Timothy "T. V." Smith (born 5 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter who was part of
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band
The Adverts
The Adverts were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 that existed until late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to achieve mainstream success in the UK; their 1977 Single (music), single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached No. 18 on the ...
in the late 1970s. Since then he has fronted other bands, as well as pursuing a solo career.
Biography
Smith and
Gaye Black (a.k.a. Gaye Advert) moved from, respectively,
Okehampton
Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...
in mid-
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, and
Bideford
Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district.
Toponymy
In ancient records Bi ...
, a small coastal town in Devon, to form The Adverts in London in 1976.
The Adverts are best known for their 1977 hit single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" and acclaimed 1978 debut album ''Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts''. Following unsuccessful follow-up album ''Cast of Thousands'', The Adverts split up in late 1979, and Smith formed a new band, T.V. Smith's Explorers. They were: Erik Russell (guitar),
Colin Stoner (bass), Mel Wesson (keyboards) and David Sinclair (drums). The Explorers released their debut single "Tomahawk Cruise" (a response to the installation of
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The BGM-109 Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, Subsonic flight, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-att ...
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...
s on UK soil) in 1980, followed by an album, ''The Last Words of the Great Explorer''.
Smith then recorded as a solo artist, releasing the album ''Channel Five'' in 1983.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 4-5]
Smith's next band was Cheap. Cheap were:
TV Smith: Vox, Mik Heslin: Guitar, Martin 'Fuzz' Deniz: Drums, Andy 'Bean' Bennie: Bass.
They toured the UK and Europe from 1986 to 1991 and recorded the politically charged single "Third Term", released in 1990. Cheap also recorded a
Peel Session
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. However, they failed to find commercial backing for their album ''RIP...Everything Must Go'', which was eventually released in 1993 after the band had split up.
Smith went solo again with album ''March of the Giants'' in 1992. Albums ''Immortal Rich'' (1995), ''Generation Y'' (1999) and ''Not a Bad Day'' (2003) followed, with Smith touring constantly, aided overseas by a variety of other bands, including Germany's
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen are a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. The name is taken from the German slang idiom ''tote Hose'' (literally "dead trousers"), which means "nothing happening"; "boring". The band has had an important success through th ...
, Finland's Punk Lurex OK, the United States' Midnight Creeps, and Spain's Suzy & Los Quattro.
In 2005, he joined the American punk band
Amen
Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...
on their UK tour. As well as supporting, he joined them on stage for several
covers of Adverts songs, such as "One Chord Wonders", and "Gary Gilmore's Eyes".
Casey Chaos
Karim George Chmielinski (October 9, 1965 — December 20, 2024), known professionally as Casey Chaos, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of Amen. His music encompassed a number of styles in the punk and metal genres.
Ear ...
, lead singer, is a lifelong fan of The Adverts, and referenced them in the song "Hello (One Chord Lovers)".
In 2006 Smith contributed vocals to the song "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)" on
Fehlfarben's album ''26''.
The same year saw his first album (''Misinformation Overload'') on Boss Tuneage records. ''In the Arms of My Enemy'' followed in 2008. In 2010 a series of re-issue CDs began with 'Sparkle in the Mud', a compilation of previously unreleased material from the early-1980s period.
In 2012, Smith was the subject of a
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 documentary on his career as a singer-songwriter, credited with renewing public interest in his work.
Discography
with
The Adverts
The Adverts were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 that existed until late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to achieve mainstream success in the UK; their 1977 Single (music), single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached No. 18 on the ...
*''
Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts'' (1978, Bright Records)
*''
Cast of Thousands
''Cast of Thousands'' is the second studio album by English rock band Elbow, released on 18 August 2003 in the UK and on 27 January 2004 in the US by V2 Records. The album title refers to the song "Grace Under Pressure", whose refrain was reco ...
'' (1979,
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
)
with T.V. Smith's Explorers
Albums
*''The Last Words of the Great Explorer'' (1981), Kaleidoscope Sound/Epic
ereleased on CD (1998) and as 2CD (2012)
Singles
*"Tomahawk Cruise" (1980), Big Beat
*"The Servant" (1981), Kaleidoscope Sound
*"Have Fun" (1981), Kaleidoscope Sound
*"The Perfect Life" (1981), Kaleidoscope Sound
Solo
Albums
*''Channel Five'' (1983), Expulsion
*''March of the Giants'' (1992), Cooking Vinyl
ereleased 2012*''Immortal Rich'' (1995), Humbug
*''Generation Y'' (1999), Cherry Red
*''Not a Bad Day'' (2003), TVS
*''Misinformation Overload'' (2006), Boss Tuneage
*''In the Arms of My Enemy'' (2008), Boss Tuneage
*''Coming in to Land'' (2011), Boss Tuneage
*''
I Delete
''I Delete'' is the 16th album released by T. V. Smith on November 17, 2014.
