Marquee Moon is truly timeless

Verlaine? He cut a number of solo lp's, and got Television back together(well, except for Lloyd).

 

I've tried Marquee Moon a number of times and never got it. This thread will send me back to it again, hopefully with different results.

 

Gee, you think(sorry for the snide remark).

 

You should, but there's nothing to "get". It either hits you right, or it doesn't. Either is ok.

Name one album that you "get"? Maybe that will help in explaining why TV hasn't done it for you.

 

not that many solo LPs, really, and the reformed Television released one album, almost 25 years ago. What happened to the driven bandleader you described behind Marquee Moon?

? -- the poster was looking for Television-derived guitar sounds, and hadn't mentioned SY. Should we all respond, "yeah, I know," to every post we could? Wouldn't be much of a conversation...

 

Yeah, totally agree. A little more oblique perhaps, but they're in that second wave I think.

 

RE: Verlaine...he's not Dylan. He was driven in Television. Are your remarks honest questions, or are you disagreeing with me in sort of backhanded way? He's had 9 solo lps and one reunion lp, plus comps that I'd bet he worked on, plus playing out live. I'd say that's quite a bit of work since the original band broke up. Is it such a leap to think that a driven young man in his 20's loses some of that drive, or chooses to do other things that you and I may not be aware of, in his 50's and 60's? It's not for me.

As for my "snide" remark, the quote that I was referring to " I think they owe a lot to Television." And yeah, they do. Or more to the point, Thurston Moore does.

 

Tom Verlaine's solo album 'Flash Light' from the 8o's was brilliant. Songwriting was superb in every sense. Wildly overlooked effort.

When I first heard M M back when it came out, loved it. Still do. Classic.

 

yeah, they're honest questions, but it seems like you're not the right person to ask.

anyone else out there?

 

Had the same experience as OP. NME was my weekly goto for music although truthfully i didn't understand half of what was said.

Marquee Moon sounds timeless even today but i recall being horribly disappointed by the follow up Adventure. It's only in the last ten years when i revisited it that I revised my opinion to something better.

 

I was just farting around on guitar earlier today and spontaneously started playing the opening riff of MM. Even when I'm playing it sends shivers down the spine.

 

I was just farting around on guitar earlier today and spontaneously started playing the opening riff of MM. Even when I'm playing

 

I was just farting around on guitar earlier today and spontaneously started playing the opening riff of MM. Even when I'm playing

 

I was just fooling around on guitar earlier today and spontaneously started playing the opening riff of MM. Even when I'm playing it sends shivers down the spine.

 

Actually re-reading that Nick Kent review I can't believe how spaced out it was. Reading stuff like that at 16, it's no wonder I turned out the way I did.

 

Verlaine put out 9 solo albums. has appeared as a guest on many, has produced artists like Jeff Buckley, tours with Patti Smith, and Television (with Jimmy Ripp in for Lloyd ) seems to be touring pretty frequently these days..

 

As Ralph said, he had a pretty good solo career into the 90's and then the Television reunion album:

• Tom Verlaine (1979)
  
• Dreamtime (1981)
  
• Words from the Front (1982)
  
• Cover (1984)
  
• Flash Light (1987)
  
• The Wonder (1990)
  
• Warm and Cool (1992, reissued in 2005)
  
• The Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology (1996)
  
• Songs and Other Things (2006)
  
• Around (2006)

There was also a "lost" album produced by David Bascombe that would have come out after Cover... The Scientist Writes a Letter was the only song salvaged from those sessions and he also rerecorded One Time at Sundown for Flash Light. The Television reunion album came out in 1992 and then it was 14-years of recorded silence until his pair of solo albums in 2006.

 

Agreed 100% Wonderful album that is criminally underrated

 

I heard Marquee Moon first, but it was Adventure that turned me into a fan -- a bit easier to digest (simpler, more radio-friendly production, etc).

Nowadays, Marquee Moon is my absolute favorite, followed by Tom Verlaine (1979), and then Adventure. But the latter was still a great introduction.

 

Echoing the sentiments here about Ficca. Always thought he was decent, but revisiting MM over the last week-plus (thanks in large part to this thread). . .WOW. Great cymbal work throughout, and the triplet fills on Prove It, to pick out one example, are tremendous if you're paying attention. His style doesn't necessarily call attention to itself, but he's absolutely great. No way is Television the same band (or MM the same album) without him.

 

I found a two-part video of Television playing Marquee Moon live from '05 (was looking for a live performance with Lloyd), and the one who really impressed me was Ficca. That guy is a master.

 

I guess the silent period represents what I'm responding to. I also don't remember seeing concert listings or reviews for him in the '80s, just album reviews by Christgau, etc. So if he had a more active profile then, I missed it.

but there's also the fact that he drew largely on the same pool of songs written ca. 1975 for not only Adventure (which has been discussed here), but also the first solo LP. After that, the writing turns much more spare, almost instrumental at times. I guess there are figures with similar career paths, but not many.

 

What songs on Tom Verlaine date from the Television days? Tom's "Kingdom Come" is a totally different song (different lyrics, melody, and changes) than Television's, as different as the two versions of "Love Comes in Spurts" (Neon Boys and Voidoids). They just share a title. Aside from "Red Leaves" which is a rewrite of "Adventure," I'm pretty sure all the other songs were new, weren't they?

Dreamtime and Words from the Front are all new songs, as far as I know, and the songs are not different in shape or craft than those on the two Television albums. The only difference is the absence of Lloyd, Ficca, and (for the most part) Smith. Words from the Front, which prominently features Jimmy Ripp, is more or less a third Television album; the songs are just as intricately crafted.

And the "almost instrumental" thing was there from the Television days (e.g. "The Dream's Dream"). Tom is/was a big Ventures/instrumental surf fan. The whole Television sound is basically a combination of the Byrds, the Ventures, the Stones, and Dylan, not necessarily in that order, with a smattering of jazz ... and Tom has stuck to that sound ever since.

 

"Grip of Love" started life as a Television song; it can be heard on live recordings of the band during their final 1978 shows. "Breakin' in My Heart" was part of Television's set as early as mid-1975 - live recordings circulate, e.g.:

"Without a Word" (from Dreamtime) is a reworking of "Hard On Love", an early Television song (1975 - circulates as a demo). "Postcard from Waterloo" (on Words from the Front) is also a reworking of an early Television song (I forget which one offhand - it wasn't demo'd in the studio, but live recordings circulate).

 

And here's the original Television demo of "Hard on Love", later "Without a Word" on Dreamtime.