The Television Personalities are an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.
The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities
. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2018 Their varied, volatile and long career encompasses

post punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

neo-psychedelia Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop su ...

and

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

; the only constant being Treacy's songwriting. Present and former members include Chelsea childhood mates 'Slaughter Joe' Joe Foster, one time best friend Ed Ball (early line-up, later briefly) and

Jowe Head Jowe Head (born Stephen Bird) is a British guitarist, singer, and visual artist, who was a member of Swell Maps before joining the Television Personalities. He has also released a large amount of material as a solo artist and as leader of group ...

(ex-

Swell Maps Swell Maps were an English experimental DIY, early punk or post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England, active in various forms between 1972 and 1980. Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and the German krautrock groups such as Can and Faust ...

), with

Jeffrey Bloom Jeffrey Allen Bloom is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and photographer, currently residing in Studio City, California. His film projects include ''Flowers in the Attic'', ''Nightmares'', ''Blood Beach'' and ''Dogpound ...

from 1983-94. The threesome of Treacy, Head, and Bloom formed the longest unchanged line-up and as a result is considered by many to be the definitive line-up, performing hundreds of gigs around the world and recording many of the band's most popular songs like How I Learned to Love the Bomb, Salvador Dali's Garden Party and Strangely Beautiful. Despite this, the Television Personalities are best known for their early single "

Part Time Punks "Part Time Punks" is a song by the English post-punk group Television Personalities. Written in 1978 by band leader and vocalist Dan Treacy, it was released as a single in 1980 on Rough Trade Records. The record features Treacy, fellow teenage ...

", a favourite of John Peel's. Despite their relatively minor commercial success (their third album was sardonically titled ''

They Could Have Been Bigger than the Beatles ''They Could Have Been Bigger Than the Beatles'' is the third album by English punk rock/ new wave band Television Personalities. In 2011, it was included in '' NME's'' "The 100 Greatest Albums You've Never Heard" list. It was chosen by Andrew ...

''), the Television Personalities are highly regarded by critics and have been widely influential, especially on the

C86 ''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine '' NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music g ...

generation, on many of the bands signed to

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

in the 1990s, and on American artists such as Pavement and

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

. Treacy's unconventional but dryly witty and culture infused lyrics, have led to his reputation as a seminal and iconic figure within the independent music scene. In 2006 music critic Cam Lindsay described Treacy as having "recorded some of the most bizarre, unlistenable and brilliant pop songs in the last three decades".

Career

Formation

Treacy was inspired to form the Television Personalities after hearing the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Baal, Iphgenia.
Daniel Treacy as seen on Screen
. ''Dazed & Confused'', 24 August 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2018 and

Jonathan Richman Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic a ...

. Ever unconventional, Treacy said he was not that much interested in music and the band rarely rehearsed. Treacy did not prepare set-lists for live performances, preferring to keep the band on their toes. Head remembers "us rehearsing once in late 1983. We did another one five years later, and that was about it."Marsh, Calum.
Beautiful Despair
. ''Pitchfork'', 26 January 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018 The band struggled to find a name, and early suggestions included the names of mainstream and often ridiculed television hosts such as

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-veget ...

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

and

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

, before they decided on the more generic and pointed "Television Personalities". Their first single "14th Floor" was released in January 1977 to critical acclaim. It was followed by the 1978 EP ''Where's Bill Grundy Now?'' which brought them to popular attention. The EP features their lone chart hit, the seminal "

",Ankeny, Jason.
Television Personalities: Biography
. AllMusic. Retrieved 12 May 2018 written while Treacy was 17 years and living in a

high-rise building A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

. dwardBall was amazed at the quality of Treacy's writing, and admitted that he "couldn't believe the lyrics. Suddenly, my best friend was coming out with these amazing songs." With the financial backing of his mother, Treacy hand-pressed 500 copies of "'Where's Bill Grundy Now?", each with a photocopied sleeve, which he sent to various record companies and radio DJs. The track was picked up by BBC's

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. Treacy said "Peel loved it, but my mum was hassling me to pay back the money." The song title and resulting media attention brought the band to the notice of the music press and rock establishment royalty they were parodying. Treacy said: "

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

came in one day when I was reading an interview I'd done, and I told him I had a record out. So then, he walks me upstairs to a wardrobe brimming with guitars, hands me one and five minutes later, I was jamming with Jimmy Page. He was good, but he weren't as good as me." Later the promotion of the "14th Floor" single was supported by

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

, and they became a foundational band for

Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...

when he began to form

Mute Records

In the middle of 1980, the Television Personalities made their live debut following the recruitment of Joe Foster on bass and Mark Sheppard (known as Empire) on drums. This line-up was short-lived, reportedly due to differences in opinion between Foster and Sheppard, leading to Joe's departure. Prior to this, Dan and Mark helped out with Joe's solo project, the Missing Scientists, which included

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

head Daniel Miller. The Television Personalities' first album '' ...And Don't The Kids Just Love It'' was released in 1981. It set the template for their subsequent career:

married to an obsession with

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

of the 1960s. Their second album ''Mummy Your Not Watching Me'' icdemonstrated increased psychedelic influences. Their third album, entitled ''They Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles'' showed Treacy's sense of humour; the TVPs were never to have any major commercial success in the UK – although their albums sold respectably in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. The first three albums featured Treacy and schoolmate Ed Ball; Ball left the band in 1982 to found

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, but rejoined in 2004. According to critic Ira Robbins, with their 1984 album ''

The Painted Word ''The Painted Word'' is a 1975 book of art criticism by Tom Wolfe. Background By the 1970s Wolfe was, according to Douglas Davis of ''Newsweek'' magazine "more of a celebrity than the celebrities he describes." In . The success of Wolfe's pre ...

