A founding member of one of the major bands from the original New York Punk/New Wave scene is playing in Spokane this week. Steve Jackson takes a look.
The club called CBGB’s was the incubator at the very beginning punk and New Wave in the mid 1970s. From within the walls of this Bowery neighborhood dive came the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, and the first band to play that room, Television…..
Television had a unique sound in that CBGB scene because unlike many of the punk bands, they had two guitar players who could actually play lead guitar. One was Richard Lloyd, who plays Spokane this Thursday night.
Lloyd describes the sound of the original Television:
"As far as I was concerned, we were like four teenage alien hobos from outer space with guitars."
The original band cut only two albums back on the 1970’s. The first, Marquee Moon, has been included on several lists as one of the most important rock albums of all time.
The band got together and recorded a third album in the 1990’s, but Lloyd has recorded several solo albums as well.
He says he plans a mix of old and new for this Spokane show. "I do a couple of Television songs, ones that I can do with a trio, and I do a couple of Hendrix covers, so out towards his hometown. I’ll probably do a couple of those, and then I’ll do stuff from my entire catalog, from Alchemy, through Loadstones."
Lloyd says he has continued to tour occasionally but neither he nor Television ever did many shows west of the Rocky Mountains. This week’s Mini tour will hit Vancouver, Seattle, Spokane, and Billings, MT.
Richard Lloyd is more than just a rock guitar player, as a visit to his Facebook page proves. There he has posted links and personal evaluations of topics that include neuroscience, art, finance, technology, and astronomy. He also paints and teaches guitar in New York City.
Richard Lloyd will be playing the Bartlett in Spokane Thursday evening.
