Television

Veronica moser I know you have better things to do with your time than scan old musician articles but damn

My golden era reading that magazine was more 1985-1988 though- I think I got into the fall because of a sidebar in Musician of all places!

Re: "high boomer, late 80s armani-rock movement," how did we miss mentioning Steve Winwood? Between him, Clapton and Sting, I'm tempted to label it Michelob rock. (Yes, they all hawked different beers, but Michelob has a douchey ring to it.)

Re: Television's third, good call from Alfred, this is good stuff. I noticed guys like DeRogatis and Bill Wyman of the Chicago Reader mercilessly trashing it, but Ira Robbins (who's consistently written positively of it over the years) had probably the best take on their 1992 reunion overall: "Older, more skilled and less excitable, they matched the memory and honoured their previous work by accepting what they were, and what they were not." It's not the Television of yore, but to demand too much of that overlooks what made the Television of 1992 a commendable group. The live Academy recording Jon recommended is indeed excellent, but I had to download it - apparently it was sold only as a CD-R release on their 2003 tour.

Also check out this vintage Television site - it does feel very dated, but for something of that time, it's an impressive design: http://www.thewonder.co.uk

That Academy CD-R is fantastic

where ya'll hearing it? because i need that in my life.

i've got the CD-R itself, but let me see if I can find digital files for you

O_O

i was just hoping for a youtube link or something, but that would be rad thank you!

surprisingly, it's actually streaming on various platforms and available as a download via amazon https://www.amazon.com/Live-At-Academy-NYC-12-4-92/dp/B000TPYU8Y

Trying to remember seeing some version of The dB’s in the 80s and them playing “See No Evil” unless the original came over the sound system or maybe it was just a kooky dream?

I noticed guys like DeRogatis and Bill Wyman of the Chicago Reader mercilessly trashing it,

what on earth is there to trash?

xp chris stamey's version of "Venus" with Yo La Tengo is fantastic, a nice reimagining

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3Ev3dIkpE

Also check out this vintage Television site - it does feel very dated, but for something of that time, it's an impressive design: http://www.thewonder.co.uk

Last update: 7th May 2021(!)

man i miss sites like that

Chris Stamey's book described how seeing Television in 1974 (?) galvanized his musical plans (and desire to move to New York City).

Wild Flag did a great "See No Evil" for their encores...man, I miss that band, I kind of wish they continued on, especially given how the Sleater-Kinney reunion ultimately turned out.

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

Old set lists seem to confirm this cover I remember seeing.

what on earth is there to trash?

Well, here's their take:

Wyman in late 1992:

"Nostalgia sucks; and for obvious reasons, it’s even worse when punks are involved. With this in mind, beware Television reunion concerts...Television is not as bad as you might think: parts of the first two songs, in fact, display a dark beauty and a propulsive authority. But the record’s only other notable feature is the band’s well-wrought persuasive argument for the mannered music they make. They might as well have spent the past 14 years inventing the internal combustion engine."

DeRogatis reviewing their Metro show in May 2001

"In '92, Television was touring behind a new album for Capitol, its self-titled third. But this mediocre effort paled in comparison to '77's groundbreaking Marquee Moon and '78's powerful but underrated Adventure. At Metro on Thursday, the band seemed determined to convince us that the'92 material wasn't really so bad: Half the set was drawn from that disc, while far superior tunes from the first two albums (not to mention Verlaine's solo efforts) was passed over. Monochromatic exercises like 'Shane, She Wrote This' and 'Call Mr. Lee' were better live than on album, but the songs haven't grown more tuneful or gripping in the last nine years. In sharp contrast, older guitar duels like 'See No Evil,' 'Venus' and 'Prove It' sounded as brilliant and timeless as ever..."

brilliant AND timeless

what on earth is there to trash?

xxxxxppost Speaking of Amazon< they no longer have the download of TV's Rhino Handmade (do still have the RH mp3s of Beefheart. Fugs. threefold expansion of Bobby Charles s/t), and the domestic CD of Marquee Moon is not in the main listings, though it is on there (how are the Japanese versions of this and Adventure? Prices aren't bad) But mainly I'm wondering about this:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41XMGTJDZ8L.jpgV

The Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology

EMI Import 2007

1 Used from $39.99
1 New from $57.99

New two CD comp for one of THE founding fathers of modern rock. Disc 1 is 10 live tracks recorded at The Venue, London, June 3, 1982. Disc 2's 18 tracks include his best (both solo & with Television) plus 6 previously unavailable commercially. LIVE: Kingdom Come, Souvenir From A Dream, Clear It Away, Always, Postcard From Waterloo, Pene-tration, Breakin' In My Heart, Marquee Moon, Days On The Mountain & Prove It. HITS: Venus, Glory, The Grip Of Love,Without A Word, Words From The Front, Let Go The Mansion, O Foolish Heart, Lindi-Lu, Five Miles Of You, Anna, At 4 A.M.,

Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
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I've got all the studio stuff in various formats here and there, but Disc 2 is a handy round-up. and Disc 1's liveness is intriguing.

It's too bad they won't release Disc 1 separately. At least do a download, it's kinda shitty that you have to buy another disc's worth of music that you probably already own.

the live stuff on miller's tale is terrific — his band in the 80s was killer.

