9. Tom VerlaineWarm And Cool
I love Television so I tried to follow what they all did afterwards. And now as it turns out, it’s Television. Verlaine was the most prolific, although Richard Lloyd had that run of playing on some hit records.
But it’s always been Verlaine’s guitar for me, so when this came out it eclipsed all of his other solo work. At the time I was searching for spacious instrumental guitar music – I was getting into The Ventures and The Shadows and Jack Nitzsche’s The Lonely Surfer, but especially Paris, Texas by Ry Cooder and Ennio Morricone records. When I heard Warm And Cool it was like all of those things combined.
He has been innovative with his choice of guitar and technique – how much does that appeal to your own inventive nature?
I’ve always tried to develop my own style of playing, whether it’s on bass or guitar, and of course ultimately you can only play like yourself. But it’s inevitable, you hear yourself on a recording and you realise, "oh, I ripped that off, and that, and that". I’ve met Verlaine a few times, earliest was like, ’89? He’s friendly.
