Yes, believe it or not, this 51-year-old had never heard this album. I grew up listening to much music that my "mainstream" contemporaries slagged off, but somehow this one escaped my attention. A friend of mine made me a copy of the 2003 reissue.

I was not surprised by Tom Verlaine's vocals, but the guitar interplay threw me for a loop. Now I realize why it's called a "punk jam" recording.

To be honest, had I heard this when I was 20, it probably wouldn't have made much of an impression. Perhaps it's a good thing that it took me 31 years to finally get a chance to listen to, and fully appreciate, the inventiveness of the songs.

PS I also now realize the extent to which Television influenced other bands, such as The Cars (esp. the song "Touch and Go") and Talking Heads (David Byrne's vocal style).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-10-01 00:26 by bassplayer617.

Classic album...Now try and track down Little Johnny Jewel ...the single that preceded it .... It's a gem!!!!



ROCKMAN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-10-01 00:22 by Rockman.

Rockman, LJJ is included as a bonus track on Rhino's 2004 CD upgrade. "Adventure" tho less guitar oriented, is a fine followup (also expanded). I grew to love the more hermetic (at first) 1992 "Television" years after I bought and filed the thing away. Verlaine's "Dreamtime" (2nd gtr Jimmy Rip of Jagger fame) is a masterpiece, as is his 1987 "Flash Light" both unspeakably gorgeous (Mary Marie, 'Song', 'Scientist Writes A Letter'). What a rush to fall in love with a great band with 30 year body of work!!!

If he's got the 2003 reissue it should have "Little Johnny Jewel" (both parts) as bonus tracks. And yes, MM is a classic, a great album for when you just wanna hear some fantastic guitar playing.

Hey yeah that's correct Johnr...Do have that Rhino one somewhere...
Also a love for the Verlaine solo stuff ... spent alotta time with Flash Light..

Ancient Egypt ... And and Oh Foolish Heart from one of the other solos...



ROCKMAN

If you can find it check out LIVE AT THE OLD WALDORF, SAN FRANCISCO,6/29/78, a radio broadcast officially released by Rhino a few years ago. It was a limited edition release on their Handmade label so I don't know how easy it would be to find a copy but if you can, I recommend it highly.

tons of Television unofficial live recordings in circulation, as well. Great band, though that debut set a difficult standard to match.

I bought the Waldorf Live 6/29/78 album, & think its one of the best live albums ever. Some prefer the lo-fi "Blow Up" - the performances are both great but the sonic brilliance of the Waldorf is revelatory, crank it up and look for the sweet spots, for Lloyd/Verlain'e guitar interplay is RIGHT THERE, in living color. Wild version of "Johnny Jewel" just one of many highlights. But more than the studio albums Waldorf displays TV as a great BAND, loose and telepathic. And Verlaine's vocals are deliberately understated, emphasizing the band's chemestry and collective power. (The set was recorded for radio broadcast in '78). Lloyd had been hanging out with Keith & Anita, and the Stones influence shows. And watch Lloyd slash & burn with his astonishing solo on 'Satisfaction'. Never saw any point to covering such a classic after Otis', but TV's is pure shot of rock n roll adrenelin, no irony, no self conciousness. Verlaine's reading is unassuming, cool, funny, and thankfully un-Jaggerlike.

The versions of Little Johnny Jewel and Marquee Moon on The Blow-Up are two of the best live performances by any rock band anywhere from any time. Just stunning.

I saw Television warmup for Peter Gabriel in NYC on his first solo tour and didn't get them right away. Heard 'em again a few years later and was hooked!

I bought Marquee Moon on a 12" single when it came out. 9:58 of pure genius. A few years ago I bought the CD reissue and there it was on the cover 'Marquee Moon 9:58' but when I played it was past the fade at 9:58 and went on to a finish at about 10:40. I've never known whether it was meant to do that or if somebody had put the wrong version on the CD. Did the original version on the vinyl album fade?

How sad is it that I care about such things?

