Wednesday, April 13, 2005

TV21

Edinburgh, Scotland's TV21 were always in good company during their brief time together as a band. Teardrop Explodes' Troy Tate produced their first two independent singles. The 1981 album, "A Thin Red Line," was produced by Ian Broudie of the Original Mirrors and later Lightning Seeds. Mike Scott of the Waterboys and Pete Wylie from Wah! make appearances on their lp .They toured with the Undertones and were the opening act for the Rolling Stones for the Scottish dates of their 1982 European tour. But tensions among the band members and disagreements with Deram, their record company, brought an untimely end to the band.

TV21 were:
Neil Baldwin - bass guitar, backing vocals
Dave Hampton - trumpets, string synth , organ, backing vocals, synthesiser
Ally Palmer - acoustic guitar, guitars, backing vocals, percussion, synthesiser, 12 string acoustic
Ali Paterson - drums, percussion, guitar
Norman Rodger - acoustic guitar, 12 string acoustic, lead & backing vocals

Visit Norman Rodger's TV21 site to find out more about the band and download songs and demos.

Read an interview with some band members here.

Go to the download page to get TV21 - "On The Run"

19 Comments:

Blogger rick mcginnis said...

The link to the download is broken.

9:15 AM  
Blogger Eric said...

fixed - html editor changed caps to lowercase on me.

thanx

10:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi

Have you hears of another british band called the Wid Swans/

a track called Revolutionary Spirit says it all!!!!

William

9:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A forgotten gem of a band. There are lots of great songs on the download page - but if you can find it, pick up "A Thin Red Line." Their best songs have an urgency, slowburning anger, and resoluteness that for me define the best of the 'post punk' era. And 'Red Line' is one of the best albums of that time. Also check out Norman Rodger's solo album (was also avalable for download on the TV21 site a while back) - voice is a little ragged in parts but has some wonderful, but truly heartwrenching, songs.

8:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ogwt xlip absolutely superb
what a loss to music

4:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

just dusted off my copy of "Thin Red Line", not been played since circa 1984 ...what a great album...thought I was the only one ... Wild Swans, I remember them mate ...will dust their record off too ...

Glad I'm not alone.

1:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had a copy of A thin red line, which I listened to endlessly while in college.

If I could find this again I would def. make room for it on my iPod!

3:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has anyone found a copy of "A thin red line" on CD?
I'd love to get my hands on one

11:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These and the Chameleons are the the most under rated bands ever

4:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

TV21. gods of the early eighties, particularly at Edge Hill college, in Ormskirk. Some of the guys were ex-students.
Thin Red Line was my most played vinyl throughout that decade; had to buy another copy at one stage!!

Like another poster above- hoping for CD copy releace. Heard a rumour that one had been donw in Japan, but guys, please re-release it!!!!
Looking forward tot he Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh on 15th October!!!

3:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If anyone is interested in a cd of the album then contact us via http://www.myspace.com/tv21official and we'll see what we can do. We now have mp3 files of all the tracks.
All the best, Ally

7:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,
Link to the download seems broken again. Does anybody have "Playing with Fire" to download??
Thanks!

11:14 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi What a great band and here I was thinking I may be the last and only person to remember them. I have Red Line on vinyl and am digitalising it as I write.

6:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

TV21 supported The Jam in the early 80's. The Hamersmith Palais gig was awsome. Jam fans were very partisan at the time and thse were the only act to ever get called back for an encore - went out and bought Thin Red Line the next day!

6:52 PM  
Blogger Norman Rodger said...

Came across this site by accident and feel very humbled by all the good comments. "A Thin Red Line" is finally being issued on cd along with all the singles next month, March 2010. Check out our "new" 2009 CD, "Forever 22" too. Thanks fro all the positive feedback.

Norman (TV21)

6:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thin Red Line + many extras reissue now on Amazon - release March 2010!

5:22 AM  
Anonymous Jeremiah Dissed said...

I though Billy Childish was involved in TV21? I don't see him listed. Am I missing something?

For me, their best song remains "Snakes and Ladders", no matter how uncool that makes me.

11:38 PM  
Anonymous Izod said...

TV21 were my favourite band throughout 1981 and 1982. Libby Cox, my first proper girlfriend, bought 'A Thin Red Line' for me for Christmas. I have just ordered the 'collection' CD. TV21 must go down, with The Bureau, as the band that really should have gone massively global but didn't because of endless sh*tty luck.

7:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thin Red Line ... one of the best albums of the 1980s. Still got my vinyl copy.

12:14 PM  

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