Tom Verlaine has left us

**Rob MacKillop** · 01-29-2023, 07:56 AM

Reported on the BBC app.

I loved his unique phrasing, timing, note choices. He had his own voice, and influenced and inspired thousands of guitarists.

Thanks for the memories, Tom.

**Doctor Jeff** · 01-29-2023, 10:13 AM

Oh no. Another icon of my youth passed. RIP Tom.

**Jimmy blue note** · 01-29-2023, 11:27 AM

I lived in the Village during a time when I could see Television and The Jazz Messengers on the same night. It didn't occur to me at the time that it'd be a toss up as to who was closer to Coltrane. Seriously.
Loved it that Verlaine continued to break new ground his whole life and yet Television is still edgier and more contemporary than anything out there today-to my ears.

**MarkRhodes** · 01-30-2023, 12:12 PM

RIP, Tom.
Loved Television. My favorite band from the "punk" explosion. (I never thought of them as a punk band but they were lumped in with them.)

Still love this song.

**redsea** · 01-30-2023, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop

Reported on the BBC app.

I loved his unique phrasing, timing, note choices. He had his own voice, and influenced and inspired thousands of guitarists.

Thanks for the memories, Tom.

We have lost another gem, may his soul RIP.

**Doctor Jeff** · 01-30-2023, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

RIP, Tom.
Loved Television. My favorite band from the "punk" explosion. (I never thought of them as a punk band but they were lumped in with them.)

Still love this song.

Well back in the day we called all the CBGB and similar bands "New Wave". I actually have a promotional album I got from a record company when I was writing music reviews for the high school paper called No Wave--still have it. Clear blue vinyl. It had The Police, The Stranglers and The UK Squeeze among other great bands. They were British though, no US groups.

What separated them from punk was the level of musicianship and complexity of the music and usually the lyrics. Also those groups tended to have a fondness for American guitars like the Jazzmaster, Tele and Explorer that were common in surf, not so common in contemporary music of the late 70's.

I had never heard of Tom Verlaine (TV) until David Bowie covered Kingdom Come. I figured any songwriter good enough for Bowie to cover was worth my listening to, so I got the Verlaine album with that song on it. Still have it as well.

**MarkRhodes** · 01-30-2023, 07:21 PM

I also loved their "Adventure" album. This is the opening track, "Glory."
I loved this band from the first time I heard them.

**Doctor Jeff** · 01-31-2023, 04:16 PM

Listening to Marquee Moon today--Tom and Richard Lloyd have a great interplay. One thing I noticed was how the arpeggios weren't always 6-3-2-1, for instance, they were often 6-1-2-3, and odd chordings. There was a lot of chiming going on, creating kind of a drone effect. The guitars were somewhat overdriven, but not too distorted. Each note was distinct.

There are a lot of echoes of other guitarists, like Roger McGuinn and David Crosby/Clarence White, Robert Fripp, also bluegrass players. Also reminiscent of The Edge, though I think TV might have predated him a bit.

I would certainly have seen them, given the chance. I don't recall them ever playing when I lived in Atlanta in the 70's/80's, but I could be wrong. I guess I missed a few shows there over the years.

**MarkRhodes** · 01-31-2023, 09:46 PM

I remember when "The Blow Up" came out, it was cassette-only ROIR release. (All ROIR releases were cassette-only.)

"See No Evil" is one of my favorite Television songs. This is by no means a great recording (-though it sounds a lot better than it did on cassette back then) but it rounds out the picture as it was live in '77.