OMFUG
July 9, 2006 11:15 AM   Subscribe

Richard Hell & the Voidoids play CBGB's, 1977 (youtubefilter). Check out the crowd interviews between the two songs. Also, Richard Hell tries to learn a Television song from Tom Verlaine parts One and Two.
posted by bardic (13 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Tom Verlain's a fucking genius. He and Roger Miller are perhaps the most underexposed and underrated musicians of the past twenty or thirty years.
posted by inoculatedcities at 11:34 AM on July 9, 2006


Too quiet, that. Doesn't do 'em justice. I saw them supporting The Clash live in Leeds in 1978 and they'd have stolen the show from most headliners. Not The Clash though...
posted by Decani at 11:51 AM on July 9, 2006


Richard Hell and I share a tax accountant. Beyond that, I've got nothing...
posted by AJaffe at 11:57 AM on July 9, 2006


These guys were awesome. This clip brings back very pleasant memories, very uplifting. Thanks bardic.
posted by caddis at 12:03 PM on July 9, 2006


Long live CBGB's. It's almost criminal both CBGB's and OMFMUG are over. I remember hard core Sunday afternoons way back when and then as an adult so many different shows.

That clip brought out the nostalgia in me.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 12:48 PM on July 9, 2006


i saw richard hell supporting elvis costello back in the... possibly 79.

he was excellent and we had a long chat afterwatds. great guy. and marquee moon is one of the best albums ever.
posted by quarsan at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2006


most underexposed and underrated musicians of the past twenty or thirty years.

Um.. Television is one of the most popular bands from that era and consistently ranks in the top 10 lists of magazines and critics list. Pitchfork Media- holder of all things trendy- doesnt know anything about punk rock (patti smith horses isnt even on their list) but even they had to include television as #3 from the 70s.
posted by petsounds at 4:47 PM on July 9, 2006


Television was hardly "one of the most popular bands from that era." Critics loved them - but commercially they flopped. Outside of the NYC area and the UK they got precious little airplay and now if you ask people who would have been in their teens or twenties when Television was playing if they had even heard of them you would mostly get blank stares. "Television? Verlaine? Who are you talking about? Peter Frampton rocked baby."
posted by caddis at 5:33 PM on July 9, 2006


Oh right, I keep forgetting about Pitchfork's undeniable, supreme cultural authority.

And caddis is right: now people are paying attention to them but when they were actually still a band they could hardly afford to put out records.
posted by inoculatedcities at 5:39 PM on July 9, 2006


Oh right, I keep forgetting about Pitchfork's undeniable, supreme cultural authority.

that wasnt my point. my point is that there were hundreds of great punk bands with as much energy and ability that almost no one has heard of. television is actually one of the three or four that is neither underexposed nor underrated.
posted by petsounds at 6:52 PM on July 9, 2006


im with petsounds -- MTV etal = DEATH, not exposure
posted by Satapher at 9:25 PM on July 9, 2006


Hell's a mensch. A late version of the Voidoids came thru Santa Cruz while I was studying there, and decided not to go on when Club Culture refused to honor their guarantee. (Admittedly, there were only a dozen people in the joint.)

Richard Hell came outside and explained why he couldn't perform (if one club got away with it, word would spread and they'd lose too much on the tour) and asked if the audience wanted to spend the evening together anyway. A bunch of us ended up over at someone's house eating faux Mexican food cobbled together from the 7-11 dry and canned goods sections, and telling stories. 3am and the band had to start driving to the next town... Hell notices I look worried and asks if I have a ride. I do not, so he drives me up to campus on the amps in back of the tour van, probably half an hour out of their way. Very human, very funny. I recall he spent most of the night telling a would-be groupie how much he loved his girlfriend.

Still wish I coulda seen 'em play but overall, a great rock and roll experience. And that Neon Boys EP is a neglected masterwork.
posted by Scram at 11:02 PM on July 10, 2006 [1 favorite]


Excellent post. This is why YouTube links can make perfect posts.
posted by OmieWise at 10:08 AM on July 13, 2006


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