The Blow-Up

Performer: Television
Engineer: Wayne Vican
Producer: Tom Verlaine
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Television: Tom Verlaine (vocals, guitar); Richard Lloyd (guitar, background vocals); Fred Smith (bass, background vocals); Billy Ficca (drums). Recorded live in 1978. Includes liner notes by Robert Christgau and John Piccarella. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Tom Verlaine (vocals, guitar); Richard Lloyd (guitar, background vocals); Billy Ficca (drums); Fred Smith (background vocals). Liner Note Authors: John Piccarella; Robert Christgau. Recording information: 1978. Unknown Contributor Roles: Fred Smith ; Richard Lloyd ; Billy Ficca. The New York rock scene was never known for producing expansive instrumentalists. Its guitar heroes--a Robert Quine or even a jazz-traveler like Bill Frisell--tend to go inward. For a time, the seminal band Television, led by master guitarist and all-around dreamer Tom Verlaine, was a marked exception. While Verlaine wrote and sang crafty songs like "Venus de Milo" and "Prove It," his band is still remembered for nights of slashing interplay with 2nd guitar foil Richard Lloyd and Verlaine's Bolero solos on the punk flamenco epics "Little Johnny Jewel" and "Marquee Moon." THE BLOW-UP, a double-CD reissue of a 1982 ROIR cassette-only release, captures Television at its peak in raw live performances circa 1978. "Marquee Moon" was Verlaine's very own "Dark Star." The explosive near-15 minute version included here seethes with barely controlled musical wanderlust. As befits ROIR's reputation, the sound is minimally acceptable but the music documented here easily transcends the shortcomings.

Spin (5/99, p.153) - "...A club set recorded in 1978 just before the art-punk pioneers' (first) implosion, the pyrotechnics rank right up there with the new Built To Spill..." Q (7/99, p.147) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[nails] Television's live snap'n'crackle...and sophisticated viscerality of Verlaine and guitar foil Richard Lloyd in a way that not even their venerated Marquee Moon managed..." CMJ (4/19/99, p.29) - "...pushing the boundaries of innovative, post-hippie jam rock. No other group has been able to match the quartet's unique guitar duels, which were especially awe-inspiring in concert..." Melody Maker (5/1/99, p.36) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...realigned American guitar rock. Television and Tom Verlaine were probably the most influential US guitar group in the post-punk years and [BLOW-UP] shows why."

Television came up in the 1970s among the first wave of New York punks (Ramones, Talking Heads, etc.), but their ambitious epics and stellar musicianship were far removed from the proletarian orientation of their CBGB's peers. The twin guitars of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine made for a magical sound, further enhanced by Verlaine's poetic lyrics. Television broke up after two albums, but reunited long enough for a third in 1992, and have since staged sporadic reunion concerts.

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