Tom Verlaine
Encyclopedia
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television
.
. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz, and was only inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown
" during his adolescence, at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell
(Richard Meyers) at Sanford School
, a boarding school which they both attended. They quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.
After one failed attempt, Verlaine (with Hell) succeeded in escaping from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine
. He is quoted as saying this name was inspired by Bob Dylan
's name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past. He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca
. The Neon Boys 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, Verlaine kicked Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith
replacing Hell. Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith
when they were both up-and-coming artists in the burgeoning New York punk scene. Television released two albums, Marquee Moon
and Adventure, to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978.
Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large. In the 1990s he collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for Love and a .45
. In the early 90s, Television reformed to record one studio album (Television) and a live recording (Live at the Academy, 1992
); they have reunited periodically for touring ever since. Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled Songs and Other Things.
Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. His poetic lyrics
, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock's most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. Verlaine is placed #56 on Rolling Stone
magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In spite of the adoration he receives from the media, Verlaine rarely reciprocates this attention in the form of interviews.
to produce his second album, before Buckley's accidental death by drowning in 1997.
He has guested as guitarist on numerous releases by other artists, including the album Penthouse
by the band Luna
. He played on Patti Smith's Grammy-nominated "Glitter in Their Eyes
" from her 2000 album Gung Ho
. This was not the first time Verlaine had collaborated with one-time romantic partner Smith; four years earlier, he played on the song "Fireflies" from Patti Smith
's 1996 album Gone Again
, and in the 1970s he played guitar on her debut single "Hey Joe
" and on "Break It Up" from her debut album Horses
. He also co-authored that song with Smith.
He is part of The Million Dollar Bashers, a supergroup also featuring Sonic Youth
stars Lee Ranaldo
and Steve Shelley
, Wilco
guitarist Nels Cline
, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier
, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski
. Their work appears on the original soundtrack to I'm Not There
, a biographical film
reflecting the life of Bob Dylan
.
and a Fender Jaguar
through Fender and Vox
amps. These guitars were an unusual choice for a rock musician at that time. Verlaine is credited as being instrumental in bringing what were seen as "surf" guitars, the Jaguar and Jazzmaster, into the rock arena. Verlaine is pictured inside the compilation The Miller's Tale playing both types of guitars. Recently, at solo concerts and at Television concerts, Verlaine has played a Fender Stratocaster
, including one that has been modified with Danelectro
pickups. He has also been seen using a standard Fender Telecaster
with a rosewood neck in a video where he tries to teach Richard Hell the song "Venus" (though this was probably just a guitar owned by the studio they were in).
, delay
, reverb
, slap echo, phasing
/flanging
, tremolo
, etc. Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel", saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Going against the prevailing tradition of rock guitar for the past 40 years, he rarely uses distortion
.
Vibrato
is a large part of Verlaine's style and he makes extensive use of the Jazzmaster's
unique tremolo bar. In terms of guitar scales and note selection, Verlaine utilises the mixolydian and minor pentatonic scale like most rock guitarists, but his sequencing, phrasing, tone and approach to legato
and other techniques is unconventional.
His style may be a product of the way he learned to play; he told a Guitar Player
interviewer in 2005 "I never played guitar along with records, so I never learned all the speed licks everybody gravitates to when starting out. I know 19-year-old guitarists who can play Danny Gatton
solos note-for-note. They don’t really know what notes they’re playing, but they do them flawlessly."
Verlaine uses a thin pick and heavy strings (gauges .050 to .013) and tunes down a half step or more. In contrast to most modern rock guitarists, he uses a wound 3rd string. Verlaine usually plays with the bridge pickup on, but picks over the neck pickup. This, according to him, gives a "full yet clear sound"
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...
.
Biography
Tom Verlaine began his life as Thomas Miller. He began studying piano at an early age but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by Stan GetzStan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz, and was only inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown
19th Nervous Breakdown
"19th Nervous Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones.The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during their 1965 tour of the United States. The song was recorded during the Aftermath sessions between 3 and 8 December 1965 at RCA Recording Studios in Hollywood,...
" during his adolescence, at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell
Richard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
(Richard Meyers) at Sanford School
Sanford School
Sanford School is a private, college preparatory, coeducational day school for students in junior kindergarten through grade twelve, located in Hockessin, Delaware. Originally known as "Sunny Hills School", it was founded on September 23, 1930 by Sanford and Ellen Sawin, in memory of their eldest...
