Have you read any of those 33 1/3 books? They're short books, roughly 150-200 pages, each on a particular LP. Some of them are good, some are relatively lame. The best ones give you a little backstory on the bands prior to the recording of the LP and enough recording details to satisfy anyone left hungry after reading the liner notes on the actual product. [For those of you who only download music and have no interest in liner notes, kindly GTFO.]
I'm in the middle of one of the longer editions, this one on Television's Marquee Moon LP. So far it's pretty good and I'm kind of anxious to see how it develops. I'm halfway through it and Richard Hell has just left the band, replaced by Fred Smith, who was nicked from Blondie. In comes the Tom Verlaine vs Richard Hell squabbling through the press. It hit me how gossipy music journalism was. Maybe it's still like that. I don't know. I don't keep up. That might be part of the reason.
I'm in the middle of one of the longer editions, this one on Television's Marquee Moon LP. So far it's pretty good and I'm kind of anxious to see how it develops. I'm halfway through it and Richard Hell has just left the band, replaced by Fred Smith, who was nicked from Blondie. In comes the Tom Verlaine vs Richard Hell squabbling through the press. It hit me how gossipy music journalism was. Maybe it's still like that. I don't know. I don't keep up. That might be part of the reason.
So, I went looking for a clip of Television playing when Hell was still in the band, and it surprised me how easy it was. Seriously, just a few years ago even if there was a search engine good enough to verify that clips even existed, there wasn't nearly as much stuff online. And most of the stuff that is online now is uploaded by fans and collectors, and it's making a mint for Google, YouTube, and Blogger. And Wordpress, and Tumblr, and Instagram, you get the idea. Those fat cats are laughing all the way to the bank. That's another reason I'm starting to sour on this whole online world. Shit, a crappy fanzine would probably have more readers than a blog like this one anyway. Hmmmm.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the Television clip. The link is are down there along with an early Richard Hell and the Voidoids clip. The Television video is of a rehearsal in Terry Ork's loft in 1974. The Hell video is live at CBGBs in 1977 and is slightly better quality, but that doesn't mean much. I wanted to check the early Television more for the band dynamics that I'd just been reading about (score one for books) but it's just a rehearsal clip. No drama or stage posturing so who's to know? The mp3s down there are the first Television 45, "Little Johnny Jewel" and an alternate version of Richard Hell and the Voidoids' "Blank Generation". That was good to hear if for only to hear what Robert Quine's alternate solo would be like. Very cool if you haven't heard it.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the Television clip. The link is are down there along with an early Richard Hell and the Voidoids clip. The Television video is of a rehearsal in Terry Ork's loft in 1974. The Hell video is live at CBGBs in 1977 and is slightly better quality, but that doesn't mean much. I wanted to check the early Television more for the band dynamics that I'd just been reading about (score one for books) but it's just a rehearsal clip. No drama or stage posturing so who's to know? The mp3s down there are the first Television 45, "Little Johnny Jewel" and an alternate version of Richard Hell and the Voidoids' "Blank Generation". That was good to hear if for only to hear what Robert Quine's alternate solo would be like. Very cool if you haven't heard it.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Television - Little Johnny Jewel mp3 at Plain or Pan
Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation (alt) mp3 at Plain or Pan
Video:
Television - Rehearsal 1974 at YouTube
Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Live at CBGBs 1977 at YouTube Includes footage of the Dead Boys.
2 comments:
Hey Tom. Was reading NY Times and saw Verlaine had died a couple days ago - you've probably heard, but in case not:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/arts/music/tom-verlaine-dead.html?searchResultPosition=2
e
espen, Thanks for the heads up! I didn't see your comment until this morning. I was "otherwise engaged" on Sunday, hence a delayed reaction and the somewhat thrown together post. T
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