Alternative TV
Encyclopedia
Alternative TV were an English rock band
, formed in London in 1976. Their punk rock
and post-punk
sound was influential for several musical artists.
, the founding editor of Sniffin' Glue
punk
fanzine
, with Perry and Alex Fergusson
. Early rehearsals took place at Throbbing Gristle
's Industrial Records studio with Genesis P-Orridge
on drums; recordings from this period appeared, long afterwards, on the Industrial Sessions CD.
The band's debut on record was "Love Lies Limp", a free flexi disc
issued with the final edition of Perry's Sniffin' Glue fanzine. On this single Perry and Fergusson were accompanied by John Towe (ex Generation X) and Tyrone Thomas. Towe left to join the Rage and was replaced by Chris Bennett. This line-up was the most straight-forwardly "punk" version of ATV, although they combined short fast songs with extended pieces such as "Alternatives To NATO", in which Perry read an anarchist political text and envisaged the possibility of a Soviet invasion of Britain. Shortly afterwards they released the "How Much Longer" / "You Bastard" 7"
in December 1977
. The A-side was a pointed critique of punk style: "How much longer will people wear/Nazi armbands and dye their hair?"
At the end of 1977, Perry sacked his chief collaborator and co-writer Fergusson. The latter went on to form the short-lived Cash Pussies and, a few years later, Psychic TV
along with Genesis P-Orridge
. He was replaced in ATV by Dennis Burns.
A dub influenced single, "Life after Life," was released as well as a debut album, The Image Has Cracked. The band's second album, Vibing Up the Senile Man, saw the band take a more explicitly experimental direction however, which alienated the music press
. Around the same time, a live LP, split with commune-dwelling hippy band Here and Now
was released (a document of their tour together), marking the band's movement further away from the ever more predictable punk/new wave
scene. Alternative TV soon evolved into the avant-garde
project, The Good Missionaries (taking the name from a track on the 'Vibing' album), releasing one album, "Fire From Heaven" in 1979. A series of releases under Perry's own name as well as an album under the name Door and the Window followed before Perry, Burns and Fergusson briefly reformed Alternative TV along with former members of Fergusson's Cash Pussies in 1981. Alex briefly returned to collaborate with Mark on the Alternative TV's 'pop' album, Strange Kicks which was produced by Richard Mazda
.
From 1981 to 1984, Perry had a new project, Reflections, collaborating with Karl Blake
(of The Lemon Kittens
) and Grant Showbiz
among others, before concentrating on production.
Perry reformed ATV in 1985. This line up started with Karl Blake, Steve Cannell and Allison Philips. Protag and then Clive Giblin featured later on guitar and ATV released further records on and off over the following decade or so with varying line-ups, Perry being the only constant member. Another line up followed with James Kyllo and Steve Cannell which lead to the releases of "Sol" and "Dragon Love".
Lost Moment Records released the 2001 studio album, "Revolution", followed in 2003 by the official bootleg album "Viva La Rock'n' Roll – consisting of live performances recorded in the UK, France, Germany and the US. In 2004 Mark finally gave in to logic and recorded the Ramones classic "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" for a Lost Moment Single and an Argentinian Ramones tribute CD, and the world heard at last his version of the song that his pioneering fanzine took its name from. Cleopatra Records released a compilation of the Lost Moment output for the US market in February 2006, entitled "In Control".
Mark Perry is currently (Dec 2006) in the process of forming the new Sniffin' Glue Records label, which will feature a third Long Decline album as its first release.
Regularly closed their gigs with a cover of Splitting In 2.
Savage Republic
Covered Viva La Rock 'N' Roll on their 1988 LP Jamahiriya Democratique Et Populaire De Sauvage
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
, formed in London in 1976. Their punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
sound was influential for several musical artists.
History
Alternative TV were formed by Mark PerryMark Perry (musician)
Mark Perry, also known as Mark P, was a British fanzine publisher and is a writer and musician.Perry was a bank clerk when, inspired by The Ramones, he founded the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue in 1976...
, the founding editor of Sniffin' Glue
Sniffin' Glue
Sniffin' Glue is the name of a monthly punk zine started by Mark Perry in July 1976 and released for about a year. The name is derived from a Ramones song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue." Others that wrote for the magazine that later became well known journalists include Danny Baker.Although initial...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
, with Perry and Alex Fergusson
Alex Fergusson (musician)
Alex Fergusson is a Scottish guitarist / record producer.Fergusson formed the punk band Alternative TV with Mark Perry in 1977, and a few years later Psychic TV with Genesis P Orridge...
