Television /Ork's Loft 1974

Television with Richard Hell, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca and Tom Verlaine. Recorded at Terry Ork's loft sometime in 1974.    Excellent.

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Richard Hell's Memoir "I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp"

The beauty of the memoir is not only the writer's life, but also the placement of the story.   For me Richard Hell's great book “I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp” is not only about Hell's life, but also a great New York City narrative.  With out the actual city New York, there would be no N.Y. Punk Rock.  Even though Richard Hell met Tom Verlaine somewhere else, they needed Manhattan to do what they had to do.  And the same goes for the NY Dolls, Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground and for god's sake The Lovin' Spoonful!

Many years ago, via the pages of Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine there was an image by Christopher Makos of Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell sitting close together on a couch, who were in a band called Television.  The image of the two and what they were wearing really caught my imagination.  From that image I became a fan of the band, without hearing one note.  I had imagined what Television sounded like by the various reviews in the underground and hip presses at the time.  I knew it was guitar music and I presumed the tunes were wild yet restrained like their clothing.  Some years later I finally heard the first Television album and the sound was even more remarkable than my imagination.  Around that time (maybe later..) I heard Hell's single that came out on Ork Records and I thought “Oh my god this is great as well.”

Ever since those series of moments, Hell has never failed me.  At the time I thought of Hell as the male version of Patti Smith.  Both were in poetry and books and they captured that poetic rock n' roll look. But all of that is just the surface.  After reading Patti's “Just Kids” and Hell's book, the city of New York is the same, but the personalities are different.  But both of course are extremely over-the-top talents.

What makes Hell so unique is his love for the written word, and I think that is what kicked him to do music.  “Blank Generation,” Love Comes in Spurts” and so forth are classic texts set to music.  A combination of jazz jive with a Beat's love of the moment.   His memoir goes into his songs, but also the faces and names that surrounded him and his creative work.  To this very day, Richard Hell is a remarkable looker, and he knows by instinct the power of the visual and how it would affect his medium.  Which is rock and rock is visual as well as poetic.

The stuff I loved about this book is how he maps out Manhattan with bookstores as pin-drops in various areas of the island.  It is a world that is totally closed in, but with great bookstores serving the imagination and the fuel that lighted the music.  I visited that city and went to CBGB's in the late 70's.  Richard Hell was on the stage, David Johansen was near the entrance talking to someone sounding like a Dead End Kid, and then walks in Johnny Rotten.  How perfect was that for a visitor from Los Angeles who is a Punk Rock fan!  This memoir serves the same hunger and excitement for me.

One thing that stays in my mind is how little one knows Tom Verlaine.  Hell writes about him with great love and horror disappointment at the same time.  A love/hate, but I never get a clear picture of what makes this guitar god click.  And it is not only in this book, but in all books about this period and series of characters.  Verlaine seems to be a ghost in every narrative.  Will there be a day when he will write his own memoir?  Now that can be interesting?

“I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp” is Hell still keeping the high standards of his other books, which by the way are excellent.  The memoir is very focused on the punk rock years, which I think will please the fan out there, but hopefully there will be a second part of this memoir.   Hell is very much of the 20th Century Dandy, and his outlook in life is basically to find pleasure, and his taste in women are excellent.  For those who read and loved “Please Kill Me” this book is an essential part of the big story.

  “I Dreamed I Was...” is the flip side of Patti Smith's memoir, and its a perfect companion piece to that book.  Both books to me are a love letter to what was New York, and how that city played in both artist's world and inspiration.  So yeah I love Richard Hell and I love his memoir.

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"Love Goes To Buildings on Fire" by Will Hermes

"Love Goes to Buildings On Fire" is not only one of my favorite songs by Talking Heads, but it's also a very warm and fascinating book by Will Hermes.  Focusing on the years 1973 to 1977, in New York City, is a combination social history and a love message to the artists of that era - who really defined NYC as a creative force.  A place that touched greatness from George Maciunas (one of the founders of Fluxus) to Patti Smith to Grandmaster Flash to New York Dolls to Philip Glass to Richard Hell to Suicide to Bruce Springsteen to....and beyond.

The first "other" book one would think of is "Please Kill Me," but this is different because Hermes pulls the camera back to expose all that was happening in NYC in those years.  So here you get a mixture of Salsa, disco, punk, and avant-garde jazz/classical artists.  Great snapshot of a particular time and thank (whoever) there are at least recordings that still exist.   And yeah, this book as well.

Oh and this is a galley, and the book is coming out sometime in November 2011.

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"Television: Marquee Moon" by Bryan Waterman

I have strong memories being a total Television obsessive before hearing one note of their music. Their visuals got me. A band looking this cool, I knew had to sound great. When I first bought the single "Little Johnny Jewel" it was like a dream coming to life. I knew this song was an odd choice for a single, and the author Bryan Waterman brought this up - but then again, one can tell by the visuals that Television were never going to play by the rules. If Tom Verlaine and company were animals, they would be under-fed house cats. Totally proud, and happy in their own world. But once they find food, they're going to tear into it like wild animals. 
And their music conveys that tension to me. When I heard the first note of "See No Evil," the opening song to their album "Marquee Moon" it was like being stabbed by electric guitars in a dark alley. Very violent, and very poetic. To this day, and many years after, it still gives me goose bumps. And "Marquee Moon" is perhaps one of the great rock albums ever. I want to say the greatest of the greats, but ..... is that too dramatic of a statement? 
As a music movement (which it wasn't really) the CBGB years were magnificent. I don't know if it was in the NYC water system, but it seems like the early to mid- 1970's brought out the genius of various folks there. The Ramones of course, but also Richard Hell, who is equally brilliant as Verlaine. The fact that both of them were in the same band drives me insane. Its too good! Besides Hell needed to have his own outlet -and he too made an incredible classic album "Blank Generation." 
And these two guys - Verlaine and Hell - were (or are) incredible poets. But focusing on "Marquee Moon," it is such a beautiful record with stunning songs. The ultimate guitar rave up album, but with the touch of "French Symbolic Poetry" thrown into the mix. But what Verlaine adds (besides his name) is a contemporary POV that is haunting and deeply romantic. But passionate in a very very cool way. 
Waterman's book is a good one. He touches on all the greatness in the band, and his focus on the lyrics is much needed. You may have read all the gossip in "Please Kill Me," but this is a much more reflective look into the mystique and wonder of Richard Lloyd, Fred Smith, Richard Hell, Billy Ficca, Patti Smith, and Tom Verlaine.

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