TELEVISION: A Season In Hell
Soooo, here’s a compilation I’ve been working on for a while — an overview of the Richard Hell-era of Television, made up of rehearsals, live recordings and demos recorded between early 1974 and March 1975. Consider it a prequel of sorts to Kingdom Come. While the sound quality is rough on some of these tapes, the music is essential. This was a very different band than the one that would go on to record Marquee Moon a few years later — raw enough to make that album sound like Steely Dan by comparison. But if the playing is amateur-ish in places, it’s almost always thrillingly amateurish. And Hell definitely brought elements to the table that were lost once he was gone — a satirical, tongue-in-cheek humor, and his, um, unique bass stylings. He might not have been a very good bassist at this point, but he sure is enthusiastic, and that’s half the battle, isn’t it? I also get the feeling that Hell was the driving conceptual force behind the band at this stage — dig the elaborate and fanciful press release he penned (reprinted in Bryan Waterman’s excellent 33 1/3 volume):
TOM VERLAINE - guitar, vocals, music, lyrics: Facts unknown. RICHARD HELL - bass, vocals, lyrics: Chip on shoulder. Mama’s boy. No personality. Highschool dropout. Mean. RICHARD LLOYD - guitar vocals: bleach-blond - mental institutions - male prostitute - suicide attempts. BILLY FICCA - drums: Blues bands in Philadelphia. Doesn’t talk much. Friendly. TELEVISION’s music fulfills the adolescent desire to fuck the girl you never met because you’ve just been run over by a car. Three minute songs of passion performed by four boys who make James Dean look like Little Nemo. Their sound is made distinctive by Hell’s rare Dan Electro bass, one that pops and grunts like no model presently available, and his unique spare patterns. Add to this Richard Lloyd’s blitzcrieg chop on his vintage Telecaster and Verlaine’s leads alternately psychotic Duane Eddy and Segovia on a ukelele with two strings gone. Verlaine, who uses an old Jazzmaster, when asked about the music said, “I don’t know. It tells the story. Like ‘The Hunch’ by the Robert Charles Quintet, or ‘Tornado’ by Dale Hawkins. Those cats could track it down. I’ll tell you the secret.”
Richard Hell, ladies and gentlemen, punk’s first PR man.
Take note! This isn’t a totally comprehensive collection — in particular, interested parties should seek out the Neon Boys EP, Hell, Verlaine and Ficca’s first stab at greatness. There are also a few tracks I left out that are just not that good. But all in all, I think this is what you need when it comes to Richard Hell with Television. Without further ado, the tracklisting:
ORK LOFT REHEARSALS, 1974
1. Fuck Rock and Roll (I’d Rather Read a Book)
2. Horizontal Ascension
3. I’m Gonna Find You
4. I Don’t Care
5. Marquee Moon
MAX’S KANSAS CITY, AUGUST 1974
6. You Rip My Feelings Out
7. Excitement
8. What I Heard
9. Telepathic Valentine
10. Change Your Channels
11. Judy
12. Psychotic Reaction
ENO / WILLIAMS DEMOS, DECEMBER 1974
13. Prove It
14. Friction
15. Venus De Milo
16. Double Exposure
17. Marquee Moon
CBGB, JANUARY 1975
18. Hard On Love (Fast Version)
19. UFO
20. Poor Circulation
21. Breakin’ In My Heart
CBGB, MARCH 1975
22. Blank Generation
theartofmadeline
stormborns
titsay
annaxmalina
blakekathryn