'' the TVPs "have drifted off into spare, droning

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

and ultra-restrained rock that's hauntingly beautiful, like the most delicate moments of

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

." The band were hired that year to support

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

guitarist

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

on the tour for his solo album '' About Face'', but were fired when they performed their song "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives", during which Treacy read out Barrett's real address on stage.

Later years and revival

In 1983 the band comprised Treacy, Dave Musker on keyboards, Joe Foster on guitar and Mark Flunder on bass. Jeffrey Bloom joined on drums at a gig in Alan McGee's Living Room club and shortly afterwards Stephen Bird, AKA Jowe Head, replaced Flunder on Bass. This line up went on the band's first tour of Europe but shortly afterwards Foster and Musker left. This left the band as a guitar, bass and drums threesome and Treacy, Foster and Bloom would continue as the Television Personalities for the next 14 years. The band were regulars on the London gig scene and also did several tours of the UK, Europe, the U.S. and Japan. The Chocolate Art and Camping in France live albums were recorded during this time. Various line-up changes and circumstances prevented the recordings for ''Privilege'' from being released until 1990. Their subsequent album ''Closer to God'' was a combination of sixties style pop and darker material, and was similar in tone to ''The Painted Word''. Treacy later struggled with mental health issues and drug addiction, and from 1998 to June 2004 was incarcerated for theft. He spent time on HM Prison ship Weare in Portland Harbour, Dorset, England. A gig at the Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton on 6 August 2005 ended in chaos after half an hour when Treacy had apparent difficulties with his guitars and mic stand. His bandmates left him on stage and the gig was halted by the management. His 2006 comeback album '' My Dark Places'' received widespread critical acclaim, including for the single "Velvet Underground".Abebe, Nitsuh.
Television Personalities: My Dark Places
. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'', 16 March 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2018 The

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

described it as a "stunningly original record-harrowing and hilarious in equal amounts", while the BBC wrote that the album "captures the offbeat brilliance that made the TVPs indie legends in the 70s, characterised by Treacy’s endearingly slapdash attitude towards singing in tune and playing in time." He was reportedly seriously ill in October 2011 following brain surgery to remove a blood clot.Lanigan, Michael.
Lost Television Personalities album to be released in January
. ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'', 14 November 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2018 He regained consciousness in December, but remained hospitalised. By 2016 he was recovering from the surgery and said that he intended to return to music. In January 2018,

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...

released the long lost ''Beautiful Despair'' as the band's twelfth album. It had been recorded in 1990 on a 4-track, between 1989's "Privilege" and 1992's "Closer to God", but was not released at that time.

Influence

Bands that have cited them as formative influences include

Jesus and Mary Chain Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, Half Man Half Biscuit,

The Pastels The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scen ...

, Beat Happening,

Tindersticks Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...

(who covered the song "You’ll Have To Scream Louder" in 2020), Pavement and

(who recorded the track "Song for

Dan Treacy The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016 ...

").

Discography

Treacy is known for the numerous

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

references and

in-jokes An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...

scattered throughout the TVPs' lyrics, album titles and record artwork. Most of the references are to (mostly

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

)

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

s, 1960s culture and forgotten or under appreciated musicians and celebrities.

Albums

The following is a complete list of the Television Personalities albums.Discography
.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved 12 May 2018 *'' ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It'' (1981, Rough Trade) *''Mummy Your Not Watching Me'' (1982, Whaam! Records) *''

'' (1982, Whaam! Records) *''

'' (1984, Illuminated Records) *'' Privilege'' (1989, Fire Records) *''Closer to God'' (1992, Fire Records) *''I Was a Mod Before You Was a Mod'' (1995, Overground Records) *''Don't Cry Baby, It's Only a Movie'' (1998, Damaged Goods Records) *'' My Dark Places'' (2006, Domino) *'' Are We Nearly There Yet?'' (2007, Overground Records) *''A Memory Is Better Than Nothing'' (2010, Rocket Girl) *''Beautiful Despair'' (2018, Fire Records)

References

Sources

* Buckley, Peter. ''The Rough Guide to Rock''. Rough Guides, 2003. * Cavanagh, David. ''The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize''. London: Virgin Books, 2000.

External links

Official site: Treacy's web journal, live gig archive, photos, tour infoA Day in Heaven: An unofficial Television Personalities websiteAlan McGee article in The GuardianARC magazine interview
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 English indie rock groups English new wave musical groups English post-punk music groups British mod revival groups English psychedelic rock music groups Rough Trade Records artists English pop punk groups Rocket Girl artists