Track listing
All tracks composed by T. V. Smith
#"Replay"
#"I Delete"
#"First One to Sign Up"
#"Long Gone"
#"Cutbacks"
#"London Hum"
#"Festival of Fools"
#"It Don't Wo ...
'' (2014), TVS
*''Land of the Overdose'' (2018)
*''Lockdown Holiday'' (2020)
=Compilations and Live
=
*''Useless – the Very Best of T.V. Smith'' (2001), JKP [1 new song plus re-recordings with
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen are a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. The name is taken from the German slang idiom ''tote Hose'' (literally "dead trousers"), which means "nothing happening"; "boring". The band has had an important success through th ...
as backing band]
*''T.V. Smith & The Bored Teenagers Perform Crossing The Red Sea with the Adverts Live at the 100 Club London'' (2007), Boss Tuneage
*''Live at the N. V. A. Ludwigsfelde, Germany'' (2009), Boss Tuneage
*''Sparkle in the Mud'' (2010, recorded 1979–1983), Boss Tuneage
*''Lucky Us'' (2012, recorded 1983–1986), Boss Tuneage
*''Acoustic Sessions Volume 1'' (2013), TVS
ew recordings
Singles
*"War Fever" (1983), Expulsion
*"Coming Round" (1985), Production House
s 'Production House'*"We Want the Road" (1994), Humbug
*"Thin Green Line" (1996), Humbug – (with
Tom Robinson
Living people
Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...
)
*"The Future Used To Be Better" (2000),
Hiljaiset Levyt
Hiljaiset Levyt
Hiljaiset Levyt is an independent record label from Finland specializing in rock and punk music. Founded in 1985 in Tampere, Finland, the label has played a significant role in promoting underground and alternative music in the co ...
– (with Punk Lurex OK)
*"What If?" (2003), No Tomorrow – (with Suzy & Los Quattro)
*"Punk Aid" (2003) – (with various punk luminaries led by
Captain Sensible
Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the punk rock band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is kn ...
)
*"Xmas Bloody Xmas" (2004), Damaged Goods – (with Vom Ritchie – drummer from Die Toten Hosen, and Tim Cross)
*"Dangerous Playground E.P." (2014) (all tracks included on later ''I Delete'' album release.)
with T.V. Smith's Cheap
Albums
*''Everything Must Go!'' (1993), Humbug
ereleased as ''Anthology'' (2012)
Singles
*"Third Term" (1990), Deltic
s 'Cheap'with Richard Strange
Richard "Kid" Strange (born in January 1951) is an English actor, writer, musician, and curator, who was the founder and front man of mid-1970s protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.
Music
1975–1990s
Richard Strange's first band Doct ...
Albums
* ''"1978" (''2021), Molecular Stream Records)
* "A Dffrnt Wrld" (2023), Bandcamp)
Bibliography
* T. V. Smith: ''Getting There – Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume One.'' Arima, Suffolk 2006,
*
Dave Thompson: ''TV Smith – Your Ticket Out of Here – The Complete Collector's Guide'' Createspace, 2009
* T. V. Smith: ''How to Feel Human – Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume Two.'' Arima, Suffolk 2009,
* T. V. Smith: ''Tales of the Emergency Sandwich – Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume Three.'' Arima, Suffolk 2012,
* T. V. Smith: ''To Heligoland and Beyond! – Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume Four.'' Arima, Suffolk 2013,
* T. V. Smith: ''Book of the Year – Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume Five.'' Arima, Suffolk 2014,
References
External links
Official websiteInterview with T.V. Smith on Trilogy Rock
(in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, T. V.
1956 births
Living people
People from Romford
English punk rock singers
English male songwriters
English male singers
English punk rock guitarists
English male guitarists
Thirsty Ear Recordings artists
Cooking Vinyl artists
Cherry Red Records artists
The Adverts members
Musicians from the London Borough of Havering
Singers from the London Borough of Havering