, a boarding school which they both attended. They quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.
After one failed attempt, Verlaine (with Hell) succeeded in escaping from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
. He is quoted as saying this name was inspired by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past. He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca is a punk rock drummer who has played with the bands Television, Nona Hendryx & Zero Cool, 40 Familys, The Washington Squares, The Waitresses and The Neon Boys...
. The Neon Boys quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
and Chris Stein
Chris Stein
Christopher "Chris" Stein is co-founder and guitarist in the New Wave band, Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film Wild Style....
. They reformed as Television
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...
a few months later, finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd, and began playing at seminal 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...
clubs like CBGB
CBGB
CBGB 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...
and Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
. In 1975, Verlaine kicked Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith
Fred Smith (bassist)
Fred Smith is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work with Television. He was the original bassist with Blondie until he replaced Richard Hell when Hell left Television in 1975 to form The Heartbreakers. At the time, Television played at CBGB along with Blondie...
replacing Hell. Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
when they were both up-and-coming artists in the burgeoning New York punk scene. Television released two albums, 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...
and Adventure, to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978.
Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large. In the 1990s he collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for Love and a .45
Love and a .45
Love and a .45 is a 1994 Bonnie and Clyde-esque road movie starring Gil Bellows and Renée Zellweger. The film was originally released by Lions Gate Entertainment.-Plot:...
. In the early 90s, Television reformed to record one studio album (Television) and a live recording (Live at the Academy, 1992
Live at the Academy, 1992
Live at the Academy, 1992 was an album by Television sold by the band at USA gigs during March, 2003. The CDR was a self-pressed release on Ohoo Music, and was recorded on 12/4/92 at the Academy, in NYC. -Track listing:#Intro#1880 or So#This Tune...
); they have reunited periodically for touring ever since. Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled Songs and Other Things.
Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. His poetic lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock's most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. Verlaine is placed #56 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In spite of the adoration he receives from the media, Verlaine rarely reciprocates this attention in the form of interviews.
Collaborations
Verlaine was in discussion with Jeff BuckleyJeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
to produce his second album, before Buckley's accidental death by drowning in 1997.
He has guested as guitarist on numerous releases by other artists, including the album Penthouse
Penthouse (album)
-Track listing:All songs music by Luna and lyrics by Dean Wareham except where noted# "Chinatown" – 4:39# "Sideshow by the Seashore" – 3:12# "Moon Palace" – 3:46# "Double Feature" – 4:27# "23 Minutes in Brussels" – 6:40# "Lost in Space" – 3:44...
by the band Luna
Luna (band)
Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood...
. He played on Patti Smith's Grammy-nominated "Glitter in Their Eyes
Glitter in Their Eyes
"Glitter in Their Eyes" is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Oliver Ray, and released as a promo single from Patti Smith 2000 album Gung Ho. In 2001 the song was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. contributed to the backing vocals.-...
" from her 2000 album Gung Ho
Gung Ho (album)
Gung Ho is an album by Patti Smith, released March 21, 2000 on Arista Records. The song "New Party" was used as the official song for the 2000 Ralph Nader's presidential campaign...
. This was not the first time Verlaine had collaborated with one-time romantic partner Smith; four years earlier, he played on the song "Fireflies" from Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
's 1996 album Gone Again
Gone Again
Gone Again is an album by Patti Smith, released June 18, 1996 on Arista Records. The production of the record was preceded by the deaths of many of Smith's close friends and peers, including her husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, her brother Todd, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Sohl and Kurt Cobain, with...
, and in the 1970s he played guitar on her debut single "Hey Joe
Hey Joe
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
" and on "Break It Up" from her debut album Horses
Horses (album)
"Horses" is often cited as one of the greatest albums in music history. In 2003, the album was ranked number 44 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. NME named the album number 1 in its list "20 Near-as-Damn-It Perfect Initial Efforts"...
. He also co-authored that song with Smith.
He is part of The Million Dollar Bashers, a supergroup also featuring Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
stars Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
and Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
, Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
guitarist Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier
Tony Garnier (musician)
Tony Garnier is an American bassist , best known as an accompanist to Bob Dylan, with whom he has played since 1989...
, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski
John Medeski
Anthony John Medeski is an American jazz keyboards player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood...
. Their work appears on the original soundtrack to I'm Not There
I'm Not There
I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's life and public persona: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw...
