“Life in the hive puckered up my night. The kiss of death, the embrace of life.”
Tom Verlaine and Television weren't always go-tos in my normal rotation. But anytime I tuned in to that station, I was reminded of how much that music resonated with me. Marquee Moon is a helluva rock record with so many trappings, or "fixins" should I say. that drip with groove, intelligence and swagger. Tom and Television embodied the best of old school, 1st gen "jam rock" (Dead, Allmans, etc) infused with enough art-rock (Velvet Underground, et al) quirk to bring in an angular sensibility and definitive difference.
It was like Television arrived a decade after those West Coast and East Coast respective movements staked their claim to bring a delightful and fresh odd hybrid. New, but slightly familiar. For my age, I got turned on to Television through R.E.M. "See No Evil" was my entry point as expected, but then it went from there to so much more. Marquee Moon, not just the album, but particularly the song, My love of bands like R.E.M. and Television live very comfortably next to my love of bands like Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic. Creatively interesting music with movement, changes and punches Actual songs - or better yet, compositions, with lyrics that matter.
Good music comes in all flavors and varieties. Usually, the new flavors arise when a couple of older concoctions get smashed together, from seemingly disparate places. I aim to achieve this in my own band Natchez Tracers. For better or worse...
Peter Buck, and heck even Greg Ginn (Black Flag) are admitted Deadheads. I suspect Tom Verlaine may have been as well.