. Early rehearsals took place at Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...
's Industrial Records studio with Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
on drums; recordings from this period appeared, long afterwards, on the Industrial Sessions CD.
The band's debut on record was "Love Lies Limp", a free flexi disc
Flexi disc
The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable...
issued with the final edition of Perry's Sniffin' Glue fanzine. On this single Perry and Fergusson were accompanied by John Towe (ex Generation X) and Tyrone Thomas. Towe left to join the Rage and was replaced by Chris Bennett. This line-up was the most straight-forwardly "punk" version of ATV, although they combined short fast songs with extended pieces such as "Alternatives To NATO", in which Perry read an anarchist political text and envisaged the possibility of a Soviet invasion of Britain. Shortly afterwards they released the "How Much Longer" / "You Bastard" 7"
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in December 1977
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
. The A-side was a pointed critique of punk style: "How much longer will people wear/Nazi armbands and dye their hair?"
At the end of 1977, Perry sacked his chief collaborator and co-writer Fergusson. The latter went on to form the short-lived Cash Pussies and, a few years later, Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
along with Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
. He was replaced in ATV by Dennis Burns.
A dub influenced single, "Life after Life," was released as well as a debut album, The Image Has Cracked. The band's second album, Vibing Up the Senile Man, saw the band take a more explicitly experimental direction however, which alienated the music press
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
. Around the same time, a live LP, split with commune-dwelling hippy band Here and Now
Here & Now (band)
Here & Now are an English psychedelic/space rock band formed in early 1974. They have close connections with the band Gong and in 1977/1978 worked with Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth under the name Planet Gong...
was released (a document of their tour together), marking the band's movement further away from the ever more predictable punk/new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
scene. Alternative TV soon evolved into the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
project, The Good Missionaries (taking the name from a track on the 'Vibing' album), releasing one album, "Fire From Heaven" in 1979. A series of releases under Perry's own name as well as an album under the name Door and the Window followed before Perry, Burns and Fergusson briefly reformed Alternative TV along with former members of Fergusson's Cash Pussies in 1981. Alex briefly returned to collaborate with Mark on the Alternative TV's 'pop' album, Strange Kicks which was produced by Richard Mazda
Richard Mazda
Richard Mazda is a record producer, writer and musician. In later life he also became an actor and director.-Music career:Mazda was one of the co-founders of Poole punk/mod band Tours, singing and playing lead guitar. They signed to Virgin Records in 1979 after selling large quantities of their...
.
From 1981 to 1984, Perry had a new project, Reflections, collaborating with Karl Blake
Karl Blake
Karl Blake is a vocalist, bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-experimental and sometimes psychedelic.-Musical career:...
(of The Lemon Kittens
The Lemon Kittens
Lemon Kittens are a post-punk band, formed in Reading, Berkshire, England in 1977, by Karl Blake and Gary Thatcher. The cast of the band revolved quite frequently, notably counting among its membership musicians such as Danielle Dax and Mark Perry .-Discography:*Spoonfed & Writhing Lemon Kittens...
) and Grant Showbiz
Grant Showbiz
Grant Showbiz is a British record producer principally known for his work with The Fall, The Smiths, and Billy Bragg plus as an artist in his own right with Moodswings. He continues his work with both Billy Bragg & The Fall to this day, having worked on more albums by both The Fall & Billy Bragg...
among others, before concentrating on production.
Perry reformed ATV in 1985. This line up started with Karl Blake, Steve Cannell and Allison Philips. Protag and then Clive Giblin featured later on guitar and ATV released further records on and off over the following decade or so with varying line-ups, Perry being the only constant member. Another line up followed with James Kyllo and Steve Cannell which lead to the releases of "Sol" and "Dragon Love".
Lost Moment Records released the 2001 studio album, "Revolution", followed in 2003 by the official bootleg album "Viva La Rock'n' Roll – consisting of live performances recorded in the UK, France, Germany and the US. In 2004 Mark finally gave in to logic and recorded the Ramones classic "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" for a Lost Moment Single and an Argentinian Ramones tribute CD, and the world heard at last his version of the song that his pioneering fanzine took its name from. Cleopatra Records released a compilation of the Lost Moment output for the US market in February 2006, entitled "In Control".
