Prove It
Encyclopedia
"Prove It" is the second single from American rock band Television
's debut album, Marquee Moon
, released in 1977. It was released as a single with "Venus" on the B-side and became the most successful of their three hit singles in the UK. Despite entering at a (then) relatively high position of number 28, it only got up to number 25 and dropped out of the Top 40 after another week at number 29.
Like its preceding single, "Prove It" was a staple of Television's early live shows, often as a set closer. The lyrics, reflecting upon a detective
story, echo the movie The Long Goodbye
which came out a few years before Marquee Moon.
Although the song has never been covered
on record, the riff
of "Prove It" was used by X as the basis for their song "Adult Books" on their 1981 album Wild Gift
.
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
's debut album, Marquee Moon
Marquee Moon
Marquee Moon is the debut album by American rock band Television, released in 1977. While often considered a seminal work to come out of the New York punk scene of the late 1970s, the album differs from conventional punk in its clean, textured guitar-based arrangements and extended improvisation...
, released in 1977. It was released as a single with "Venus" on the B-side and became the most successful of their three hit singles in the UK. Despite entering at a (then) relatively high position of number 28, it only got up to number 25 and dropped out of the Top 40 after another week at number 29.
Like its preceding single, "Prove It" was a staple of Television's early live shows, often as a set closer. The lyrics, reflecting upon a detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
story, echo the movie The Long Goodbye
The Long Goodbye (film)
The Long Goodbye is a 1973 neo noir, directed by Robert Altman and based on Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Big Sleep in 1946...
which came out a few years before Marquee Moon.
Although the song has never been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
on record, the riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
of "Prove It" was used by X as the basis for their song "Adult Books" on their 1981 album Wild Gift
Wild Gift
Wild Gift is the second album by the American punk rock band X, released in 1981. It was very well received critically, and was voted #2 for the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll...
.