TV Smith was founder member, singer and songwriter for the Adverts, who 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 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 more 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 gained 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 ’90’s. Since then he has established himself as the leading solo performer of the punk rock scene and has released 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 In To 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 proudly embodying the original spirit of punk rock, TV was playing over 100 gigs a year all over the world before Coronavirus hit in 2020. Over 60 gigs were subsequently cancelled, but not to be daunted he went into his home studio and wrote and recorded eleven new songs inspired by the pandemic. The resulting album, “Lockdown Holiday,” was released on the Easy Action label in the UK at the beginning of 2021, and has been described by many critics as the best of his career.
As live music finally starts up again, 2022 sees three major tours in the UK: supports for Stiff Little Fingers, the Damned and Ruts DC, as well as four appearances at the Rebellion punk festival in August and various club dates. European gigs in Germany, Switzerland and Finland have also been confirmed. To top it all, TV has finally found time to release the much requested follow up to his “Acoustic Sessions” album. “Acoustic Sessions Volume 2” was released on his own label in April and is available exclusively at gigs and through his website https://tvsmith.co.uk.
