One of the shining moments from the late ’70s were the emerging post-punk bands. Collectively, they generated more than a wealth of material, often in collectible non-album releases. That era produced a goosebumps-inducing array of bands from the NYC CBGBs scene, as well as other locales including the British bands. One of them was Television. Unfortunately for fans, many of these bands didn’t last as long as their late ’60s/and early ’70s predecessors…but their fame did.
One of Television’s beating hearts was Tom Verlaine. After the demise of the band in 1978, Verlaine crafted a solo release, naming it after himself and issuing the set in 1979, effectively jump-starting a good solo career. Tom Verlaine was followed up with Dreamtime in 1981. Overall, Velaine released eight solo efforts, and has an essential 2CD, 28 track anthology of live and studio recordings. That set is called The Miller’s Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology, and was released in 1996.
On October 7, BGO Records, a UK reissue label, will reissue the first two Verlaine albums on a 2-fer CD set. The songs from those first two albums are digitally remastered and will contain a booklet with new notes.