Jimmy Ripp went on to work as lead guitarist on Mick Jagger's best solo album.

i don't think he plays on goddess in the doorway, alfred.

I've no doubt plugged it before, but this fan-made comp of Verlaine live from 1981-2001 is worth everyone's time. https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/151241115682/tom-verlaine-pull-down-the-future-live

"Breakin' In My Heart" from Verlaine's eponymous debut has always been a favorite. Love that whole album, but with Ricky Wilson's prominent guest spot, it's basically my favorite supergroup playing on that track. (Television frontman/guitarist, Television bassist/Blondie's original bassist, Patti Smith Group drummer, B-52's guitarist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdRuMvtAQ5w

Also check out this vintage Television site

OMG! If you can somehow navigate to the cover version of 'see no evil' by the band 'fine,' i'm one of the guitarists! please hang around for the solo, which was my attempt at a tv mashup, inserting the 'ain't that nothin' solo where the 'see no evil' solo should be. worked out kinda nice! gosh that was a long time ago...

https://tv.obbard.com/tribute/contents.htm

You all sound excellent.

thanks! fun fact: that's creed taylor's son on drums.

should have asked dad to put some strings on it.

haha! i only met him once, very briefly. shook his hand. an honor.

It's too bad they won't release Disc 1 separately. At least do a download, it's kinda shitty that you have to buy another disc's worth of music that you probably already own.

― birdistheword, Monday, August 16, 2021 6:21 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Well, it's a small fortune now, so you might as well get two discs for yr money.

And disc 2 has three tracks from the lost album

Spotify has xpost Live At The Old Waldorf---and not Live At The Academy, but that's much more affordable, at least as a download (maybe free, if I keep looking). Also has a good selection of Tom albums ---is Flash Light the most recent?

(xpost because that's the Rhino Handmade Ltd.Ed.CD/download, both now OOP)

Live at the Academy is available on Spotify, but appears under a different Television:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4qnBkw3UpZhel1P5zSXM2e?si=OQ81e3fjSriG1guDfH-qkw&dl_branch=1

Portland 1978 is also worth seeking - not the best recorded (I'm pretty sure it's an audience recording), but maybe the best show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UxMEp45kf4

Xpost - two albums since flash light. The wonder, which I really haven’t warmed to, and then after a long gap Songs And Other Things which is a tad overlong but has a bunch of top shelf material on it (which came across especially well on the ensuing tour)

Hey, just found this, sorry if posted before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKgyjw478B8

man what i wouldn't give for an entire pro-shot video of Television in 1978.

Yeah.

I have a fond memory of seeing the charming indie-pop band Small Factory do a sound check back in 1994 or so, and when the sound guy asked them to play all together they out of nowhere busted out a dead-on cover of iirc "See No Evil."

From the Richard Hell thread, a news update from his official site:

JANUARY 2022: There's now up an astounding video from 1974 of the original Television lineup, playing Tom Verlaine's "Hard on Love" on a tiny stage in a New York club (not CBGB), when Richard was not only in the band, but singing and writing many of the songs and heavily influencing the group's style. This period lasted about six months before Verlaine had fully succeeded in changing the direction of the band, dropping Hell's songs from the setlist, insisting that band members stand still on stage, and reverting to ordinary hipster thrift-shop streetwear, rather than the various stylistic concepts Hell had conceived. No denying that Verlaine is stunning in the clip though. What a band. There's speculation that the gig is from late May at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. (The band's very first gig was in March.) What we do know is that John Lennon saw it in September because he remarks on it during an interview in Melody Maker as he watches it on local TV that month (Sept. 14 issue). This is also the version of the band that initiated CBGB, thrilled Malcolm McLaren and Patti Smith, and made Robert Quine think that perhaps there was a place for him in rock and roll after all. You can see the clip (and read what Lennon said, in the uploader's intro text) at YouTube. Pair it with the veryearly Ork loft rehearsal tapesand you can see what the excitement was about in 1974, and where punk began...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLlhYiN4gmU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcGEcB5M4es

pretty amazing stuff! "They sound terrible but they’re OK!"

Ironic that Lennon, in his appreciation, was effectively ahead of the game.

He'd had someone make a tape of stuff, the person had put what he'd asked for (old stuff mainly) on one side, and on side 2 had added B52s, Talking Heads, etc - but he'd taken no notice of it. a year or so later he thought about it but had lost the tape so had to ask his fried to make it up again for him..

friend, not fried.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98PjtSfNWo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8j8SECzULw

I was reading that William Orbit interview on the other thread, and he made an obvious but still good observation, that there are entire eras of music and various scenes that were barely even photographed, let alone filmed. Now, of course, everything is photographed and filmed. But when you see stuff like this, or that Eno doc, or things of their ilk, it's almost like seeing the Patterson–Gimlin Bigfoot film.

Have been reminded recently of what a shame it is that Pere Ubu don't appear to have had anything filmed before Birdies in Urgh! A Music War. Just would have been something else if teh art scene in Cleveland included film makers who wanted to document the scene and capture the band when onetime possible Television member peter Laughner was onboard or over the next couple of years.

Yeah - massive shame if no footage survives of singles/modern/dub era ubu

I've seen (and enjoyed) Ubu live - but something about the music of that era makes it seem appropriate that their art is audio-only. Seeing film of them would be like dubbing sound on a silent movie... it was meant to documented exclusively sonically.