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TV SMITH
Perhaps the best songwriter to come from the punk scene, TV Smith continues to be an inspiration more than thirty years after The Adverts released their debut single One Chord Wonders. To this day TV Smith is touring solo all over the world, strengthening his fan base with his uncompromising lyrics and charismatic live performances.
TV Smith was the front man of The Adverts, one of the pioneering bands of the first wave of British punk. The Adverts were formed in 1977 and appeared regularly in iconic venues such as London’s Roxy Club. Their single One Chord Wonders became a cult hit and Gary Gilmore’s Eyes made it to the Top of the charts. In 1978 The Adverts released the album Crossing The Red Sea with The Adverts which is now one of the classic punk albums. After releasing a second album, The Adverts split up in November 1979 and TV Smith formed a new band, TV Smith’s Explorers. They recorded the album The Last Words of the Great Explorer, which failed to achieve the commercial success of The Adverts. Next, Smith formed the band Cheap alongside guitarist Mik Heslin, bass player Andy Bennie and drummer Howard Martin Deniz. Between 1986 and 1991 Cheap toured in Britain and Europe. They released the confrontational single Third Term and did a John Peel Session for the BBC. Cheap could not find commercial backing for their album RIP… Everything Must Go, which was eventually released several years later but is still hard to find.
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In 1992 TV Smith released his solo debut March Of The Giants. This marked the beginning of a new phase in Smith’s career. Throughout the nineties TV Smith toured non-stop, which earned him a strong fan base in Germany, Swiss, the United States and Finland. Smith continues to perform as a solo artist today, recording and performing his own songs. He has released five more studio albums: Immortal Rich (1994), Generation Y (1998), Not A Bad Day (2003), Misinformation Overload (2006) and In The Arms Of My Enemy (2009). Over the years he has worked together with a variety of other bands from around the world, including German punk band Die Toten Hosen, Punk Lurex OK from Finland, Midnight Creeps (USA), The Valentines from Italy and Suzy & Los Quattro from Spain. In 2001 Smith released Useless, a selection of TV Smith and Adverts classics re-recorded with Die Toten Hosen as backing band. The solo work of TV Smith is renowned for its politically charged lyrics, for example in the song Expensive Being Poor or the anti-war song Not In My Name. Smith plays as many gigs as he can and he doesn’t hesitate to play for up to 2,5 hours. TV Smith is famous for his intense live performances, in which he mixes his recent solo work effortlessly with classics from The Adverts. At the request of many, he finally released a double live album, Live At The NVA, recorded in a small German venue, late 2009.
Albums:
Channel Five, Expulsion, 1983
Source: Leonor Jonker
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