Television (band)

Television were a cult Punk Rock/New Wave band from the USA, active between 1973-1978, 1992-1993 and since 2001. Its core lineup includes guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, guitarist/vocalist Richard Lloyd, bassist/vocalist Fred Smith and drummer Billy Ficca. Early on, their line-up also included guitarist Richard Hell, who would go on to front the Voidoids, another influential punk group.

The band were famous for being more technically proficient than the punk scene they were associated with, with their Signature Style involving complex, interlocking guitars (influenced by Velvet Underground, Love and Buffalo Springfield) and extended Improvs and jamming.

Discography:
 * Marquee Moon (1977)
 * Adventure (1978)
 * Television (1992)

Tropes: "I fell (Did you feel low?) No, not at all (HUH?) I fell right into the arms of Venus De Milo"
 * City Noir: The setting of most of Verlaine's lyrics. "Broadway looks so medieval", to quote "Venus."
 * Epic Rocking: "Marquee Moon", "Torn Curtain", "The Fire", "The Dream's Dream", "Little Johnny Jewel".
 * First Installment Wins
 * Magnum Opus: Marquee Moon.
 * Painful Rhyme: Verlaine likes these.


 * Perishing Alt Rock Voice: Verlaine.
 * Title Drop: "Marquee Moon".
 * Verlaine stealth-drops the band's name in at least two songs - "Elevation" ("'Elevision, don't go to my head") and "Little Johnny Jewel" ("He just had to tell-a-vision")
 * Self-Titled Album
 * What Might Have Been: Imagine if Richard Hell had stayed in the band and Marquee Moon had featured "Blank Generation" and "Love Comes In Spurts"...