Gig #39: Tom Verlaine

‘Tom Verlaine was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and began his life as Thomas Miller. He began studying piano at an early age but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by Stan Getz. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz, and was only inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” during his adolescence, at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell (Richard Meyers) at Sanford School, a boarding school which they both attended. They quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.

‘After one failed attempt, Verlaine (with Hell) succeeded in escaping from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. He is quoted as saying this name was inspired by Bob Dylan’s name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past. He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca. The Neon Boys quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Stein. They reformed as Television a few months later, finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd, and began playing at seminal punk clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. In 1975, Verlaine kicked Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith replacing Hell. Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith when they were both up-and-coming artists in the burgeoning New York punk scene. Television released two albums, Marquee Moon and Adventure, to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978.

‘Verlaine is an advocate of keen and unusual (yet subtle) guitar sounds and recording techniques including close miking, delay, reverb, slap echo, phasing/flanging, tremolo, etc. Television’s first commercially released recording, “Little Johnny Jewel”, saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Going against the prevailing tradition of rock guitar for the past 40 years, he rarely uses distortion. Vibrato is a large part of Verlaine’s style and he makes extensive use of the Jazzmaster’s unique vibrato arm. In terms of guitar scales and note selection, Verlaine utilises the mixolydian and minor pentatonic scale like most rock guitarists, but his sequencing, phrasing, tone and approach to legato and other techniques is unconventional.

‘After the breakup of Television, Verlaine released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large. In the 1990s he collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for Love and a .45. In the early 90s, Television reformed to record one studio album (Television) and a live recording (Live at the Academy, 1992); they have reunited periodically for touring ever since. Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled Songs and Other Things.

‘Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. His poetic lyrics, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock’s most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. In spite of the adoration he receives from the media, Verlaine rarely reciprocates this attention in the form of interviews.’ — collaged

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Television ‘See No Evil’ (1977)
‘Marquee Moon is the debut studio album by American rock band Television. It was released on February 8, 1977, through Elektra Records. While often considered a seminal work to emerge from the New York punk scene of the mid-to-late 1970s, the album differed from conventional punk in its textured, guitar-based instrumental interplay and extended improvisation. As a result, it is also often cited as important to the development of post-punk in the late 1970s and 1980s. Though it was critically acclaimed at the time of its release, the album failed to garner commercial success. Marquee Moon has since been cited by numerous publications as one of the greatest albums of rock music.’ — collaged

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Television ‘Venus De Milo’ (1977, live in 1990)
‘Marquee Moon was voted as the third best album of 1977 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of critics run by The Village Voice. Christgau, the poll’s supervisor, ranked it number one on his own year-end list. NME named it the fifth best album of the year on their list. Verlaine later said of the overwhelmingly positive response from critics, “There was a certain magic happening, an inexplicable certainty of something, like the momentum of a freight train. That’s not egoism but, if you cast a spell, you don’t get flummoxed by the results of your spell.”‘ — collaged

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Television ‘Foxhole’, live (1978)
‘Those scandalized by Marquee Moon’s wimpoid tendencies are gonna try to read this one out of the movement. I agree that it’s not as urgent, or as satisfying, but that’s only to say that Marquee Moon was a great album while Adventure is a very good one. The difference is more a function of material than of the new album’s relatively clean, calm, reflective mood. The lyrics on Marquee Moon were shot through with visionary surprises that never let up. These are comparatively songlike, their apercus concentrated in hook lines that are surrounded by more quotidian stuff. The first side is funnier, faster, more accessible, but the second side gets there–the guitar on “The Fire” is Verlaine’s most gorgeous ever.’ — Robert Christgau

