TOM VERLAINE 1949-2023

Following the death of Television's new wave icon in January, producer and influential ex-Bush guitarist Nigel Pulsford pays a personal tribute

Being asked to write a piece on Tom Verlaine just after his passing at the relatively young age of 73 is very daunting. It feels hard to write about a hero and I want to do him justice. Recently, we’ve also sadly lost Jeff Beck, Keith Levene and Wilko Johnson among others. In remembering guitar players, what is it that sparks a memory? Perhaps they played on your favourite song, inspired you to play, made you feel happy when you heard them – and maybe even made you consider giving up! The guitarists mentioned before were all unique and influenced what came after. Tom Verlaine easily sits among this group of players.

The first Television album, Marquee Moon, from 1977, was one of those rarities that seemed to come out of combining influences from far and wide to produce something unique. Those melodic musical sensibilities informed the chiming jagged guitar parts, while Tom’s vocal delivery influenced the new wave stylings that followed their debut – from Gang Of Four to The Strokes, Sonic Youth to Pavement, The Smiths to REM.

Verlaine’s lyric writing – fed by his poetic leanings, noirish film imagery and New York’s steamy underbelly – granted the music a decidedly different, spooky dynamic: a sense of daring and a dramatic theatrical tinge bringing the written word into a shadowy half-light. There was no doubt that they were from the East Coast, which had produced the likes of The Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Patti Smith and Suicide. Influences from further afield were also evident – The 13th Floor Elevators, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, The Doors and Love, for example.