Quote
Braincapers
I bought Marquee Moon on a 12" single when it came out. 9:58 of pure genius. A few years ago I bought the CD reissue and there it was on the cover 'Marquee Moon 9:58' but when I played it was past the fade at 9:58 and went on to a finish at about 10:40. I've never known whether it was meant to do that or if somebody had put the wrong version on the CD. Did the original version on the vinyl album fade?

How sad is it that I care about such things?

The original CD was like that too.

ROCKMAN

The sound on the original album is rather thin. Are the reissues more punchy?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-10-01 16:29 by Svartmer.

Quote
Svartmer
The sound on the original album is rather thin. Is the reissues more punchy?

yes.

Don't forget ADVENTURE. It was a strong follow-up albeit a slight attempt to mainstream the band. The early '90s self-titled reunion album is good too, though not as great as the first two.

Hey Rockman, you;re the only other hipster I know who has a copy of that wonderfully deranged Richard Lloyd single!!

>I've never known whether it was meant to do that or if somebody had put the wrong version on the CD. Did the original version on the vinyl album fade?

The vinyl had the fade. I don't think the full-length version surfaced until the digital age (a la "Slave").

Here's Nick Kent's review of the Lp from New Musical Express, prompted me to buy the record instantly:


Review of 'Marquee Moon" by Nick Kent Feb. 1977

I concur thus.

Sometimes it takes but one record----one cocksure magical statement, to

cold cock all the crapola and all purpose wheat chaff mix'n'match, to set the
whole schmear straight and get the current state of play down, down, down,
to stand or fall in one dignified granite hard focus.

Such statements are precious indeed. 'Marquee Moon' the first album from
Tom Verlaine's Television however is one: a 24 carat inspired work of pure

genius, a record finely in tune and sublimely arranged with a whole new slant on dynamics, centered around a totally invigorating passionate application to
the vision of mastermind Tom Verlaine.


Forget all the New York minimalist punk stuff. Television's music is the total antithesis, and to call them punk rock is rather like describing Dostoevsky a
short story writer.


Television's music is remarkably sophisticated, unworthy of even being paralled
with that of the original Velvet Underground whose combined instrumental
finesse was practically a joke compared to what Verlaine and Company are
cooking up here.


Each song is tirelessly conceived and arranged for maximum impact, the point
where decent parallels really need to be, made with the very, very best.


Dylan and early Love spring to mind, the Byrds cataclysmic 'Eight Miles High'
period, a soupcon even of the Doors and Captain Beefheart and their mondo

predilections, plus the very cream of those psychedelic punk bands that only
Lenny Kaye knows about.

Above all though, the sound belongs most undoubtedly to Television, and the

appearance of 'Marquee Moon' at a time when rock is so helplessly lost within the labyrinth of its very own inconsequentiality. Where actual musical content
has come to take a backseat to 'attitude' and all that word is supposed to
signify, is to these ears little short of revolutionary.

My opening gambit about the album providing a real focus for the current
state of rock, bears a relevance simply because here at last is a band
whose vision is centered quite rigidly within their music----not, say, in
some half-baked notion of political manifesto mongery with that trusty,
thoroughly reactionary three chord backdrop to keep the whole scam buoyant.

Verlaine's appearance is simply as exciting as any other innovator's to the
rock sphere---like Hendrix, Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan---and yes, Christ knows

I'm tossing up some true-blue heavies here, but goddamnit I refuse to repent
because the talents of Verlaine's Television just damn excites me so much.

To the facts then---recorded in A&R studios, New York, produced by Andy

Johns---the album lasts roughly three quarters of an hour and contains eight songs, several of which have been recorded in demo form at least twice before,
and have been performed live innumerable times.

The wait has been worthwhile because the refining process instigated by
some hesitant non-recording contract months has sculpted the songs into
masterpieces that are here, present for all to experience.

Side one makes no bones about making its presence felt, kicking off with

the full-bodied thrust of 'See No Evil'. Guitars, bass and drums are strung together fitting tight as a glove, clenched into a fist punching metal rivets
of sound with the same manic abandon that typified the elegant ferocity
of Love's early drive.

