Track of the Week: Television: Venus (1977)
If you don't have 'Marquee Moon', Television's 1977 debut album, I feel sorry for you. Seriously, you should stop whatever you're doing and go out and buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy of this album, because it will make your life better. Television were formed in 1973 in New York and got lumped in with the punk movement along with other great-but-not-really-punk-and-all-the-better-for-it artists such as Talking Heads and Patti Smith, presumably because they all played at the CBGB's along with the rockin' Ramones. They went through a number of line up changes, but eventually Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd would re-invent guitar music by eschewing pretty much everything that went before to create a delicate, poetic yet intensely visceral type of music that would have a huge influence on every band that followed, from the brain-haemorrhage noise-rock of Sonic Youth to the crystalline melodicism of Echo and the Bunnymen. Influential just doesn't cover it; Television rank up there with the Velvets in that if they hadn't happened, the dire consequences for popular music are simply unthinkable. Just close your eyes and breathe a great sigh of relief that they so definitely did.
I could have chosen any song of 'Marquee Moon' because, from the epic title track to the emotionally apocalyptic finale, every single song is unique, mercurial and brilliant. So I have chosen 'Venus', not least because it is the song that inspired Felt with both a name and a career. Television's musical dynamic was based around Richard Lloyd's virtuoso guitar playing and Tom Verlaine's untutored by just as exciting and expressive approach. As a result, both guitarists play wildly different but complementary guitar parts, which often manage to sound almost orchestral in their scope. In 'Venus', both guitars chime beautifully, and the expressive, unconventional solo is out of this world. Yet nothing feels showy or out of place: Television proved that long guitar solos, once stripped of blues cliché and prog rock excess, could be exciting and genuinely emotionally moving. Billy Ficca's drumming and Fred Smith's bass provide a solid rhythmic anchor and counterpoint for the two guitar heroes to weave around. Tom Verlaine's unconventional singing style fits the music perfectly, and his lyrics are abstract and poetic yet again with an emphasis on the emotional. In 'Venus', he speaks of the time he and Richard Meyers (later Hell of the Voidoids, but that's another story) bunked of school and set a field on fire. In the song, Verlaine is suddenly struck by his conscience, leading to the chorus' beautifully surreal image - well, you try falling 'Into the arms of Venus de Milo'. The language is simply beautiful - 'Broadway looked so medieval / It seemed to flap, like little pages / And I fell sideways laughing / With a friend of many stages.' And the way Verlaine sighs 'How I FELT' before the second chorus was enough to inspire a teenage Lawrence to form a band. This is a piece of music that is simultaneously able to bring you to tears and send a surge of visceral pleasure through your body. Television may never have come close to equalling the brilliance of their first album since, but then again, nor has anyone else much. 'Marquee Moon' serves as a reminder of what drew me to music in the first place, and why it's so important to me. Almost 30 years on, it stands as a benchmark of just how good music can be.
I could have chosen any song of 'Marquee Moon' because, from the epic title track to the emotionally apocalyptic finale, every single song is unique, mercurial and brilliant. So I have chosen 'Venus', not least because it is the song that inspired Felt with both a name and a career. Television's musical dynamic was based around Richard Lloyd's virtuoso guitar playing and Tom Verlaine's untutored by just as exciting and expressive approach. As a result, both guitarists play wildly different but complementary guitar parts, which often manage to sound almost orchestral in their scope. In 'Venus', both guitars chime beautifully, and the expressive, unconventional solo is out of this world. Yet nothing feels showy or out of place: Television proved that long guitar solos, once stripped of blues cliché and prog rock excess, could be exciting and genuinely emotionally moving. Billy Ficca's drumming and Fred Smith's bass provide a solid rhythmic anchor and counterpoint for the two guitar heroes to weave around. Tom Verlaine's unconventional singing style fits the music perfectly, and his lyrics are abstract and poetic yet again with an emphasis on the emotional. In 'Venus', he speaks of the time he and Richard Meyers (later Hell of the Voidoids, but that's another story) bunked of school and set a field on fire. In the song, Verlaine is suddenly struck by his conscience, leading to the chorus' beautifully surreal image - well, you try falling 'Into the arms of Venus de Milo'. The language is simply beautiful - 'Broadway looked so medieval / It seemed to flap, like little pages / And I fell sideways laughing / With a friend of many stages.' And the way Verlaine sighs 'How I FELT' before the second chorus was enough to inspire a teenage Lawrence to form a band. This is a piece of music that is simultaneously able to bring you to tears and send a surge of visceral pleasure through your body. Television may never have come close to equalling the brilliance of their first album since, but then again, nor has anyone else much. 'Marquee Moon' serves as a reminder of what drew me to music in the first place, and why it's so important to me. Almost 30 years on, it stands as a benchmark of just how good music can be.
posted by Jonathan Thornton at 4:37 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home