Wed 5/8 @ 8PM
In the summer of 1975, the NYC punk/underground scene at CBGB was little more than a rumor in Cleveland, but one Clevelander was already an unofficial promoter for it: Peter Laughner, founder/guitarist of NE Ohio’s art/punk band of the moment Rocket from the Tombs.
It was Laughner who returned from a trip to New York bearing copies of the 7” single “Little Johnny Jewel” by Television on the independent label Ork Records as gifts for his friends. And it was Laughner who brought the band to town to headline at the Piccadilly Inn that summer, a glitter-rock nightclub located at the top of a building at E. 30th and Euclid where the Board of Elections currently stands. (Oddly, at the time, the BoE was across the street from Cleveland’s then most happening club the Agora). Rocket from the Tombs was the opening act.
Television were the dreamy introverts of the NYC downtown music scene, as charismatic singer/guitarist Tom Verlaine made clear with his poetic cheekbones and his name cribbed from doomed fin de siècle French poet Paul Verlaine made clear, unlike the crash ’em/bash ’em Ramones or coy popsters Blondie or the coolly rhythmic Talking Heads (In fact, for a scene so synonymous with punk, most of the CBGB bands were more different than alike). But Television were a band that on a good night could soar out of this world on tunes like “Venus” or the title track from their 1977 debut album Marquee Moon when they appeared to be talking off for the ether in a propulsive tangle of singing guitars.
Television didn’t outlast that album by much, breaking up in 1978 after a second studio album, Adventure, on Elektra. There was a brief reunion in the early 90s, and sporadic reunions after the turn of the millennium. Unlike many bands reuniting after a long break, the lineup includes three of the four members from the 1970s Verlaine, drummer Billy Ficca and bassist Fred Smith, who joined after founding member Richard Hell left in 1975. Guitarist Jimmy Rip has rounded out the lineup since 2007.
The band returns to town to play the Beachland Ballroom this week; tickets are $40. Detroit musician Dan Kroha opens.