I always thought (despite their one reunion album in the 90s) it's too bad Television didn't have enough momentum to make a go of it the first time around. But looking back on these albums from a distance of thirty years, I'm thinking maybe it was just as well - after all, if they're still good enough to be talked about thirty years later, then maybe they simply translate over space and time, and perhaps long after many mainstream acts run out of tricks and illusions, Television's Marquee Moon and Adventure will continue to work their magic, reaching out from the past to speak to listeners in the future.
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Article comments
1 - metal dad
nice piece. Marquee Moon remains one of the most transcendent pieces of recorded music i have ever heard. thanks for the look back at these important recordings
2 - Glen Boyd
Good to see you back in the fray Skeet.
I agree with you 100% about Marquee Moon by the way. But the one time I actually saw Television was on the short tour they did for that reunion album in the nineties. They only played New York and L.A...which is where I saw them as I lived there at the time.
Weird show too. The theatre had some sort of agreement with a halfway house nearby, so during intermission I was outside smoking cigarettes with a bunch of mental patients. Honestly, I'm not making that up.
Anyway, for me---and this is probably going to sound really weird---Marquee Moon sounds like Paul Butterfield's East/West crossed with Love's Forever Changes. Dont ask me why, but thats how it always struck me.
And that's not a bad thing by the way.
Great piece as always.
-Glen
3 - Christopher Rose
Marquee Moon is simply one of the most perfect records I've ever heard. Can't get into Adventure though, which is a real shame.
4 - JC Mosquito
The reissue of Adventure actually has the title track, "Adventure," which never made it to the original recording. I think Television was trying for something different here - they didn't want to just remake Marquee Moon. But, notorious song resequencer that I am, I find that you can combine the two albums, along with the Little Johnny Jewel bonus track, and make yourself one super deluxe Television compilation.
I'd give Adventure a shot again, Chris.
Glen - East/West meets Forever Changes? Yeah, I can kinda see it - not as weird a description as you might think. There was a local band up here about 25 years ago whose name escapes me at the moment, and I always thought they were a cross between Yes and the Ramones.
Thanx for your comments as always, gentlemen.