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Television, formed in New York City in 1973, is an American rock music band. They can be considered one of the earliest and best examples of art punk or post-punk.

Television was a part of the early New York punk rock scene, contemporaries of bands like the Patti Smith Group and the Ramones. In contrast to the Ramones's artistic focus on minimalist amateurism, Television's music was much more technically proficient, defined by the dueling guitars of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. In retrospect, Television pointed beyond punk rock to new wave, art rock and post punk.

History

An early version of Television called The Neon Boys included guitarist/singer Tom Verlaine, drummer Billy Ficca and bassist/singer Richard Hell. (Hell and Verlaine were childhood friends who had moved to New York together in 1972.) The group lasted from late 1972 to early 1973. A posthumous 7" featuring "That's All I Know (Right Now)" and "Love Comes in Spurts" was released in 1980.

In late 1973, the trio reformed, calling themselves Television. They recruited Richard Lloyd as a second guitarist. Television earned a reputation as an impressive live act; their large fan base was enough to persuade CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal to give Television a regular gig at his club, which had just opened on the Bowery in New York. (Kristal had planned on dedicating the space to country music, bluegrass and blues music, but punk found a home there first.) Television was the first punk rock group to perform at the club, which was to become, along with Max's Kansas City, the center of the infant punk scene. Indeed, the members of Television reportedly constructed the first stage at CBGB's.

Initially, songwriting was split almost evenly between Hell and Verlaine (with Lloyd being an infrequent contributor as well). However, friction began to develop as Verlaine, Lloyd and Ficca became increasingly confident and adept at their instruments and compositional skills, while Hell remained defiantly untrained in his approach. Verlaine, feeling that Hell's frantic onstage demanour was upstaging his songs, reportedly told him to "stop jumping around" *, and ultimately began refusing to play Hell's songs (such as "Blank Generation") in concert. These factors led Hell to leave the group and take his songs with him, forming The Heartbreakers in 1975 with former members of the New York Dolls, and later forming Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Fred Smith, briefly of Blondie, replaced Hell as Television's bassist.

Though Verlaine and Lloyd were nominally "lead" and "rhythm" guitarists, they often rendered such labels obsolete by crafting deft, interlocking parts where the ostensible backing role could be just as intriguing as the guitar solo. Al Handa writes, "Lloyd was the guitarist who affected the tonality of the music more often than not, and Verlaine and the rhythm section the ones who gave the ear its anchor and familiar musical elements. Listen only to Lloyd, and you can hear some truly off the wall ideas being played."* The opening of the song "Marquee Moon", from the album of the same name, displays the band's characteristic interlocking melodic and rhythmic guitar lines.

Inspiration from classically minimalist composers such as Philip Glass as well as trance-driven rockers such as Van Morrison can also be heard. Tom Verlaine has often noted the influence of The Rolling Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown" on Television's approach to the guitar, and some influence may also have been derived from psychedelic-era bands such as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Moby Grape, groups that also placed a premium on high-energy guitar interplay. The band often covered The Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" and the 13 Floor Elevator's "Fire Engine" in concert, demonstrating a debt to the garage-punk of the late 1960's.

Television made their vinyl debut with the "Little Johnny Jewel" 7" on Ork Records in 1975. This is generally regarded as being the first ever independently-released record. The song was split into two parts, one on each side of the single. Richard Lloyd apparently disagreed with the selection of this song (preferring the never-released "O Mi Amore") for their debut to the extent that he seriously considered leaving the band. Reportedly Pere Ubu guitarist Peter Laughner auditioned for his spot during this time. *)

From its release, Television's first album Marquee Moon has been received positively by music critics and audiences, despite limited sales. Upon its initial release in 1977, Roy Trakin wrote in the SoHo Weekly, "forget everything you've heard about Television, forget punk, forget New York, forget CBGB's...hell, forget rock and roll--this is the real item." More recently, critics ranked it number 83 on cable music channel VH1’s 2000 list of "the 100 Greatest Albums of Rock and Roll" and number 128 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, in both cases beating out several more widely known albums. Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes the album was "revolutionary" and "comprised entirely of tense garage rockers that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the group's long, interweaving instrumental sections."*

Television's second album, Adventure was issued in 1978, to less fanfare. The band members had very independent and strongly held artistic visions, and this, along with Richard Lloyd's alleged drug abuse *, led to the band's break-up in 1978. Both Lloyd and Verlaine pursued solo careers.

Television reformed in 1992, recording an eponymous third album, and have performed live sporadically thereafter. Since being wooed back onstage together for the 2001 All Tomorrow's Parties at Camber Sands, England, they have played a number of dates around the world, and continue to perform occasionally in New York while touring on an irregular basis.

Members

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

Art rock musical groups | Early punk groups

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