Television Turn Back On

Rhino Records will re-release New York art-punk pioneers Television's first two albums, 1977's Marquee Moon and 1978's Adventure, with bonus tracks on September 23rd.

"It's gratifying to see people still care about the band," says guitarist Richard Lloyd. "When we were trying to get a record deal nobody would sign us. We were clearly outside the usual labels. [Atlantic Records founder] Ahmet Ertegun listened to us and turned to [producer] Jerry Wexler and said, 'Jerry, I can't sign this band. This is not Earth music.' And I thought, 'Well there you go."

Concurrent with the album reissues, Rhino Handmade will release the much-bootlegged Live at the Old Waldorf set. The San Francisco show was recorded on June 29, 1978, and includes a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction." Lloyd's recollections are limited. "We were using big amplifiers at the time -- it was rather loud," he says. "That was the loudest tour that I recall."

Unlike fellow New York peers Blondie and the Talking Heads -- also regulars at the East Village hotspot CBGB -- Television never broke through commercially.

"[The label] would send cassettes of new bands," Lloyd remembers. "They'd marked one, 'You'll like this' -- it was the Cars. We listened to it and thought, 'Oh shit, this is sort of Television-esque, but commercial. All they'll care about is the Cars and they'll stop putting their hopes on us' . . . not that they had much hope to begin with."

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter