Marquee Moon is truly timeless

I love that Piccadilly Inn recording.

In a perfect world Adventure would have been their third album and Marquee Moon their second with a 1975 debut gathering all the early songs, Little Johnny Jewel, O Mi Amore, Breakin' in My Heart, Double Exposure, Kingdom Come, Hard On Love, Poor Circulation, their killer version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door, and maybe Fire Engine for good measure... there really should be another Television album from the 1970's.

I love what Ira Kaplan says about Adventure. As it happens, I went to the Tortoise-curated ATP2001 in Camber Sands, England to see [what was purported to be] a one-off Television reunion. Yo La Tengo were on the bill. I happened to talk to Ira shortly after Television finished their set and he had that "seen the light" look in his eyes. He'd never seen them perform before and he thought they were great; he wondered what I thought (knowing I'd seen the band many times in the old days). I agreed that they were great. Richard Lloyd wasn't too happy with the rented guitar he was given and I noticed a couple of mistakes, timing issues. They hadn't played in almost a decade and the scuttlebutt was that they only bothered with one or two rehearsals. But it didn't matter.

 

I agree with you Guy, they really should have had an album out in 1975 with the tracks you mentioned and maybe a couple of others. They were certainly ready, but I think the Eno experience was frustrating and made Verlaine leery about producers.

 

Can't believe that I missed this gem back in the seventies.....is the follow-up
worthwhile or no?!

 

I've always cherished that 12-inch. That's got to be pretty hard to find these days.

 

Adventure is a very worthy follow up, not as overwhelming in attack, but just as magical in it's own way. Current bands like Real Estate sound like they spent hours listening to "Days" on a loop. It's a must have.

 

I have an amusing memory of cornering Fred Smith at the bar in CBGB. Everybody knew they'd been signed to Elektra and were in the studio. I asked him how the recording was going and he told me that the album was finished and that they were very happy with it. I asked him what the album would be titled and he replied, "Marquee Moon."

At that point I lost my cool. I went all fanboy on him and gushed that I knew it was going to be "A great album, a classic!" Fred got a little sheepish and demurred, "Well, I don't know if it's a classic..." but I'd hear nothing of it and interrupted, "Oh, I'm sure it is!"

Fred got his drink and made a quick escape into the bowels of the club. When Marquee Moon was released a couple of months later, it lived up to my every expectation.

 

Thanks to the internet its very easy to find.

http://www.discogs.com/sell/release/420215?ev=rb

Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though.

 

Some of those prices aren't too bad, although shipping from the UK will add a lot.

 

I'm tempted.....

 

Son of a gun, I just listened to "Live at the Old Waldorf" yesterday and have been thinking about Television ever since. I'm going to have to buy that second album now.

 

I wish I had a copy of the Waldorf recording on vinyl.

I remember hearing Marquee Moon the first time and thinking "Well it's pretty obvious that someone in Wilco likes them"

Then Wilco played MM during their covers only show in 2013

 

doesw anyone else hear a lot of 'days' in peter buck's 'murmur/reckoning' era guitar playing? i've been into r.e.m since the first album and only recently started exploring television beyond 'marquee moon', and on the first time hearing 'days' there was a weird flash of recognition....

cheers,
rob

 

They were fans, for sure.

 

One of those 'changed my life' albums.

 

Here's an awesome take on "Kingdom Come" from the 1978 farewell gig at The Bottom Line. Which I missed.

 

There's a pretty great section on CBGB and Television in James Wolcott's 70's memoir, Lucking Out.

 

I remember that joke Wolcott mentions. People would shout out "tell a joke, Tom" and it would always be the same one. I always thought Wolcott was a bit of a snooty fellow, although he was on the scene early and was one of its biggest supporters.

 

Two kinds of people in the world: those who wish "Marquee Moon" (title track I mean) went on forever, and those who think it already does.

 

Note: a comparison does not necessarily mean the two quantities are equals...and maybe if it's such a constantly made comparison, you're missing something rather obvious about it?

 

I'd love to hear a reasoned argument that links the two bands other than "durrrr.... skinny nyc guys"?

 

Keith Richards has called his and Ron Wood's style as an ancient form of weaving. If you want to hear weaving listen to this album...but you already know that. What they did with suspensions and little chord inversions/fragments was truly astounding. Like some weird amalgamation of pop, R and B and punk, folk rock and classical music. I always thought the idea for the guitar arrangements in Beast of Burden came from this album.
The ultra clean guitars left no room for error and they had to rely on instinct and genius and Marquee Moon was the result. It is one of a kind.

 

serious q: do admirers of this album here (I am one) actually listen to it in full? If I start at the beginning, I can never get through "Prove It" and "Torn Curtain." I notice those songs haven't been mentioned in the thread -- they have their good points, but are a bit dreary. And Verlaine's voice starts to grate on me by that point. So I tend to take the needle off after "Guiding Light". That track and "Elevation" are my favorite songs, so they make a more perfect ending for me than the real ending of the album. Still six great songs, but something to consider if we're thinking about "rating" the album vs. the all-time greatest, SH.TV-style.

 

I had had years of listening to the original and remastered cds before I got my hands on the Rhino reissue and was pretty disappointed with the sound on it. Seemed a bit weedier than it should have been. Maybe try a different edition.

 

It's a magnificent album but I wasn't impressed with that Rhino reissue. It sounded a bit anaemic with little low end, even compared to the cd versions.

 

I saw the band in Belfast last month play the album in its entirety (although they changed the track order so that MM was last). They were brilliant, much better than I had hoped (or feared), and the crowd was a lot larger that I had expected. As a bonus, a friend & I went for a meal in a local Indian restaurant before the gig, and the band came in & sat at the table next to us.