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Television ‘Glory’ (1978)
‘Television’s groundbreaking first album, Marquee Moon, was as close to a perfect debut as any band made in the 1970s, and in many respects it would have been all but impossible for the band to top it. One senses that Television knew this, because Adventure seems designed to avoid the comparisons by focusing on a different side of the band’s personality. Where Marquee Moon was direct and straightforward in its approach, with the subtleties clearly in the performance and not in the production, Adventure is a decidedly softer and less aggressive disc, and while John Jansen’s production isn’t intrusive, it does round off the edges of the band’s sound in a way Andy Johns’ work on the first album did not. But the two qualities that really made Marquee Moon so special were Tom Verlaine’s songs and the way his guitar work meshed with that of Richard Lloyd, whose style was less showy but whose gifts were just as impressive, and if you have to listen a bit harder to Adventure, it doesn’t take long to realize that both of those virtues are more than apparent here.’ — allmusic

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‘Kingdom Come’ (1979)
‘Not surprisingly, many of the songs on Tom Verlaine’s first solo album suggest the music of Television, his former band, especially in the use of vibrant and full guitar textures and frequent solo break sections in which to feature them. Verlaine’s fey vocals surprisingly do not detract from the gutsiness of these numbers. Several of the songs here utilize hooky initial guitar riffs in the tradition of 1960s bands like the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and the Beatles, most notably on “Flash Lightning,” “Kingdom Come” — covered by David Bowie the following year on Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) — and especially “Grip of Love. Several tracks, including “The Grip of Love”, “Breakin’ In My Heart”, and “Red Leaves” trace their roots to unreleased Television songs.”‘ — collaged

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‘Mr Blur’ (1981)
‘Tom Verlaine’s second album as a solo artist after disbanding Television is not groundbreaking or innovative as much as it is consistent. What is distinctive about Dreamtime, aside from its thick guitar fortifications, firm stance, and unwillingness to modify a sound he believed in, are the issues surrounding the making of these recordings. The first session was marred by the usage of poor quality reel-to-reel tapes, barely yielding only half an album. Not so much a set of tidy, trimmed concepts when one listens closely, as it is a vision of an artist laying it all out from the bottom of his heart. Many would easily admit Dreamtime is Tom Verlaine’s shining hour.’ — collaged

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‘Clear It Away’ (1982)
‘Tom Verlaine’s second solo album, Dreamtime, was easily the finest music he’d created since Television’s Marquee Moon. It was so perfectly realized that one wondered what he could do to top it, and when 1982’s Words From the Front was released, the obvious answer was that he hadn’t; while it’s hardly a bad album, the songs don’t rank with Verlaine’s best work, and though his guitar work is superb as always, he doesn’t appear to be breaking much new ground, content for the most part to recycle ideas he’d worked through in the past. Of course, given the sterling quality of Verlaine’s work, an album could be quite good and fall below his average, and that’s certainly the case here.’ — collaged

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‘Words from the Front’ (1982)
‘Of course Tom Verlaine really needs no introduction. Words from the Front is a totally forgotten gem coming after two equally excellent solo albums after he left Television. Both the previous albums had stellar production with Verlaine increasingly using overdubs for a “wall of guitars” effect, creating almost orchestral soundscapes rivaling the Durutti Column at times. And of course by the second album (Dreamtime) he was oversaturating the tape, thus developing a fuller, more dynamic sound.’ — Julian Cope

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‘Rotation’, live (1984)
‘Cover is easily Tom Verlaine’s best platter since his first solo release. This album sports unusual, yet wonderfully effective and imaginative arrangements which are sparer, leaner, and more intricate than those on his earlier releases. Production values are top-shelf great. “Travelling” is a funk-flavored selection with dry screeching guitar sounds and some later slippery modulations. “Miss Emily” is a rollicking, jumpy number which (despite its quirky vocal and production touches) in places anticipates later-period songs by the Replacements. Brian Eno-era Talking Heads is evoked on the kaleidoscopically nervous “Dissolve/ Reveal.”‘ — collaged

