Television - Marquee Moon

Television is an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. In the early '70s, Television began as the Neon Boys, a group featuring guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, drummer Billy Ficca, and bassist Richard Hell. At the end of 1973, the group reunited under the name Television, adding rhythm guitarist Richard Lloyd.
In 1975 Hell left and was replaced by ex-Blondie bassist Fred Smith and Television recorded "Little Johnny Jewel," releasing it on their own Ork record label.

"Little Johnny Jewel" became an underground hit, attracting the attention of major record labels. In 1976, the band released a British EP on Stiff Records, which expanded their reputation. They signed with Elektra Records and began recording their debut album.

Marquee Moon, the group's first album, was released in early 1977 to great critical acclaim, yet it failed to attract a wide audience in America; in the U.K., it reached number 28 on the charts, launching the Top 40 single "Prove It."

Television released their second album, Adventure, in the spring of 1978. While its American sales were better than those of Marquee Moon, the record didn't make the charts; in Britain, it became a Top Ten hit.

Months later, the group suddenly broke up, largely due to tensions between the two guitarists. Smith rejoined Blondie, while Verlaine and Lloyd both pursued solo careers.

Nearly 14 years after their breakup, Television re-formed in late 1991, recording a new album for Capitol Records. The album received good reviews, as did the tour that followed, yet the reunion was short-lived -- the group disbanded again in early 1993. In 2001, Television again reunited for a handful of shows in the U.K., as well as an appearance at the Noise Pop Festival in Chicago

Television were one of the most creative bands to emerge from New York's punk scene of the mid-'70s, creating an influential new guitar vocabulary. With its angular rhythms and fluid leads, Television's music always went in unconventional directions, laying the groundwork for many of the guitar-based post-punk pop groups of the late '70s and '80s.

"Marquee Moon" developed from Television's early live shows in the mid-1970s, and even when first performed was an eight-minute epic with complex key changes. Each of the song's three verses begins with a double-stopped guitar intro before Billy Ficca's drums come in, and after the second chorus Richard Lloyd plays a brief guitar solo.

After the third chorus, there is a longer solo by Tom Verlaine, based on a jazz-like mixolydian scale, that lasts for the entire second half of the song. On the original vinyl edition of the album, the song faded out just short of ten minutes. In concert, the band has sometimes extended the song to as long as fifteen minutes.

Despite its length, which would typically have been too long for most popular music radio formats, the song was released as a single in the U.K. and was a minor success, reaching number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song was listed at #372 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2005, and at #41 on their 100 Greatest Guitar Songs in 2008.