Television Personalities

The story of Dan Treacy is, more or less, that of the Television Personalities. Begun humbly, TVP's surly Pop and Punk caught on magically with the release of Where's Bill Grundy Now EP -- a marvelously unfinished, terribly important and fiery sounding release. Overdriven church organs, simple progressions, and Treacy's dry humor set fire to "tight" structures and watched them burn. After Treacy began his own label Whaam! Records (he was later sued by George Michael for copyright infringement), TVP retreated into psychedelia. Spacey and melodically scattered, Treacy's wryly critical name dropping (Pavement's Steve Malkmus thanks you very much) was probably its most intriguing feature. Horribly underrated in their own heyday, TVP's most important export has been its recent influence on organ-loving Indie-Pop bands such as Quasi, Pavement, and more recently San Francisco's Aisler Set.