Saturday, January 28, 2023

Television - The Blow Up

 


https://open.spotify.com/album/0w5P5fsgZzGKazzRXIZOg8?si=84zZsaVMRjSlprgmQuGrAA 

TELVISION IMMERSION DAY 4 - THE BLOW UP
Improvisational and beautiful. I don't think it was ever captured on record...'
Mary Harron on Television at CBGB's

No need for me blathering on today. 

Some of Television's best moments, according to those who were there, may well have been unrecorded. As they made their name, playing between 1974 and 1976 at CBGB's. For this reason, I thought it might be an idea to check out this aspect of their existence. Recorded and released slightly later. In many ways perhaps this was their natural environment, the live one which gave them the opportunity to stretch out and improvise and astonish people.

Live albums are not always a very enjoyable listening experience for me. Certainly not if you're not a huge fan of the band concerned. Of course you had to be there really, even if it sounds like a really great night. But this one certainly works for me. They sound like a different beast in some ways.

 The recording shows something of the genuine heroism of the band, the way that Verlaine and Lloyd worked together and against each other so wonderfully. How Fred Smith anchored the sound allowing Ficca to do his thing. How they could put a show on, not quite like any other available at the time. I think you get a taste of their magical energy here. What made them so special. In some ways it's as interesting to listen to the audience's reaction as the music itself.

Fittingly, this was recorded at their spiritual home CBGB's in 1978, shortly before they split. It was initially released on cassette in 1982 on the ROIR label. Then it was given a full CD release in 1999. I lik everything on here except Knocking on Heaven's Door which never seems to fit them really. Otherwise I think it gives a proper sense of what they would have been like to witness at their peak.

* The recording of course is clearly not the best always. But I'd say it does its job.


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