Review #107: Marquee Moon, Television

Karla Clifton
2 min readJun 14, 2021

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#107: Marquee Moon, Television

Because I’ve read a lot of books about seventies punk, I’ve listened to most of Television’s music. I was excited for Television to be on the list, but was massively disappointed that Richard Hell & the Voidoids weren’t! I love the album Blank Generation so much.

Richard Hell was actually in Television for a little while, until lead singer Tom Verlaine kicked him out for being drunk all the time. Tom Verlaine also dated Patti Smith, which is fun.

I think Television is the best ’70s punk band by far, even better than the Velvet Underground. They have all the things you love about ’70s punk — strangled screaming, sparse scratchy guitars, ten-minute guitar solos — but they never make it feel like you’re being tortured.

FAVORITE SONGS:

“See No Evil” — That’s a bold song title for a band that had a guitarist called Richard Hell in it.

“Venus” — He’s got a divisive voice but I kinda think he sounds like a male Patti Smith.

“Friction” — What a delicious guitar part.

“Marquee Moon” — This song is a masterpiece. I wish ten-minute-long guitar solos were still in vogue. Tom Verlaine told Melody Maker that this song used to have 20 verses, which makes so much sense. I would love to actually read all 20 verses.

“Guiding Light” — Wow, for a second I thought that this was “I Can Feel A Hot One” by Manchester Orchestra.

“Prove It” This case is CLOSED!

LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:

“Elevation” — Okay, his voice is a little grating here.

“Torn Curtain” — Plods on for just a tiny bit too long.

IS RS FULL OF IT?

Like I said, I wish that Marquee Moon’s sister album Blank Generation was included as well. It was released the same year and everything! I belong to the — generation and/ I can take it or leave it each time!

But no, in this case RS isn’t full of it.

Review #106: Live Through This, Hole

Review #108: When The Pawn…, Fiona Apple

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