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‘Five Miles of You’ (1984)
‘Anglophobes and wimpbashers won’t hear it, but Verlaine’s light touch constitutes a renewal and an achievement. Synthesized ostinatos and affected vocals are deplorable in themselves only when they’re ends in themselves. Here they’re put to the service of tuneful whimsy that has brains and heart, a sense of beauty and a sense of humor. Goofy romanticism at its driest and most charming. Supremely self-conscious, utterly unschooled, Verlaine writes like nobody else, sings like nobody else, plays like nobody else. His lyrics sound like his voice sounds like his guitar, laconic and extravagant at the same time. After three years off the boards, he’s deemphasized keyboards in a quest for dynamite riffs, and he’s found enough to thrill any fan.’ — Robert Christigau

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‘Your Finest Hour’ (1987)
‘The Miller’s Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology is a 1996 double-CD compilation album by Tom Verlaine. It chronicles his solo career and his career with Television on one CD (including several obscurities) and the other CD is an edited live performance from London in 1982. The first CD covers the period of the three Television albums, Verlaine’s solo work and also contains a selection of previously unreleased songs that were allegedly shelved after being submitted for release in 1986. These tracks were recorded in London, and includes “Your Finest Hour”, “O Foolish Heart”, “Anna”, “Sixteen Tulips”, “Call Me The”, and “Lindi-Lu”.’ — collaged

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‘Bomb’, live (1987)
‘With this release, Tom Verlaine comes full circle to the style of his initial solo album. This great platter has an energized, mostly no-nonsense feel to it that is extremely appealing. Production is meticulous, if not normally showy as on his previous album, Cover. Flash Light is chock-full of rocking numbers of all kinds, ranging from straight-ahead, meat-and-potatoes types (“Cry Mercy, Judge” and “Say a Prayer”), to the quirkier “Bomb” and “Annie’s Tellin’ Me,” to the walloping big beat of “A Town Called Walker”. Released after a three-year silence, Flash Light was well worth waiting for; this splendid album makes an excellent purchase.’ — allmusic

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‘Cry Mercy Judge’ (1987)
‘Tom Verlaine’s impressive 1987 LP Flash Light sees the former Television front man firing on all cylinders as a master guitarist, popsmith and lyricist. Whereas Television’s sound is famous for its symbiotic dual guitar interplay, here Verlaine’s guitarchitecture reaches an unparalleled complexity, weaving layer upon layer of steely metallic guitar upon one another in a complex mesh of sound. On the individual guitar lines, Verlaine scrupulously avoids cliche and comes up with some really original and oblique riffs. Against this backdrop, Verlaine creates some of the best melodies of his career – songs like ‘A Town Called Walker’, ‘Song’, ‘At 4 a.m’ and ‘Annie’s Tellin’ Me’ are bursting with inventive pop hooks. Even Verlaine’s lyrics are top-rate, embodying a much more poetic and metaphysical aspect than the urbane witticism of Verlaine’s usual style. A truly great album – his best solo release.’ — collaged

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‘Ore’ (1992)
‘If you had ever wondered what an album of Verlaine instrumental music would sound like, chances are it wouldn’t have been this. In fact, the best thing about it is that there’s no way you could ever have anticipated it. It’s more a collection of sketches for … well, something or other. Some of them hardly get started and some of them outstay their welcome. Which is not to say that there aren’t some good moments here – there just aren’t any great moments – except maybe in “Ore” when passion creeps in and you could almost be listening to a Beefheart track from around 1970. Or “Lore”, which is nearly seven minutes of frantic, aggressive, almost-desperate playing.’ — The Wonder

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‘Nice Actress’ (2006)
‘Tom Verlaine’s first album in many years, Songs and Other Things, is not Marquee Moon. It’s not supposed to be (that was thirty years ago, remember?). Nor is it even Dreamtime – the best Tom Verlaine album. (Sure, you could argue with this and many would, in favour of the first, self-titled set. But they’d be wrong). It says right here on the insert: “recorded in and around new york city in the new century”. This is a clue. After fourteen years it makes sense that it should look anywhere but back, right? Tom Verlaine has nothing to prove to you, or anyone else. There are enough guitar heroes around who heard it all here first. Two things are immediately apparent about this album – it may be Verlaine’s most playful set of songs (of course Tom has always been playful, it’s just that no-one seemed to notice) and he’s finally found his voice. I mean, literally. He’s finally grown into the voice. Or become comfortable with it. In any case, his voice has taken on a depth, a maturity, and his singing sounds relaxed and, at the same time, more authoritative. Tom sounds as if he has a secret or two to tell you and he’s enjoying the telling.’ — The Wonder

