Tribute to Tom Verlaine of Television

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, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 73. In May last year Verlaine had to pull out of what would have been a very lucurative tour of European arenas supporting Billy Idol. Tom Verlaine and Richard Meyers, later known as Richard Hell, met when they were both students at a boarding school in Delaware. After they moved to New York, they formed a band, the Neon Boys, which in 1973 evolved into Television, with Richard Lloyd on second guitar, Mr. Hell on bass and Billy Ficca on drums. Hell was replaced by Fred Smith in 1975. In 1977 Television released "Marquee Moon" which is regarded by most critics as a classic.

Robert Forster of The Go Betweens has said "Venus" by Television is the most perfect song of all time.

"Venus (Track Two, Side One of "Marquee Moon") got me on first listen and stayed my favourite track through the countless times I played the album. It was a pop song, while still containing all the fire and poetic lyricism of the band’s other numbers. It was a great rock song and a great pop song combined. Perfect, I thought. A song could be highly melodic and still challenge. Rivers of melody could be flowing and the lyric was “My senses are sharp and my hands are like gloves”. I adored the druggy drift of that, although I didn’t take drugs at the time. Even better was: “Richie said, ‘Hey man, let’s dress up like cops, think of what we could do.’ “Richie” was Richard Hell, Verlaine’s former Television bandmate and best friend in New York at the start of the 70s, when he wrote Venus. Besides the humour in the lyric, I liked the fact that Verlaine placed a real person into the song. Not picking up some “cool”-sounding name from rock history. You knew Hell had really said that to Verlaine. Real life inserted into poetry, poetry inserted into real life. I’d take that into my songwriting, too."

Have a listen to these rehersal tapes of Television filmed in 1974: here

"l was living downtown in Chinatown with this guy, Terry Ork, who worked for Andy Warhol... I had been playing guitar fora number of years. I never played with anybody. I wasn't the kind of guy who ran around playing with everyone on the planet. So, one day Teny says, "l know another guy who does what you do" and I said, "What do I do?" He said, "Well, you play guitar." So I went down to see Verlaine play. So Tom played these three songs. Instantly, watching this fellow, I just knew something was going to happen. Richard Hell was his manager, and we convinced him to learn the bass. In came Ficca, who had been a drummer in some blues band from Chicago. Terry offered us rehearsal space in his loft, and even offered to buy us the necessary equipment. It was an offer Tom couldn't refuse. So we started the group. We called ourselves GooGoo for three weeks, then we all went our separate ways to find a name. Richard Hell came up with Television. Tom liked it because TV was his initials. We were more like the Sex Pistols back then, in a way..." - Richard Lloyd

In '78 Television released "Adventure" which was also great. The band then split. Tom released several solo albums the best of which were 1984's "Cover" and 1987's "Flash Light." Many bands covered Verlaine's songs or cited him as an influence (The House of Love, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, The Blue Aeroplanes, and Echo & The Bunnymen etc.)

Patti Smith once said: "Tom Verlaine plays guitar like a thousand bluebirds screaming."

Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949 – January 28, 2023) R.I.P.