Favourites : Tom Verlaine - His three best plus the lost album

I have already written about Television and their importance in my record collection.  Tom Verlaine was their lead guitarist. By the time I started listening to them they had broken up about six months earlier.

I therefore had to content myself with new music from former band members. While I have two or three by Richard Lloyd the other guitarist in the band they never really did much for me.

However I have over the years bought all of Verlaine's solo work.  While some of them are a bit pedestrian and have not dated well three stand out for me as albums I would happily recommend to anyone.  These include his debut solo album - the self titled Tom Verlaine. Many of these tracks were leftover from Television's second album, Adventure and it would have been great to have hear the band unleashed in the studio with them (I have some rough bootlegs of live versions).  Four songs standout on this album for me Souvenir from a Dream, Flash Lightning,  Breaking in My Heart, and the Bowie cover Kingdom Come.

Verlaine followed up his debut solo with the even better Dreamtime.  On this album Verlaine shrugs off Television a bit more and presents a more consistent sound. Some great tracks on this album - a personal favourite the driving Down on the Farm.  then there are the gentler songs Without a Word and Mary Marie.



Then there is the dynamic Bomb

After Dreamtime Verlaine released two more albums that had moments (the sublime Postcard from Waterloo) but were generally lost in 80's production and less inspired writing.





Then in  1987 he released Flash Light.  To my ears this is the highlight of his solo career and an album I actually play even more than Marquee Moon.

On this album he almost seems playful.  The band is terrific with Jimmy Ripp playing the Richard Lloyd role and Fred Smith on Bass.  Only Billy Ficca is missing from the version of Television that played in NZ at the end of 2013.

The album starts well with the jaunty but somehow menacing opener Cry Mercy Judge,

I also really enjoy the single A Town Called Walker which retains the sense of mystery.

 "This town's not a number it's simply gone numb" .  

Then it's the simply titled Song - "When you wait, it is not hours, just some forgotten sense of time"

Its hard to pick favourites from within such a good selection but other highlights include The Scientist Writes A Letter, At 4am,  The Funniest Thing (perhaps my favourite) and One Time  At Sundown.


I had not known until recently that prior to releasing Flash Light he had actually recorded another album that his record company declined to release.  I started to piece that together when I stumbled upon a 12" single of Cry Mercy Judge with two songs that I did not recognise.

Since then I have managed to track down 5 separate 12 " singles and ten of the songs that would have made up that album.

I think I have one more of these singles to go and then I would effectively have the whole "unreleased" album.  A challenge I will enjoy.