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‘Shingaling’ (2006)
‘These are songs which confide, cajole, persuade, the warmth of the vocals matched by the sensuous nature of the guitar work. You’re teased with sound/sounds. Verlaine plays all the guitars and not for him the one signature tone. Instead there is almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to guitar noises. The fluid chiming of The Earth Is In The Sky, the churning rhythm guitar of Heavenly Charm, the fabulous, lush guitar strength of Documentary, Shingaling, with its insistent, nagging spiralling guitar lines, the delicate picked figures of Blue Light. Fourteen songs and only five of them over the four-minute mark, and most of them little gems of brevity, style and technique. The album is bookended by two instrumentals – A Parade In Littleton, which sounds exactly like that, and Peace Piece, a solo guitar track that sounds as if it drifted on over from Warm and Cool. The songs themselves on this album don’t particularly sound like Tom Verlaine songs; which means that they come at you from unexpected directions and lead you to unanticipated conclusions. There’s nothing here that would really sound at home on a Verlaine album from the 1980s.’ — The Wonder

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p.s. Hey. First, I want to alert those of you who are in or around London to the fact that the great art space Five Years is opening a show on this coming Friday called ‘Fragments’ that includes work and collaborations by three of the most brilliant artists who call this blog a home away from home, namely the writer Paul Curran, the visual artist Marc Hulson who’s best known around here by the moniker Tender Prey, and the visual artist and musician Esther Planas. Highly, highly, highly recommended. The opening is on Friday from 6 to 9 pm, and the show will be up until May 26th. Here’s the information on where Five Years is, how to get there, and so on, you lucky Londoner dogs you. ** Misanthrope, Well, again, the extra cents in payment that it would require for you guys to have 2-ply tp leads me to suspect that, public complaints aside, you guys like it that way. Should be lovely here in May. All bets are off in these climate changed days, of course, but I would say you have a very decent shot at visiting Paris during its finest hours. ** S., Stack! Everyone, yes, it’s Emo stacking time again over on S.’s addictive blog, and here’s how you get your latest fix. Like it, dude. Really like the evolving. Really like what’s happening to them. ** Paul Curran, Paul! Shit, we should talk. My fault entirely so far. Can we talk today or tomorrow or over the weekend? ‘Cos then I go away for a while. I’ll email you immediately post-p.s. And, man, I so wish I could see the Five Years show. Somebody had better document that thing very effectively and hopefully asap. So, talk soon, I hope. ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Thanks. No, like I said, I’m not inclined towards nostalgia, so it isn’t a problem for me in the novel. It’s more a matter of how to depict my emotions around my life and the things/ people in it most effectively. That part is a new challenge, but nostalgia is not a danger, I’m pretty sure. Oh, I see, about your question. Right now I’m drawing inspiration from someone in my life and from the effect that someone has on me. That’s the focus. ** David Ehrenstein, I don’t mind abs. They’re fine and all, and if they happen to belong to someone I’m interested in, they interest me because they’re part of the person and are obviously important to the person who went out of their way to create them, but I don’t have a fetish for them. Sculpturally, they’re kind of nice, I guess. ** Tosh, Hi, Tosh! Yes, I got your email, thank you so much! I’ll get in touch with him soon. Yes, thank you very much for that! ** Grant maierhofer, Glad you dug the work in Pisycaca’s post, man. Great, thanks re: the poetry chapbook. Would be very sweet to have. ** Pisy caca, I think it went pretty damned well yesterday, don’t you? Thank you a million again! It’s a privilege that you consider it a privilege, my pal. ** Steevee, Yeah, I think I’ve seen a few Bay films, mostly on plane rides. I saw two of the ‘Transformer’ films, and I found them to be guilty