There is real passion here, no half-baked metal cut and thrust---each beat

reverberates to the base of the skull, with Verlaine's voice mixed perfectly
into the grain of the rhythm. The chorus/climax is irresistible

anyway---Verlaine crooning, "I understand all destructive urges and it seems
so perfect . . . I see . . . I see . . . no e-v-i-i-l-l."


The next song is truly something else---'Venus de Milo'. It 's simply one of
the most beautiful songs I've ever heard (the only other parallel to it is

Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man') a vignette of sorts, dealing with a dream-like
quasi-hallucinogenic state of epiphany.

"You know it's like some new kind of drug, my senses are sharp and my
hands are like gloves. Broadway looks so medieval, it seems to flap like

little pages . . . I fell sideways laughing, with a friend from many stages."

'Friction' is probably the most readily accessible track from this album,
simply because with its cutting anarchic quasi-Velvets feel, plus
(all important) Verlaine's most pungent methedrine guitar fretboard
slaughter. Here it'll represent the kind of thing all those weaned on
the hype and legend, without hearing one note from Television, will
be expecting.

The song has vicious instrumentation and a perfect climax which has
Verlaine vengefully spelling out the title F-R-I-C-T-I-O-N, slashing his
guitar for punctuation.

The album's title track closes side the first side. Conceived at a time
when rock tracks lasting over ten minutes are somewhere sunk deep
below the subterranean depths of contempt, 'Marquee Moon' is as
riveting a piece of music as I've heard since the halcyon days of
. . . O'h, God knows, too many years have elapsed.

Everything about this piece is startling, built around Verlaine's steely
runs and meshed with Lloyd's intoxicating counterpoints.

Slowly a story unfolds---a typically surreal Verlaine ghost story
involving a Cadillac pulling up to a grave yard and the disembodied
arms beckoning the singer to get in while "Lightning struck itself",
and various twilight rejects from 'King Lear' (that last bit's my own
fancy, by the way), babbling crazy retorts to equally crazy questions.
The lyrics as a scenario for the music are utterly compelling. It
transforms from a strident two chord construction to a breathtakingly
beautiful chord progression, which acts as a motif/climax for the
narrative as the song ends with a majestic chord pattern.

'Marquee Moon' is the perfect place to draw attention to the band's
musical assets. Individually each player in Television is
superb---Verlaine's guitar solos are sublime; they are in short a
potential total redefinition of the electric guitar. As it is, Verlaine's
solo constructions/coltraneisms are always unconventional, forever
delving into new areas, never satisfied with referring back to formulas,
simply he can solo without ever losing the point.

Richard Lloyd is a good foil for Verlaine. Another fine musician, his
more fluid conventional pitching and manic rhythm work is the perfect
complimentary force, and his contribution demands to be recognized
for the power it possesses.

Fred Smith on bass is an excellent solid player; he holds down and
controls the undertow of the music with great skill. His understanding
of what is required of from him is a real pleasure to listen to.

Billy Ficca, a delicate but fine drummer, using every portion of his kit to
colour and embellish. I can only express a quiet awe at his inventiveness.

Individual accolades apart, the band's main clout lays in their ability
to function as one and perhaps a good demonstration of this can be
found in 'Elevation', side two's opening gambit. Layer upon layer of
gentle boulevard guitar makes itself manifest, until Lloyd holds the
finger-picked melody together and Verlaine sings in that truly incisive
style of his.

The song again is beautiful, proudly contagious with a chorus that
lodges itself in your subconscious like a bullet in the skull---"Elevation
don't go to my head", repeated thrice until on the third line a latent
ghost-like voice transmutes, "Elevation" into "Television". Guitars
cascade in and out of the mix so perfectly.

'Guiding Light' is reflective, stridently poetic---a hymn for aesthetes
---shimmering with lovely piano lines played by Verlaine.

'Prove It', the following track is a potential single. Verlaine spits and
seats his command on the vocal---"This case . . . this case I've been
working on so long . . . so long." And of course that chorus which I

still can't hesitate quoting---"Prove it . . . Just the facts . . . Confidential."

