Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television.
On December 13, 1949, Thomas Miller (known later as Tom Verlaine), was born to a Jewish family, in Denville, New Jersey. When he was six years old, he and his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware. He started learning piano at a young age, but in middle school, after hearing a Stan Getz record, he switched to saxophone. He was inspired by jazz saxophonists like John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. After hearing the Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” in his adolescence, Tom Verlaine was inspired to take up the guitar and began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. At first, Verlaine was unimpressed with the role that the guitar played in jazz and rock music. Miles Davis’ electric-period recordings, particularly the Japanese LPs Agharta (1975) and Dark Magus (1977), which he was able to import, became a later musical influence for Tom Verlaine.
Tom Verlaine had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age, and as a teen, he became school friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell (Richard Meyers) and quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.
After one failed attempt, Tom Verlaine (with Hell) escaped from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine, and was quoted as saying that this name was inspired by Bob Dylan’s (born Robert Allen Zimmerman) name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past.
Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell formed the Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca, but they quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Stein. They reformed as Television a few months later, finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd, and began playing at seminal punk clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City.
In 1975, Tom Verlaine kicked Richard Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith replacing Hell. Television released two albums, “Marquee Moon” and “Adventure”, to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in July 1978.
Tom Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith when they were both in the flourishing New York punk scene.
Tom Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album, “Tom Verlaine”, that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He moved to England for a short time in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large.
David Bowie covered Verlaine’s “Kingdom Come” for his “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps” album in 1980.
In the 1990s Tom Verlaine collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for “Love and a .45”.
Television also reformed in the early 1990s, to record one studio album “Television” as well as a live recording “Live at the Academy, 1992”, and continued to reunite periodically for touring.
Verlaine was in discussion with Jeff Buckley to produce his second album before Jeff’s untimely death by drowning in 1997.
Tom Verlaine guested as guitarist on several releases by other artists, including the album “Penthouse” by the band Luna.
He played collaborated several times with one-time romantic partner Patti Smith, in the 1970s he played guitar on her debut single “Hey Joe” and on “Break It Up”, which he also co-wrote, from her debut album “Horses”. He aslo played on the song “Fireflies” from Patti Smith’s 1996 album “Gone Again”, and on her Grammy-nominated “Glitter in Their Eyes” from her 2000 album “Gung Ho”. He played with Smith in 2005 for a 30th-anniversary concert of “Horses” in its entirety, which was later released on CD.
Tom Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled “Songs and Other Things”. In the 2010s, he kept on touring with Television, performing “Marquee Moon” it its entirety.
Tom Verlaine died in New York City on January 28, 2023, after a brief illness, at the age of 73.
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