pleasures. No interest in seeing ‘Pain and Gain’ at all. And less now than before. Cool, I hope the new Almodovar is one of his really good ones. Why is 1600 words tricky you? Too long, too short, too awkwardly in between? ** Lizz Brady, Howdy, Lizz! ‘Happy as Larry’, gotcha. I’ll go find that today. Thanks! Touring exhibition, nice. Getting that set up, ugh, but it’ll be so worth it, as I don’t need to tell you. You have an artfinder thing, great! Everyone, go here and check out the new Art Finder profile for the awesome artist and d.l. Lizz Brady. There’s some work of hers on show there, which is one very good reason to click that blue ‘here’. See, now, I really like your paintings. The ones on Art Finder will have my examining eyes all to themselves in just a bit. No, I don’t know … I just don’t have an inherent love of paintings. I guess that, whenever I see paintings, I go, ‘Prove it’, and when a painting does, which yours do, it’s a great surprise and pleasure. I’m good. I have this annoying eye infection at the moment that isn’t a big deal, it just hurts a little and looks kind of weird, but I’m being interviewed/ filmed tomorrow for a Discovery Channel documentary program, so it’s a drag that I’m going to look a little weird in the show. A post would be really awesome, of course, thank you, if that pans out and if you enjoy/don’t mind. ** Chris Goode, Hi, Chris! Strange days indeed. No, you hadn’t told me which play you were working with. I think I know of that play. I haven’t read it, I’m pretty sure, but I think I’ve heard if it, due at least in part to its multiple authors, ‘cos that aspect interests me too. Wow, huge cast. How many people have you ended up working with? I know you’ve worked with a large number of people before, but not so very often, right? Really interesting about the effect of the piece/work as it settles. I mean, very interesting. Man, it’s pretty great to get to read you thinking about that here, let me tell you. Nice, so true, I think, about the people on the left, i.e. us. Ha ha, good. I mean, good observation not good for us. Turrell Day is in the planning and initial research stages. It’s looking like a go, although almost for sure post-my upcoming Scandinavian trip and concurrent spate of rerun posts. More love even than yesterday to you, man! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! Thanks for the good words. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Trip preparations are coming along, thanks. That’s very cool and exciting that the challenge of the adaptation is a fun process. I can totally imagine. ‘Angels’, yeah, I read it, a long time ago. I remember liking it a fair amount. Memory says that my second favorite Johnson was/is ‘Resuscitation of a Hanged Man’, but it’s been long enough since I read it that I don’t know if that standing would hold up. ** Will C., Hey, man, too you too! Thanks a whole lot for the email and attachment! It’ll probably take me a bit to read given my trip prep and then trip, but I really look forward to that. Fingers way crossed, man, like … way, way crossed. Europe’s good, I think. Cloudy, a little drizzly, but warmish. How’s Seattle? ** Sypha, Hi, James. Happy memories are cool. I’ve got a ton of them too. They’re better without nostalgia’s interference, for sure. That’s some serious reading you’ve got in store there. Very good serious, mind you. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. ** MANCY, I just read about that in the news this morning. Go, Seattle! I mean go re: its ‘anarchist’ contingent, not its cops. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Great to see you! ** Rewritedept, Yeah, it did hold up, you bet. Not sure about Skyping. It’s looking less than likely ‘cos of things I need to do pre-trip during the shortish window when your waking hours and mine align, but I’ll know for sure by tomorrow, and fingers crossed. Yeah, well, I don’t want to have a dog for a lot reasons, the emotional attachment and related responsibilities being one of them. I like all pets from afar, and dogs from afar seem the sweetest. ** Okay. I made a gig for you featuring the work and stylings of the great and very underrated, in my opinion, Tom Verlaine. Please attend my/his gig and see what happens. That’s all I ask. See you tomorrow.