Final song on the album is 'Torn Curtain'. A song of grievous
circumstances (as with many of Verlaine's lyrics), the facts---cause
and effect---remain enigmatically sheltered from the listener. The
structure is indeed strange, with Verlaine's vocals at their most
yearning. The song is absolutely compelling and I can't think of a
single number written in the rock idiom that I could possibly compare
it to.

So THAT'S IT. 'Marquee Moon', a work of real genius suffice to
say---O'h listen it's released on Elektra and reminds me of just how
great that label used to be. I mean this is Elektra's finest record along
with 'Strange Days'. Tom Verlaine is probably the single most important
songwriter/guitarist of his kind since Syd Barrett.

If this review needs to state anything in big bold, black type it's simply
this: 'Marquee Moon' is an album for everyone, whatever their musical
creeds and/or quirks. Don't let anyone put you off with jive turkey
terms like 'avante-guard' or 'New York psychos'.


This music is passionate, full blooded, dazzlingly well crafted, brilliantly
conceived and totally accessible to anyone who (like myself) has been
yearning for a band with the vision to break on through into new
dimensions of sonic overdrive and the sheer ability to back it up.

Tom Verlaine and Television are out there hanging fire and cruising like
meteors above all the three chord wonder boys.

Prove it? They've already done it; all you have to do is listen to
the album, and levitate along with it.

They are one band in a million, the songs are some of the greatest
ever. The album is 'Marquee Moon'.

Quote
Svartmer
The sound on the original album is rather thin. Are the reissues more punchy?

As has been said, the cd sounds a bit more powerful, but remember that their sound was not so strong on the lower register, that is why Ahmet Ertegün did not sign them to Atlantic, he said something like that these guys have no bass sound, they won't fit on Atlantic!
I'm sorry I cannot find the original quote at this moment!

you know, Marquee Moon is a great album, but I usually tire of it by "Prove It" and "Torn Curtain." Those songs are on the dreary side.

BTW I saw Richard Lloyd perform a couple of months ago -- he still plays a mean guitar. Only one TV song ("Friction") but he did about half a dozen Hendrix covers. I later found out that his next disk will be all Hendrix songs! More info here:

[atlanta.creativeloafing.com]

Quote
Glam Descendant
BTW I saw Richard Lloyd perform a couple of months ago -- he still plays a mean guitar. Only one TV song ("Friction") but he did about half a dozen Hendrix covers. I later found out that his next disk will be all Hendrix songs!

good to know he's back on stage. I saw Television for the first time 2 summers ago in Central Park, and Richard was replaced by Jimmy Ripp at the last minute due to an illness.

he became something of a New Age loon, as far as I can tell. But apparently he's also available to give guitar lessons to the public, for a steep $. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco took a couple before recording one of their albums a few years ago, and you can hear the improvement.

Hey Rockman, you;re the only other hipster I know who has a copy of that wonderfully deranged Richard Lloyd single!!

Whoa yeah...bit of a rare one...Only ever saw it once...
Also have the original Johnny Jewel 7" somewhere....somewhere...



ROCKMAN

BTW there's a new CD of Lloyd's mid-80s album FIELDS OF FIRE, a 2-disk set that has an almost completely new version of the album as disk 2.

Quote
Glam Descendant
BTW I saw Richard Lloyd perform a couple of months ago -- he still plays a mean guitar. Only one TV song ("Friction") but he did about half a dozen Hendrix covers. I later found out that his next disk will be all Hendrix songs! More info here:

[atlanta.creativeloafing.com]

I saw Television live aat Hammersmith when Marquee Moon came out. Frankly I was much more interested by the support act (Blondie).

A great band from the New Wave indeed. Still have that album on vinyl and I bought it the very week it came out.
Was lucky enough to see them live once, at the CBGB in New York. Guess that place is history now...

Quote
Braincapers
I saw Television live aat Hammersmith when Marquee Moon came out. Frankly I was much more interested by the support act (Blondie).

how strange.