 2011
Yeah, thanks for this. I also would love to get hold of that Slim’s recording.
By Deb on Feb 15, 2011
Great article! nifwjre
By Ghislaine Franpton on Feb 21, 2011
Who wouldn´t want to get hold of the recording from Slims? I also want to thank for this London concert. I was at the Stockholm concert same year, and I just loved their new songs.
By Tjicken on Feb 23, 2011
hey bigo, i may give this show a try. i’m not real familiar with them so this may be a good starting point. thanks!
best,
ed
By Ed Saad on May 14, 2011
hey bigo, i did enjoy this walking and running this morning. thanks!!!
monday marks the one year anniversary of dio’s death so post a dio, rainbow and or sabbath show i don’t have. i am still looking for a better copy of san jose 83, last in line tour, or dream evil which is the tour i saw here in b’ham, al jan 1987 at the midfield fairgrounds arena, when i was 14 years old. it ruled cause savatage played with both oliva brothers and then megadeth was promoting so far, so good, so what. then i saw megadeth again 3 months later here at the alabama theatre with sanctuary and warlock. fun times.
yeah, the dio show was my very first concert, and i still have my laminated ticket stub from then fastixx now we just have sucky ticket master or you can still pay at the door. i remember craig goldy shooting lasers out of his bc rich warlock at this robotic spider above his head. i’ll say it again: where will you read the stuff i write but on bigo? what upsets me about some comments on bigo is people make take a cheap shot at me cause my memory is pretty good, or i like complete shows, or i may not be familiar with a certain band, but, i do download 95% of the shows posted and i have gone back and got shows like television and focus later. i did like the one time phillip came to my defense. thanks! so dio please!
best,
ed
By Ed Saad on May 14, 2011
Not taken from Japanese bootleg at all, made in the UK by someone who was there, and did the a/w. Honest.
By mr b on Apr 14, 2013
This is Jerry G from the BigSky GD just want to let all you heads outthere know that our new concept album will be released on CosmicLaserDisc later this Month called ‘Keep On Darthing in the name of Darth’….COOOOOOOL MAAAAAAAAAN
By Darth Star on Apr 14, 2013
Special Limited Edition Vinyl - 100 Copies Only containing the Great Mans ‘Pittsburgh ScrapBook’ Photoset and a MamaDarth Hand Knitted CockWarmer for those windy lonely darthy nights….Pre Order and discover The Man The Myth The Legend….The story that made Presidents weep and housewifes faint ‘Keep On Darthing in The Name Of Darth’
“As Epic As Rocky 2″…Rolling Stone
“Fizzles out in a Lightbulb kinda way” …Arfur Fuksake
By Darth Star on Apr 14, 2013
darth satyr!!!you are back!!!
By choo choo carl the legendary mailman on Apr 14, 2013
noooooooooooooooo i am front
By darth satyr on Apr 14, 2013
This really is a great place to be for us multi-personality types …so far tonight i have been Arfur Fuksake, Darth Star and dropdick marge all while dressed in mothers tan stockings and cherry stilettos in front of a full length mirror dancing to Miles Davis Bitches Brew and slugging back Ribena and RedBull baby!
By I am me as you are me and we are all together on Apr 14, 2013
mails here.
By choo choo carl the legendary mailman on Apr 14, 2013
Thanks for the great re-post. I am getting a server error on 104 (Venus) and 206 (Glory). Can you possibly help me with those tracks?
Thanks
By hearts of stone on Jun 14, 2014
Thanks a lot for this recording !
By Nestor on Jun 15, 2015
Wasn’t this bass player, FRED SMITH, formerly with BRAVE COMBO?
By The Russian Assassin on Aug 21, 2015
Thatnks for the upload. Television with Tom Verlaine were incredible. Though I don’t think Adventure is worse than Marquee Moon, it is a great album on its own. So kingpossum, you are not alone.
Tom, R.I.P.
By the way, there have been problems downloading Tom Waits’ West Hollywood and Bruce Springsteen’s Portland show. Can you see to this?
By chotakeo on Jan 29, 2023
Thanks for posting this. Throughout my rock history Television and Crack The Sky have been the 2 bands that I thought were totally underappreciated. It is so good to read all the kudos from the group especially after seeing all the trolls try to shred Tom and the group on the Fox News comment section. Thanks for all the hard work. Keep on keeping on.
By Txpinhead on Jan 29, 2023
Who starts these rumors?
By Jocko P on Jan 30, 2023
Rumor has it this was a band of Lil Uns
By U L E on Jan 30, 2023
With Tom being the Lilst Un
By U L E on Jan 30, 2023
This dude was big in the britches by all accounts. He had a big ole foot long hoagie in his trousers. Gals and some dudes loved sucking on it until it exploded creamy juice down their throats
By ELU on Jan 30, 2023
@Jocko P, we heard that in attempt to cause confusion on this website, which btw is not to difficult to do, that it is actually you who starts these rumours.
By swappers on Jan 30, 2023
Jeff Beck… Tom Verlaine… etc…. More and more geniuses leaving and…. Who sees evil?! The advantage of being a mediocre artist is the unproved fact that you might live longer…. Unless…
Patricia’s Spirit
By Serge Zéni on Feb 8, 2023
Unless…. You’re too talented and that’s another kind of karma about to boomerang, but sssshhhhh….. !
Isabelle’s Spirit
By serge zéni on Feb 8, 2023
It’s also fair to mention that Tom, yes, & Richard Lloyd too!
Two monumental guitarists and innovators…
I hope Richard is in great shape…
By Serge Zéni on Feb 11, 2023