Television

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Television was an American rock band from New York, formed in 1973 around the singer and guitarist Tom Verlaine and the bassist Richard Hell, two friends who badly wanted to be poets. The guitarist Richard Lloyd and the drummer Billy Ficca completed the line-up, and later Fred Smith replaced Hell as bassist. The group grew into a regular name at CBGB, the club where the New York punk scene of the 1970s came into being. The name is a pun on tell a vision.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album Marquee Moon came out in 1977 and is regarded as one of the most important records of the punk era. The follow-up album Adventure from 1978 sounded softer and more contemplative. After that the band split up. In 1991 it came together again and made the album Television, which appeared in 1992. Verlaine died in January 2023.

Influence

The music of Television was clearer and technically stronger than that of most punk bands. Verlaine and Lloyd played interwoven guitar parts without a clear rhythm or lead guitarist, and the group drew on influences from jazz and from 1960s rock. The minimalist music of Steve Reich also played a part. In this way Television became an important example for later punk and alternative rock.

Listening

• 
  Marquee Moon · Television, 1977
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1977Marquee Moon
• 1978Adventure
• 1992Television

See also

• Television
• Art rock