(TV) A Thousand Bluebirds Screaming

[mike-tv@mjckeh.demon.co.uk]

Hi all,

Here's another installment in the Tv 'media blitz':


The Jon Wilde Interview

TOM VERLAINE

The Televison man explains his absence...


UNCUT: It's 13 years since your last album release. Where in the hell have
you been, Tom?

VERLAINE: Well, my coffee pot was broken and I was attached to it. That took
up a few years. Then I went to Iceland to look at volcanoes. I had a friend
who was a juggler and his veins needed repairing. That's where the time's
gone. On jugular veins, mostly.

UNCUT: You have two new albums coming out - one vocal, one instrumental. Can
you dance to them?

People can dance to almost anything. I personally dance at airports when I
hear jet noise. When I listen to my own music, I tend to spin on my head.
These new records - they might possibly be good to dance to.

UNCUT: Musically, what was your first love?

When I was seven, I'd listen to these classical compilations - movements from
different symphonies. A little later, I got into jazz - people like Albert
Ayler and Ornette Coleman. The first rock record I loved was _Five Live
Yardbirds_, followed by the Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown".

UNCUT: True or false? You and a young Richard Hell once absconded from a
private boys' school in Delaware and were arrested in Alabama for setting a
field on fire.

It was more of a pine forest than a field. I've not started any fires - at
least not any arrest-me fires. I've more or less tried to stay on the right
side of the law.

UNCUT: In the space of a couple of years, Television went from "the worst band
in the world" (Copyright CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal) to making _Marquue Moon_.
How in God's name did that happen?

Hilly wasn't far off. At the start, we were out if tune and wobbly in terms of
tempo. The difference came when we learned how to tune up. Also, we practiced
three times a week. We were driven. Personally speaking, the drive was to
satisfy my craving for honey.

UNCUT: _Marquee Moon_ has become a fixture in Top 100 album lists. Deservedly?

I'd put it right next to my collection of schlock-organ records. Just for
contrast. My all-time favourite album? When I woke up this morning, it was a
new collection of Sonny Rollins live recordings. Either that, or the record
about a guy who drank 36 milkshakes in one sitting. That's pretty good, too.

UNCUT: U2's Bono swears blind that _Marquee Moon_ has had as much influence
on his generation as Dylan's _Highway 61 Revisited_ had on the previous
decade's. Is that true?

He said that? Those are nice words but I'm not sure that's true. Maybe I
should start bragging more.

UNCUT: One of the best rumours about you is that you spent a large part of
the '80s playing darts in London with Scott Walker and, as a result, you
became a world-class darts player. Any truth in this?

Well, that's almost true. But the true story is that there were no darts, no
pubs, and it wasn't Scott Walker.

UNCUT: Another good rumour is that you were a heroin addict for many years.

Mmmm. That's completely untrue. I never had a drug problem. That rumour came
from a record label promo person who confused me with another New York
musician. Another record company person spread the rumour that I was afraid of
success. That's not true, either. It's just that I don't know what
'commercial' is.

UNCUT: The public perception of you is that of the moody poet laureate of
Eternally Disaffected Bohemians, Downtown Division...

Yeah, that might be true. Except for blind people. They're my favourite
audience and appreciate the fact that, when I'm not doing music, I sell plums.
That's right. I'm a part-time plum salesman.

UNCUT: Patti Smith compared your guitar style to "a thousand bluebirds
screaming". Would you thank her for that?

I'd thank her more if she'd said "robins". Or "vultures". You don't see too
many vultures in cities, except for New York. We have thousands here, but they
only come out at night. They like to keep themselves a secret.

UNCUT: Your songs have been covered by acts as diverse as Bowie, Siouxsie & The
Banshees, Rain Parade... do you have any particular favourites?

Echo & The Bunnymen did a version of "Friction" that was pretty good. I'd like
to have heard Ray Charles cover one of my songs, but it's too late now.

UNCUT: Neil Diamond would do a cracking version of "Torn Curtain", I suspect.

Hmm. Unfortunately, Neil is in my top five list of singers I can't bear to
hear. I'm number six, by the way. Neil is a much worse singer than me, and I'm
right up there wiith the worst. I'll tell you who the most underrated singer
is: Todd Rundgren. He's astonishing.

UNCUT: Jeff Buckley's _Sketches_... includes songs that you produced. What are
your memories of working with him?

All good. But it wasn't like I was hired to do a record with him. He only
wanted to work with me so we went in and did whatever we wanted. In the final
mix, they managed to bury all that was good about those recordings. A huge
shame, because he was the best vocalist I'd heard in 13 years, and an amazing
guitarist, too.

UNCUT: Are you at all smitten by the current wave of New York bands?

I haven't heard any of them. I'd hear them if I went to places to get my hair
cut. But my girfriend cuts my hair. Only one time did I pay to get my hair
cut. That was in England in 1984 and it was the worst haircut I ever had.

UNCUT: Frankly, what are the chances of another Televison album?

A fair chance. It's slowly developing. We've got about half of it done.

UNCUT: Richard Hell is regarded as the John The Baptist of punk. So,
Biblically speaking, who are you? Jesus or Judas?

How can I possible reveal that? If you're pushing me on this, I'd have to go
for Mary Magdalene.


Tom Verlaine will release two new albums in April on Thrill Jockey.


NEED TO KNOW

1. Born Thomas Miller in New Jersey in 1949, he later adopted the surname of
19th Century symbolist Paul Verlaine.

2. An early version of Television's 1977 classic _Marquee Moon_ was produced
by Brian Eno. Never released, the recordings are available in bootleg form.

3. Verlaine is an ex-lover of Patti Smith, who wrote "Space Monkey" about him.
Television's "Little Johnny Jewel", meanwhile, was written about Iggy Pop.


UNCUT, February 2006



all the best,
-- 
 Michael J. Cross    Visit http://michaelcross.me.uk for
 BSFA Magazine Index, Hull SF Group, J Cipollina & M Kurihara Discographies
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