British Pub Rock - TV Smith

Many issues are being faced by small pubs and venues in England that have a license for live music. Noise restrictions and property development could within the next 5 years consign these places to a rarity.

It is often reported that British live music is thriving — a recent survey by industry body UK Music said a 12 percent rise in audiences last year, with 30.9 million gig-goers putting £4bn into the country’s economy. So what does it matter if some grotty pubs are closing, as long as you can still see the big names in the arenas and the cult heroes in the theatres? It matters because everyone has to start somewhere.

Grassroots venues are the research and development labs where ideas and routines are tested. The bad ones fail the good ones get picked up and grow. The difference is that music’s R&D labs bear all the financial risk for nurturing new talent but get no share of the rewards for success.

Developers see sites that host live music not as community assets but as potential gold mines when converted for other uses — into restaurants or flats. It doesn’t even have to be the venue itself that is developed in order to threaten live music: aggrieved residents of new development often lobby local councillors for restrictions on noise, frequency, and how live music at a venue is managed such as an earlier finish of any set. Such restrictions can impact the commercial viability of the venue.

About TV Smith. He was the founder member, singer, and songwriter for the Adverts, which formed in late 1976, and became one of the leading bands in the first wave of British punk rock. In early 1977, they performed regularly at the newly-opened Roxy Club in London, and gained cult success with the Stiff Records single "One Chord Wonders." Their next release, "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" became a hit record, leading to many 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 early 1978, "Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts," is still considered a genuine classic of the era and is often cited as one of the twenty best punk albums ever released. The Adverts released one further album, “Cast Of Thousands,” before they split in 1979. Slammed by the critics at the time, the album was later re-released to universal acclaim, and described by Mojo magazine as “the long lost punk album that rivals The Clash’s ‘London Calling.”

Immediately after the break up of The Adverts, TV formed TV Smith's Explorers, who achieved a UK hit in 1980 with the single “Tomahawk Cruise” and released one album, “Last Words Of The Great Explorer” a year later. Lack of commercial success led to the band being dropped by their record label and their subsequent split.

TV re-entered the live arena in 1986 with Cheap, before performing his first gigs as a solo artist in the early ’90s. He has gone on to release a succession of albums, including “March Of The Giants” (1992), “Immortal Rich” (1995), “Generation Y” (1999), “Not A Bad Day” (2003), “Misinformation Overload” (2006), “In The Arms Of My Enemy” (2008), “Coming Into Land” (2011), “The Acoustic Sessions” (2013), and “I Delete” (2014). He has also been involved in a number of collaborations with other bands, most notably with German superstars Die Toten Hosen, who performed as TV’s backing band on the album “Useless.” Die Toten Hosen released TV’s album “Land Of The Overdose” worldwide on their label JKP/Warners in 2018.

Fiercely independent and determinedly embodying the original spirit of punk rock, TV was until recently playing over 100 gigs a year all over the world.

Not content with playing live, TV has also written about his on-the-road experiences in five books of highly popular Tour Diaries, described by “Sandman” and “American Gods” author Neil Gaiman as, “hilarious, honest, and incredibly true.” TV’s has also recently had his first-ever book of lyrics published by Foruli Codex. Exquisitely designed by Cure designer Andy Vella, and entitled “The Alternative Top 50,” the book comprises fifty of TV’s best lyrics.

His website is www.tvsmith.co.uk