Television Live at the Old Waldorf San Francisco 6/29/78
Released: September 23, 2003 Origination Year: 1978 Time: 66:08 Tracks: 9 Produced by: Patrick Milligan & Andy Zax Style: Live Format: CD Enhancement: None Website:

A writer's tip for you, free of charge: start a piece describing something as current as today, then finish the establishing statement by revealing this was a past occurrence. It's a trick that never runs out of steam because everything is cyclical.

Here's an example. It was time for a small music revolution. Things had become so slick, smooth and polished that even what was being touted as "edgy" and "different" was just such on a marginalized field. A thirty-degree day is positively balmy after three weeks of temperatures in the teens. Now, I could be talking about Nirvana and Pearl Jam shaking things up at the early part of the 90s. I could be wishing on a star for our current time, seeing as how we've fallen into familiar, baby-friendly territory. Heck, I could even be talking about Elvis Presley. In fact, I'm referring to the New York new wave / punk movement of the 1970s. There's your free lesson; use it well.

So how raucous and wild were these bands? Well, Joey Ramone's Bronx-Cockney accent, Patti Smith's primal scream, David Byrne's art school disconnectedness all seemed a far cry from disco, James Taylor and mellow residue of late 1960s superstars. Some of it was by accident, meaning that the prevalent do-it-yourself attitude brought forth artists that, in other times, wouldn't have been given much thought. Some of it was on purpose because the old rock jalopy needed a jumpstart to the battery. In every respect, Television exemplified both those mindsets.

Richard Lloyd had formerly been with another NYC band of upstarts, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, but it wasn't until he joined with Tom Verlaine, he of the languid literary verse and the bracing, unearthly voice, that things started really getting interesting. Their first release for Elektra Records in 1977, Marquee Moon, introduced what was then a radical way of playing dual guitars. Previously, one guitar supported rhythm while the other soloed. Not here, as Verlaine and Lloyd's guitar lines bobbed, interwove, provided point-counterpoint and achieved a new sophistication more common in classical string arrangement than rock. Anchoring this lofty idea was the powerhouse rhythm section of Fred Smith on bass and Billy Ficca on drums.

To the uninitiated, Television might have sounded atonal and kind of scary. I was scared on my first time fifteen years ago when I found a UK single of "Marquee Moon", split between sides 1 and 2 to accommodate the epic length of the thing, around ten minutes. But the more I listened, the more I heard what everyone was talking about. Verlaine would never be able to sing in a 70s pop group. His voice is a bit too grating for that, but that's the point. The guitars don't have the kind of bend and pull of the Allman Bros., Clapton or any of that era's rock gods. Again, that's the point.

But how much of that comes through in the live setting? I'm glad to say, everything and more. Made available solely on the Rhino Handmade website, the limited edition Television " Live At The Old Waldorf is a stinging indictment of today's rock stars who can't do it for real before an audience. Listen to the punch on "Ain't That Nothin'", or the live rendition of the band's first release, "Little Johnny Jewel" or, if you can believe it, an extended jam on "Marquee Moon". That is all live, no overdubs, no keyboard loops, no sweetening involved; just punk raised to the level of art, or artrock even those without PhDs can appreciate.

The revelation of this disc is the very faithful, very natural sounding cover of The Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", done for the encore. You'd think it would wind up like a mutant stepchild once Television's slightly angular sound reinterpreted it, but guess again. The band makes no compromises, gives nothing of their unique talent up and yet produces a glowing tribute anyway. The track either shows how volatile and powerful early Rolling Stones music was, or reminds us of what the basics could, and should, sound like.

The disc is the perfect compliment to Rhino's recent remasters of Marquee Moon and the equally fantastic Adventure. Packaged in a miniature gatefold just as the others, Live At The Old Waldorf seems very much like a part of a whole rather than an exploited extra. Fans are definitely encouraged to snap this one up at www.rhinohandmade.com, as it is a very limited run.

In conclusion, everything is cyclical. Trends come and go and, eventually, people return to that which seems authentic, original and different. It's so common that writers have used the analogy unfailingly since the beginning of modern criticism. We're waiting for our tables to turn, but don't pass up this opportunity to hear what turned them more than 25 years ago, and ask yourself why today's idols aren't even half as dangerous.

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