Tom Verlaine passed away a couple of days ago. I'm not even sure if the name registers with many of you. Verlaine was the lead singer and guitarist of the band Television, a band associated with the early New York punk scene. In fact it was them that convinced Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB, to give music other than country, bluegrass and blues a shot (CBGB being an acronym). Though lumped together with punk rock, Television really wasn't. They were a brainy flash-free band with excellent guitar interplay, between Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, that was more like distortion-less Neil Young than someone like the Stooges.
I've wanted to post some Television stuff for a while but was never able to track down anything from their first LP, Marquee Moon. It's baddass, a listener's album. Headphone shit. Check these and then think of them juxtaposed with the Ramones, another early CBGB band. Both are punk rock...somewhere.
Television - See No Evil mp3 at Internet Archive
Television - Marquee Moon mp3 at Internet Archive
Television - Friction mp3 at Internet Archive
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