, a biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
reflecting the life of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
Guitars
Throughout his career Verlaine has played a variety of Fender guitars. Most famously in the heyday of Television he played a Fender JazzmasterFender Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as an upmarket sibling to the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s...
and a Fender Jaguar
Fender Jaguar
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar introduced in 1962. A descendant of the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging Surf music scene...
through Fender and Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
amps. These guitars were an unusual choice for a rock musician at that time. Verlaine is credited as being instrumental in bringing what were seen as "surf" guitars, the Jaguar and Jazzmaster, into the rock arena. Verlaine is pictured inside the compilation The Miller's Tale playing both types of guitars. Recently, at solo concerts and at Television concerts, Verlaine has played a Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, including one that has been modified with Danelectro
Danelectro
Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
pickups. He has also been seen using a standard Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
with a rosewood neck in a video where he tries to teach Richard Hell the song "Venus" (though this was probably just a guitar owned by the studio they were in).
Guitar style and effects
Verlaine is an advocate of keen and unusual (yet subtle) guitar sounds and recording techniques including close mikingMicrophone practice
There exist a number of well-developed microphone techniques used for miking musical, film, or voice sources. Choice of technique depends on a number of factors, including:...
, delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
, reverb
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
, slap echo, phasing
Phasing
In the compositional technique phasing, the same part is played on two musical instruments, in steady but not identical tempo...
/flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
, tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
, etc. Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel", saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Going against the prevailing tradition of rock guitar for the past 40 years, he rarely uses distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
.
Vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
is a large part of Verlaine's style and he makes extensive use of the Jazzmaster's
Fender Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as an upmarket sibling to the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s...
unique tremolo bar. In terms of guitar scales and note selection, Verlaine utilises the mixolydian and minor pentatonic scale like most rock guitarists, but his sequencing, phrasing, tone and approach to legato
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
and other techniques is unconventional.
His style may be a product of the way he learned to play; he told a Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
interviewer in 2005 "I never played guitar along with records, so I never learned all the speed licks everybody gravitates to when starting out. I know 19-year-old guitarists who can play Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
solos note-for-note. They don’t really know what notes they’re playing, but they do them flawlessly."
Verlaine uses a thin pick and heavy strings (gauges .050 to .013) and tunes down a half step or more. In contrast to most modern rock guitarists, he uses a wound 3rd string. Verlaine usually plays with the bridge pickup on, but picks over the neck pickup. This, according to him, gives a "full yet clear sound"
Solo albums
- Tom VerlaineTom Verlaine (album)Tom Verlaine is the former Television guitarist's eponymous 1979 solo debut album.Several tracks, including "The Grip of Love", "Breakin' In My Heart", and "Red Leaves" trace their roots to unreleased Television songs. In the case of "Red Leaves", the verses are drawn from "Adventure", the...
(1979) - DreamtimeDreamtime (Tom Verlaine album)Dreamtime is Tom Verlaine's second solo album. Originally released in 1981. "Without a Word" is a rewrite of "Hard On Love", an unreleased Television song performed live c. 1974/5....
(1981) - Words from the FrontWords from the FrontWords from the Front is Tom Verlaine's third solo album, released in 1982. It was issued on compact disc in 2008 by Collectors' Choice Music.-Side one:# "Present Arrived" – 5:17# "Postcard from Waterloo" – 3:32# "True Story" – 5:25...
(1982) - CoverCover (album)Cover is a solo album by Tom Verlaine released in 1984.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Tom Verlaine; except "Five Miles of You" composed with Jimmy Ripp#"Five Miles of You"#"Let Go The Mansion"#"Travelling"#"O Foolish Heart"...
(1984) - Flash Light (1987)
- The Wonder (1990)
- Warm and Cool (1992) (Reissued in 2005)
- The Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine AnthologyThe Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine AnthologyThe Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology is a 1996 double-CD compilation album by Tom Verlaine. It chronicles his solo career and his career with Television on one CD and the other CD is an edited live performance from London in 1982.-Track overview:The first CD covers the period of the three...
(1996) - Around (2006)
- Songs and Other Things (2006)
Singles
- "Always" (1981)
- "Postcard from Waterloo" (1982)
- "Let Go the Mansion" (1984)
- "Five Miles of You" (1984)
- "A Town Called Walker" (1987)
- "Cry Mercy, Judge" (1987)
- "The Funniest Thing" (1987)
- "Shimmer" (1989)
- "Kaleidoscopin" (1990)