Tom Verlaine / Television Quiz:

Part Three: Quotes

Who said?:

1) "He [Verlaine] plays lead guitar with angular inverted passion like a thousand bluebirds screaming... he is blessed with long veined hands reminiscent of the great poet strangler ..." (45 points)

  • a) John Rockwell, The New York Times
  • b) Clinton Heylin, From The Velvets To The Voidoids
  • c) Patti Smith
  • d) Sam Shepard, ‘Cowboy Mouth’

2) "I actually like rhythm guitar more than lead in a certain way. I love playing rhythm guitar!" (30 points)

  • a) Richard Lloyd
  • b) Jimmy Ripp
  • c) Tom Verlaine

3) "Eddie Van Halen and all that boys’ band music is just wacking off. ‘Look at my fingers! They never stop moving’." (20 points)

  • a) Billy Ficca
  • b) Fred Smith
  • c) Richard Lloyd
  • d) Tom Verlaine

4) "We’re just as much underdogs as we ever where... There’s so much prejudice against New Yorkers it’s incredible...You walk into a radio station and a guy looks at you like, ‘Here’s another bunch of N.Y. assholes.’ I don’t mind if they play the record or not, but I’d really like it if they’d listen to it." (25 points)

  • a) Richard Hell
  • b) Tom Verlaine
  • c) Richard Lloyd
  • d) Fred Smith

5) "When Fred [Smith] came in and replaced [Richard] Hell, I couldn’t deny that the music got twenty times better." (25 points)

  • a) Richard Lloyd
  • b) Lenny Kaye
  • c) Billy Ficca
  • d) Tom Verlaine

6) (i) " ... [he] has the most beautiful neck in rock and roll. Real swan-like - fragile yet strong. He's a creature of opposites. The way he comes on like a dirt farmer and a prince ...’’ (25 points) (ii) Who was the ‘he’, i.e., to whom was the speaker referring? (15 points)

7) "I can not play lead guitar and sing at the same time." (35 points)

  • a) Tom Verlaine
  • b) Richard Lloyd

8) (i) "We were dropping acid - and he would really open up then; he more or less revealed that he had this fundamental belief in his absolute inherent superiority to everyone else on this earth." (65 points) (ii) Who was this speaker in (i) talking about, i.e., who was the ‘he’? (35 points)

9) Who was the Philistine who wrote: "Somewhat mysteriously, Television was the most widely touted band to emerge from the N.Y. New Wave. But Marquee Moon showed the group as the exclusive project of guitarist Tom Verlaine, an interesting Jerry Garcia influenced guitarist who lacked melodic ideas or any emotional sensibility." [emphasis added] (150 points)

  • a) Jon Landau
  • b) Dave Marsh
  • c) Deborah Frost
  • d) Nick Kent

10) What famous Irish lead guitarist found inspiration from Tom Velaine’s guitar playing and said, "... the only guitarist I heard who was saying something musically... I was very influenced by Tom Verlaine - not stylistically, but in terms of approach and tearing up the rule-book." (15 points)

PART TWOMAIN QUIZ PAGEPART FOUR