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Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Television was one of the most creative and influential punk bands to emerge from New York in the mid-1970s, creating a new guitar vocabulary that removed the blues but retained the raw energy of garage rock. Their music featured angular rhythms and fluid leads that went in unconventional directions and laid the groundwork for many post-punk groups. While their 1977 debut album Marquee Moon was critically acclaimed, it failed to attract a wide audience, though it reached the top 40 in the UK. Television broke up in 1978 due to tensions between guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd but briefly reunited in the early 1990s and 2000s for performances.

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109 views3 pages

Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Television was one of the most creative and influential punk bands to emerge from New York in the mid-1970s, creating a new guitar vocabulary that removed the blues but retained the raw energy of garage rock. Their music featured angular rhythms and fluid leads that went in unconventional directions and laid the groundwork for many post-punk groups. While their 1977 debut album Marquee Moon was critically acclaimed, it failed to attract a wide audience, though it reached the top 40 in the UK. Television broke up in 1978 due to tensions between guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd but briefly reunited in the early 1990s and 2000s for performances.

Uploaded by

Emma Fraga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Television were one of the most creative bands to emerge from New York's
punk scene of the mid-'70s, creating an influential new guitar vocabulary. While
guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd liked to jam, they didn't follow the
accepted rock structures for improvisation -- they removed the blues while
retaining the raw energy of garage rock, adding complex, lyrical solo lines that
recalled both jazz and rock. With its angular rhythms and fluid
leads, Television's music always went in unconventional directions, laying the
groundwork for many of the guitar-based post-punk pop groups of the late '70s
and '80s.
In the early '70s, Television began as the Neon Boys, a group featuring
guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, drummer Billy Ficca, and bassist Richard Hell.
At the end of 1973, the group reunited under the name Television, adding
rhythm guitarist Richard Lloyd. The following year, the band made its live debut
at New York's Townhouse theater and began to build up an underground
following. Soon, their fan base was large enough that Verlaine was able to
persuade CBGB's to begin featuring live bands on a regular basis; the club
would become an important venue for punk and new wave bands. That
year, Verlaine played guitar on Patti Smith's first single, "Hey Joe"/"Piss
Factory," as well as wrote a book of poetry with the singer.

Television recorded a demo tape for Island Records with Brian Eno in 1975,
yet the label decided not to sign the band. Hell left the band after the recording
of the demo tape, forming the Heartbreakers with former New York
Dollsguitarist Johnny Thunders; the following year, he began a solo career
supported by the Voidoids, releasing a debut album, Blank Generation, in
1977. Hell was replaced by ex-Blondie bassist Fred
Smith and Television recorded "Little Johnny Jewel," releasing it on their own
Ork record label. "Little Johnny Jewel" became an underground hit, attracting
the attention of major record labels. In 1976, the band released a British EP on

Stiff Records, which expanded their reputation. They signed with Elektra
Records and began recording their debut album.

Marquee Moon, the group's first album, was released in early 1977 to great
critical acclaim, yet it failed to attract a wide audience in America; in the U.K., it
reached number 28 on the charts, launching the Top 40 single "Prove
It." Televisionsupported Blondie on the group's 1977 tour, but the shows didn't
increase the group's following significantly.

Televisionreleased their second album, Adventure, in the spring of 1978.


While its American sales were better than those of Marquee Moon, the record
didn't make the charts; in Britain, it became a Top Ten hit. Months later, the
group suddenly broke up, largely due to tensions between the two
guitarists. Smithrejoined Blondie, while Verlaine and Lloyd both pursued solo
careers; Lloyd also played on John Doe's first solo album, as well as
joined Matthew Sweet's supporting band with the 1991 album Girlfriend.

Nearly 14 years after their breakup, Television re-formed in late 1991,


recording a new album for Capitol Records. The reunited band began its
comeback with a performance at England's Glastonbury summer festival in
1992, releasing Television a couple months later. The album received good
reviews, as did the tour that followed, yet the reunion was short-lived -- the
group disbanded again in early 1993. In 2001, Television again reunited for a
handful of shows in the U.K., as well as an appearance at the Noise Pop
Festival in Chicago.

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