Television
TELEVISION'S EXPLOSIVE CLASSIC GETS A RERUN
Alt-Rock Godfather Richard Lloyd Muses on The Blow Up
Never mind the Sex Pistols -- on the list of influential punk bands, Television is near the top. After playing their first gig at New York's CBGBs in 1974, the group became de facto leaders of a scene that included the Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie. Edgy and introspective, Television created grandiose and gorgeous guitar rock that soared skyward on the strength of Richard Lloyd's searing riffs and Tom Verlaine's spiraling leads. Recently, a remarkable Television artifact -- THE BLOW UP, an electrifying, gritty 1978 live recording -- was given a second life. Initially released as a double cassette way back in 1982, THE BLOW UP has now been remastered and reedited. While the rough ambience remains, there's no doubt that this was the sound of the future of rock. Featuring six songs from the band's classic album MARQUEE MOON, a version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and an epic-length blast through the band's out-of-print 1975 single "Little Johnny Jewel," the 80-plus-minute album captures the hypnotic live-guitar interplay of Lloyd and Verlaine. barnesandnoble.com caught up with Lloyd in New York and talked about THE BLOW UP, Television, and the '90s alternative rock scene his former band helped create.
barnesandnoble.com: How did the original cassette release of THE BLOW UP come about?
Richard Lloyd: Well, Television was a band that was very careful about letting people record their shows and by and large did not let people record shows. That one got by. It was recorded at My Father's Place out in Roslyn, Long Island, where we played a lot of shows, and it was recorded on cassette, so the audio-quality isn't too great. We originally let ROIR release it because it was a cassette-only label and it wouldn't compete with any vinyl releases, but this legend has grown up around it, and, well...
bn: Is there anything special about that show?
RL: All the shows had moments that worked. Playing in Television was a lot like sailing: You catch the wind and see where it takes you. But it was also like trying to start a campfire, ya know? You gotta get some friction up before you get a spark, and if it's wet, you gotta blow. Television excelled at friction and blowing. In that particular performance I see a lot of flint and steel striking, which I think was part of the magic. My honest opinion is that it was a snapshot, but then my point of reference is relatively different.
bn: Looking backward, what do you think made Television such an amazing band?
RL: Hmm. Well, we did an audition for Atlantic before the first record, MARQUEE MOON. [Atlantic Records president] Ahmet Ertegun and [legendary soul producer] Jerry Wexler came in, and we played for them live in the studio. All the label people came in like a family of ducks, all in a row, from Ahmet on down -- they even filed in by height! And there were all these technical problems, so we had to play the music in one room and do the vocals in the other, and they walked back and forth between them. I remember Ahmet said, "I can't sign this band. This is not Earth music." I've always held that close to my heart as something quite wonderful, because it's true. The yearnings in that band came from another place.
bn: Twenty-three years after the band formed, Television is considered -- along with the Velvet Underground and the Ramones -- to be "godfathers of alternative." What do you think of the alternative landscape you, in part, helped clear the way for?
RL: It's a really odd thing that in 1975 when we were playing around there was nobody. Today there are better guitar solos in beer ads than on most rock records. What made Television special was that it was one of the first bands in any major city that decided that success could be had by establishing a scene outside the mainstream. I've heard countless times that we started the notion that "anyone can do it." But I'm not so sure that anyone can do it -- whatever the it is. A lot of times people start bands based on friendships and being pals. Television was not about that. There was something more desperate in what Television did. No one missed a performance. We never missed a rehearsal. Our whole lives were based around it. What we did was not based on pal-ness. It's like if a flying saucer lands and takes you away. You can't take your friends on that trip.
bn: Do you hear '90s bands -- either Television-inspired or not -- that you particularly like?
RL: I'm a hermit. I haven't followed current music since my stereo broke in 1975. I listen to the radio. I keep my ear to the ground -- I hear the subway coming, the San Andreas Fault moving, the Y2K, ya know? REM and U2. Both of those bands claim to have been influenced by what we were trying to do. The B-52's were one -- and the Replacements -- and there's a zillion others. The influence has become so ubiquitous you can hardly tell. But it's a very quiet influence, and it's an influence that has not made me wealthy. It's sort of like being an unknown knight.
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