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 and 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 , drummer Billy Ficca, and bassist . At the end of 1973, the group reunited under the name Television, adding rhythm guitarist . 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 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, played guitar on '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 in 1975, yet the label decided not to sign the band.
left the band after the recording of the demo tape, forming the Heartbreakers with former guitarist ; the following year, he began a solo career supported by , releasing a debut album, , in 1977. was replaced by ex- 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.
, 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 singles "Prove It" and "Foxhole." Television supported on the group's 1977 tour, but the shows didn't increase the group's following significantly.
Television released their second album, , in the spring of 1978. While its American sales were better than those of , 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.
rejoined , while and both pursued solo careers; also played on 's first solo album, as well as joined 's supporting band with the 1991 album .
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 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Television, formed in in 1973, is an band. Although Television never achieved mainstream commercial success, they are widely understood as key founders of the and genres.
the . In contrast to the Ramones's artistic focus on minimalist amateurism, Television's music was much more technically proficient, defined by the dueling of and . In retrospect, Television pointed together as the Neon Boys.
Hell and Verlaine met at St. Andrew's boarding school in Middletown, Delaware, from which they ran away. Later the two would move separately to New York in the early 1970s aspiring to be poets.
Together with another Delawarean, Billy Ficca, they formed the Neon Boys in New York. 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 as a second guitarist. They persuaded 's owner to give the band a regular gig at his club which had just opened on the in New York.
(Kristal had planned on dedicating the space to , and , but punk found a home there first). Television was the first rock group to perform at the club, which was to become, along with , the center of the burgeoning punk scene. The members of Television reportedly constructed the first stage at CBGB's where they quickly established a significant cult following.
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 with both instruments and composition, while Hell remained defiantly untrained in his approach. Verlaine, feeling that Hell's frantic onstage demeanour was upstaging his songs, reportedly told him to "stop jumping around" , and ultimately refused to play Hell's songs (such as " ") in concert.
This led Hell to leave the group and take his songs with him, forming Though Verlaine and Lloyd were nominally " " and " " guitarists, they often rendered such labels obsolete by crafting deft, interlocking parts where the ostensible backing role could be just as intriguing as the . Al Handa writes, "Lloyd was the guitarist who affected the of the music more often than not, and 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.
As with many emerging punk bands, the influence of was pervasive. Television also drew inspiration from composers such as Television's approach to the guitar, and he has also expressed a fondness for and the , two groups noted for their dual-guitar interplay.
Television's ties to punk were underscored by their late 60s garage-rock leanings, as the band often covered The 's "Psychotic Reaction" and the "Fire Engine" in concert.
Lester Bangs and other Rolling Stone Magazine critics, due to the band's interlocking and psychedelic guitar playing and solos. Music on Tom Verlaine's solo albums has also been compared to the playing of .
Tom Verlaine however has downplayed the comparison, citing as a more apt reference point. . Music critics, however, continue to see the influence of the late 60s San Francisco scene in the band, Records in 1975.
The song was split into two parts, one on each side of the single. Richard Lloyd apparently disagreed considered leaving the band. Reportedly guitarist auditioned for his spot during this time.
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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." Recently, critics ranked it number 83 on cable music channel ’s 2000 list of "the 100 the 500 greatest albums of all time.
It was ranked number two on Uncut magazine's 100 Greatest Debut Records. Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes the album was "revolutionary" and "comprised entirely of tense that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the group's long, interweaving instrumental sections."
Television's second album, 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 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 dates around the world, and continue to perform occasionally in New York while touring on an irregular basis.
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