On January 28, 2023, the world lost one of the visionary pioneers of punk rock: Tom Verlaine. His 1977 album Marquee Moon with the band Television would influence not just punk rock but other sub genres like post-mid-70s art rock, post-punk, new wave, alt rock, and 1980s indie rock. Today I’m going to look at a little thing I stumbled upon years ago called Television with Bryan Eno.
Marquee Moon is an easy top-five pick for me of the best albums of the 1970s, and earlier today I pulled my original pressing out of my collection and gave it a spin. It also reminded me of this little-known forgotten gem: a bootleg simply titled “Television with Bryan Eno” and Brian is misspelled as Bryan with a Y instead of an I purposefully. You’ll also see it referred to as 1974, Hollywood Session Live at “Fairland Studios”.
Television with Bryan Eno Demos
It’s important to note that, this is indeed the legendary 1974 demos that were recorded by Eno in New York that December. And equally important: they pre-date Marquee Moon by three years. The demo recordings were set up by then Island Records A&R head Richard Williams with Eno, Television, and engineer John Fausty. Williams booked space at Good Vibrations Studio in New York near Times Square.
In 2013, Williams wrote of the experience:
The five tracks we recorded over the course of two days, and mixed down on the third, have been endlessly bootlegged, often with inaccurate information attached. The tracks were “Prove It”, “Venus de Milo”, “Marquee Moon”, “Friction” and “Double Exposure” — the last of those being the only one that didn’t make it on to their debut album when they finally signed with Elektra two years later. The piano on “Marquee Moon” was played by Tom. Eno played no keyboards and did not sing on the tracks. And the location was not “Fairland Studios, Hollywood.”
Double Exposure (Richard Williams, 2013)
He goes on to state:
Tom didn’t like the way things turned out, and later he blamed Eno. [and he quotes Verlaine] ‘The whole thing sounded like the Ventures … It sounded so bad. I kept on saying, why does it sound so bad? And he’d say, ‘Whaddya mean? It sounds pretty good to me.’”
Double Exposure (Richard Williams, 2013)
It’s a fascinating first-hand account of early Television, back when Richard Hell was still in the band — he left in 1975, before Marquee Moon, and was replaced by Fred Smith.
You can snag a relatively inexpensive vinyl repress of Marquee Moon on Amazon.
The Tom Verlaine and Brian Eno Collaboration
So Island ultimately wasn’t a go, nor was a collaboration with Eno. And, contrary to the bootleg in my hands, this was not recorded at Fairlands Studios in Hollywood. Additional misinformation: Fred Smith was not the bassist — it was Richard Myers aka Richard Hell. Finally, Brian Eno did not provide vocals, it was Tom Verlaine.
Highlighted in a 2014 article on Pitchfork titled Invisible Hits: When Eno Met Television, author Tyler Wilcox writes:
Taken as a whole, Television’s Eno Tapes provide a tantalizing glimpse of an alternate universe where two of the most powerful musical forces of the 1970s forged a long-lasting and fruitful working relationship. Alas, it was not to be. From the outset there was, shall we say… friction.”
Invisible Hits: When Eno Met Television (Tyler Wilcox, Pitchfork, 2014)
Prior to Pitchfork’s article, Television guitarist Richard Lloyd would note in a YouTube comment to a posting of the “Marquee Moon” demo:
This was NOT produced by Brian Eno. Richard Williams from Island wanted to record the band and described that he would like to bring Eno along because Richard didn’t know anything about how to record in studios. So we said OK, but didn’t use a single idea that Eno brought. And then listening back we realized that Richard Meyers:(Hell) couldn’t play bass with Billy all over the place so he soon after left and we brought in Fred Smith, and the music got much more stable. This version is too fast.
YouTube Comment by Richard Lloyd of Television
The Marquee Moon Bootleg Demo
Here’s the video of the “Marquee Moon” demo:
Another note: there are six songs here, where Williams recounts five in his blog post. A commenter on Discogs provides some clarification on the final two songs, which the bootleg LP credits as “Obsession” and “High Voltage Pleasure,” stating that “Obsession” is actually “Double Exposure” and “High Voltage Pleasure” is another track that wouldn’t make the cut for Marquee Moon called “Fire Engine.”
Overall, this is a fascinating glimpse at a collaboration that could have been but wasn’t meant to be. It’s fascinating to hear songs on their way to become the greats that eventually made their way onto Marquee Moon.
Television’s CBGB Residency
The following year, 1975, Television would share a residency at CBGB with Patti Smith.
“Singer and poet Patti Smith … recommended the band to Arista Records president Clive Davis. Although he had seen them perform, Davis was hesitant to sign them at first. He was persuaded by Smith’s then boyfriend Allen Lanier to let them record demos, which Verlaine said resulted in “a much warmer sound than Eno got”. However, Verlaine still wanted to find a label that would allow him to produce Television’s debut album himself, even though he had little recording experience.
Marquee Moon (Wikipedia)
Ultimately, Verlaine got what he wanted with Elektra Records, signing with them in August of 76 with the condition that he would be assisted by a well-known recording engineer. That person was Andy Johns who worked with The Rolling Stones on Goats Head Soup in 1973.
Marquee Moon: A True Classic
In all, this demo session is one of the earliest recordings — albeit unofficial — available from a band that would go on to influence the works of countless of equally as influential musicians that followed, from REM’s Michael Stipe to Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante (Froo-shawn-tay), and Will Sergeant of Echo & the Bunnymen to Stephen Morris of Joy Division and New Order.
Where does Marquee Moon fall on your list of the best albums from the 1970s? Let me know in the comments, don’t forget to check out my video coverage below, subscribe to my Channel for more music related videos, and I’ll see you next time.
