TV SMITH

TV Smith was founder member and singer/songwriter for the Adverts, who formed in the summer of 1976, and became one of the leading bands in the first wave of British punk rock. In early 1977, they performed regularly at the seminal Roxy Club in London, and gained cult success with the Stiff Records single "One Chord Wonders." This turned to notoriety when their next release, "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" became a hit record, leading to frequent radio and TV appearances, and extensive media interest.

A further single, "No Time To Be 21," also entered the charts, and the band spent the rest of the year playing live, including major tours with The Damned and Iggy Pop. The album that followed in 1978, "Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts," is still considered a genuine classic, and appears in many Top Ten Punk Album lists.

The Adverts released one further album, "Cast Of Thousands," before their split in 1979. Slammed by the critics at the time, the album was re-released this year on Fire Records to universal acclaim, and described by Mojo magazine as "the long lost punk album that rivals The Clash's 'London Calling,'" Many people, including long-time fan Henry Rollins, now rate "Cast" as one of their favourite albums from the punk era.

In the early 1980's TV formed TV Smith's Explorers, who achieved a U.K. hit with the single "Tomahawk Cruise." He then spent some years away from the live circuit, concentrating on writing and recording, but the songs he produced during this period were not to find a release at the time. TV's latest CD, "Sparkle In The Mud, Volume 1" (2010) reveals for the first time some of these previously unheard gems. It contains almost 80 minutes of music remastered from the original tapes, with a further volume planned for the near future.

TV entered the live arena again in the late 1980's, playing sporadic gigs with his band Cheap, before trying his first gigs as a solo artist in the early '90's. He went on to release a succession of critically-acclaimed albums, including "March Of The Giants" (1992), "Immortal Rich" (1995), "Generation Y" (1999), "Not A Bad Day" (2003), "Misinformation Overload" (2006), and "In The Arms Of My Enemy" (2008). He has also been involved in a number of collaborations with other bands, most notably with German superstars Die Toten Hosen, which led to them performing as TV's backing band on "Useless: The Very Best Of TV Smith."

Meanwhile, fiercely independent and determinedly embodying the original spirit of punk rock, TV continues to tour the world, bringing his epic solo show to ever-increasing audiences. He plays more than 100 gigs a year, and has recently performed in the USA, UK, Australia, South America, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic - and even Heligoland. In 2009, in response to many requests from fans, he released a double CD entitled "TV Smith live at the NVA" containing an entire one hour fifty minute set recorded in Ludwigsfelde, Germany.

A new album is currently being recorded for release in 2011, featuring TV's regular musical accomplices Vom Richie, Tim Cross and Tim Renwick. Audiences can be sure of hearing some of the new songs previewed at forthcoming gigs, as well as some of the previously- unheard songs from the 80's, and as usual a mix of requests, old favourites and punk hits. Remarkably, TV plays his marathon concerts without a set list and every performance contains a different selection of songs.

A full length documentary on TV Smith, covering his time with The Adverts and his subsequent solo career is currently being completed by WDF Productions, and TV has written about his on-the-road experiences in two books of tour diaries published by Arima: Volume One, "Getting There," and Volume Two, "How To Feel Human."

Latest news, archives, and photos - as well as a webshop of all currently available releases - can be found at www.tvsmith.com

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Infos:

Homepage: www.tvsmith.com/
Soundfiles: TV SMITH on MySpace
Label: Drumming Monkey