TELEVISION – MARQUEE MOON with special guest Will Sergeant.

This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album.

'Marquee Moon' is a revolutionary album, but it's a subtle, understated revolution. Without question, it is a guitar rock album – it's astonishing to hear the interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, but it is a guitar rock album unlike any other.

Where their predecessors in the New York punk scene, most notably the Velvet Underground, had fused blues structures with avant-garde flourishes, Television completely strip away any sense of swing or groove, even when they are playing standard three-chord changes. Marquee Moon is comprised entirely of tense garage rockers that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the group's long, interweaving instrumental sections, not through Verlaine's words. That alone made Marquee Moon a trailblazing album – it's impossible to imagine post-punk soundscapes without it.

Of course, it wouldn't have had such an impact if Verlaine hadn't written an excellent set of songs that conveyed a fractured urban mythology unlike any of his contemporaries. From the nervy opener, "See No Evil," to the majestic title track, there is simply not a bad song on the entire record. And what has kept 'Marquee Moon' fresh over the years is how Television flesh out Verlaine's poetry into sweeping sonic epics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

 With special guest WILL SERGEANT
Will is best known for his work as songwriter and guitarist with Echo & The Bunnymen with whom he has recorded and performed world-wide for thirty years. He also has long-term ties with the experimental side of life, in the fields of performance, recording and the visual arts.

Here he talks about his life as a Bunnyman and more besides before waxing lyrical about his favourite album – Television’s ‘Marquee Moon.’

Ryan Walker was in the interviewer's chair.

This event took place on 14th December 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk

This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

Happy Trails.