Mark Perry is currently (Dec 2006) in the process of forming the new Sniffin' Glue Records label, which will feature a third Long Decline album as its first release.
Cover versions
The ChameleonsThe Chameleons
The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...
Regularly closed their gigs with a cover of Splitting In 2.
Savage Republic
Savage Republic
Savage Republic is a Los Angeles Tribal-Industrial-Art-Punk band from the 1980s, that reformed as of 2004 and is active with a different line-up.-Studio albums:-EPs:-Singles:-Compilations:- External links :* * * * *...
Covered Viva La Rock 'N' Roll on their 1988 LP Jamahiriya Democratique Et Populaire De Sauvage
Albums
- The Image Has Cracked (1978, Deptford Fun City, LP, DLP01)
- What You See Is What You Are (1978, Deptford Fun City, LP, DLP02) (live LP, shared with Here & NowHere & Now (band)Here & Now are an English psychedelic/space rock band formed in early 1974. They have close connections with the band Gong and in 1977/1978 worked with Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth under the name Planet Gong...
) - Vibing Up The Senile Man (Part One) (1978, Deptford Fun City, LP, DLP03)
- Live At The Rat Club '77 (1979, Crystal Records, LP, CLP1)
- Action Time Vision (1980, Deptford Fun City, LP, DLP05)
- Scars On Sunday (1980, Weird Noise, CAS, WEIRD001) (split with The Good Missionaries)
- An Ye As Well (1980, Conventional, CAS, CON14) (split with The Good Missionaries)
- Strange Kicks (1981, I.R.S., LP, SP70023)
- Peep Show (1987, Anagram Records, LP, GRAM32) (reissued on CD 1996, Overground, OVER54CD)
- Splitting In 2 – Selected Viewing (1989, Anagram, LP, GRAM40) (compilation)
- Dragon Love (1990, Chapter 22, LP, CHAPLP51)
- Live 1978 (1993, Overground, CD, OVER29)
- The Image Has Cracked – The Alternative TV Collection (1994, Anagram, CD, CDPUNK24) (compilation)
- My Life As A Child Star (1994, Overground, CD, OVER39CD) (reissued 1995, Feel Good All Over, CD, FGAO16)
- The Radio Sessions (1995, Overground, CD, OVER44CD)
- The Industrial Sessions 1977 (1996, Overground, CD, OVER49CD)
- Vibing Up The Senile Man – The Second Alternative TV Collection (1996, Anagram, CD, CDMGRAM102) (compilation)
- Punk Life (1998, Overground, CD, OVER70CD)
- Black and White: Live (2009, Bongo Beat, CD)
Singles
- "Love Lies Limp" (1977, S. G. Records Unltd, 7" flexi)
- "How Much Longer" (1977, Deptford Fun City, 7", DFC02)
- "Life After Life" (1977, Deptford Fun City, 7", DFC04)
- "Action Time Vision" (1978, Deptford Fun City, 7", DFC07)
- "Life"/"Love Lies Limp" (1978, Deptford Fun City, 7", DFC05)
- "The Force Is Blind" (1979, Deptford Fun City, 7", DFC10)
- "The Ancient Rebels" (1981, I.R.S., 7", PFP1006)
- "Communicate" (1981, I.R.S., 7", PFP1009)
- "Welcome To The End Of Fun" (1986, Noiseville Records, 12", VOO1T)
- Love/Sex EP (1986, Noiseville Records, 12", VOO2T)
- "My Baby's Laughing (Empty Summer's Dream)" (1987, Anagram, 12", ANA36)
- The Sol EP (1990, Chapter 22, 12", 12CHAP46)
- "Best Wishes" (1994, Feel Good All Over, 7", FGAO6)
- "Purpose In My Life" (1995, Feel Good All Over, 7", FGAO22)
External links
- www.markperry.freeuk.com Alternative TV/Sniffin' Glue website
- Myspace Music profile A fan's MySpace Music site with on-line streaming music player of the singles "Action Time Vision" and "How Much Longer / You Bastard"
- PUNKCAST#349 Live video from CBGBCBGBCBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, NYC, on Oct 22, 2003. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
)