Tom Verlaine, guitarist for The Neon Boys and Television, died on Saturday, January 28. “He was the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll guitarist and, like Hendrix, he could move from the realms of outer space to garage rock,” musician Mike Scott wrote on social media. Verlaine was 73 years old.
Tom Verlaine’s death was announced by Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of his longtime collaborator Patti Smith. She did not give the cause of death, limiting herself to the message that he died “after a short illness”. The BBC reminded that the band Television, of which he was the frontman, recorded three hits in the UK TOP 40 “in its heyday”. However, the band gained more fame in the UK than in their native United States. It ceased operations in 1978.
Although they rose to prominence through the punk movement, their music was “more complex than that of their rivals”, and Verlaine was known for his with intricate jazz-inspired riffs. After the breakup of Television, he released a number of solo albums, and his song “Kingdom Come” inspired David Bowie to record his own version, which was included on the album “Scary Monsters”.
He was not only the guitarist and vocalist, but also the main songwriter of the band’s songs. Verlaine was born Thomas Miller in New Jersey. He took his artistic pseudonym in honor of the French poet Paul Verlaine.
“He was the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll guitarist and, like Hendrix, he could move from outer space to garage rock,” Mike Scott of The Waterboys tweeted. In another post, he admitted that he first heard Verlaine on Patti Smith’s “Hey Joe” and “Break It Up” and “Little Johnny Jewel” by Television. “The most amazing out of this world guitar playing,” wrote Scott. Patti Smith herself said goodbye to the musician with a short entry with a black and white photo attached: “A time when everything seemed possible. Goodbye, Tom.”
Main photo source: PEDRO GRANADEIRO/EPA/PAP