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Richard Lloyd, whose fluent and fiery guitar work was a vital element in the influential 1970s-era New York City band Television, died on Saturday at his home in Chattanooga, Tenn., according to the New York Times.
The cause of death was bile duct cancer; he was 75.
While commonly associated with the punk rock movement of the era, Television’s sound was anything but punk, driven by Lloyd and frontman Tom Verlaine’s intricate and virtuosic soloing, unusual song structures and Verlaine’s low-key and deadpan vocals. The band’s classic 1977 album “Marquee Moon” is a defining document of the era, including such oft-covered songs as “See No Evil” and the nearly 11-minute title track and casting a vast influence on future alternative rockers like R.E.M. and Sonic Youth.
Yet Television’s peak era was brief, lasting for just two albums before the band split in 1978 and Verlaine and Lloyd pursued solo careers, although the band reformed in 1992 and regrouped several times over the years.
While Verlaine, who died in 2023, is commonly recognized as the band’s frontman and auteur, Lloyd’s contributions were perennially underrated. The pair’s styles were complimentary and in many ways similar, but, broadly speaking, Lloyd brought the fire and Verlaine the finesse. While his struggles with mental health and substance abuse unquestionably marred his career, in addition to his blazing work with Television, Lloyd released nine solo albums and contributed fiery work to Matthew Sweet’s classic 1991 album “Girlfriend,” which also featured fellow CBGB-era guitar master Robert Quine.
Ironically, Television, which formed in 1973, were the band to initiate the Lower Manhattan club CBGB, which proved to be the key incubator for punk rock. According to legend, Verlaine and Lloyd were walking past the venue, saw owner Hilly Kristal outside and asked what kind of music the venue would feature. Told “Country, Bluegrass and Blues,” hence the club’s title, the pair replied that their band played something like that (it did not).
Yet the group secured a booking, other groups like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads soon followed suit, and by 1975 CBGB was the hotbed of a scene and sound that would eventually revolutionize rock music.
Lloyd was born Richard John Alt on Oct. 25, 1951, in Pittsburgh, Lloyd moved with his mother to New York City as an infant. He grew up in Greenwich Village, took up the guitar at an early age and attended concerts at the legendary Fillmore East as a teen; his struggles with mental health and substance abuse also began at this time. He attended New York’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School but dropped out before graduation.
After living briefly in Boston and Los Angeles, he returned to New York and gravitated toward the burgeoning scene around punk forerunners the New York Dolls. Verlaine and his longtime friend Richard Hell had formed a band called the Neon Boys with drummer Billy Ficca, and, after being introduced through Terry Ork (who would later release Television’s first single, “Little Johnny Jewel” on his self named independent label), brought Lloyd into the band. Hell left in 1975 and was replaced by Blondie bassist Fred Smith, raising the band’s instrumental prowess significantly.
Things progressed quickly for the band from there — David Bowie famously called Television “the most original band I’ve seen in New York” — and the band signed with Elektra Records in 1976 and released “Marquee Moon” in February of 1977. Domestic sales were unimpressive but the band, and the scene, captured the imaginations of the influential British rock music press — where punk rock was exploding — and the band actually enjoyed three hit singles, successful tours and two top 10 albums in the U.K.
However, the success was short-lived, as the band — marred by Lloyd’s debilitating heroin addiction — split shortly after the released of its second album, “Adventure.” Despite that, an album titled “Live at the Old Waldorf,” recorded in June of 1978 shortly before the band’s dissolution, finds them at the peak of their powers.
Lloyd regrouped the following year and released his first solo album, “Alchemy,” and played on albums by X’s John Doe as well as Sweet. In 1992, at the height of their alt-rock-era influence, Television reformed, released a self-titled album and toured. They regrouped multiple times over the ensuing years, although usually without Lloyd, whose relationship with Verlaine continued to be fractious. Yet there’s little question that Television and Lloyd had long since made their mark on the history of rock music.
