OK the interview situation, me and Dan.
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Daniel Treacy, in case you didn't know, is an extraordinary sort of person. Not, thankfully, in an obvious way, Daniel Treacy is no Geoffrey Ingram, but then Daniel Treacy
is a lot more interesting than Geoffrey lngram. Geoffrey is so handsome, a face about town, Daniel is pretty, pretty reclusive. Geoffrey is so obvious and Daniel is, well,
obstinately contrary. Geoffrey speeds, he's flash, neat and sharp, Daniel can be all of this but only if he can be bothered. All the girls want to sleep with Geoffrey, he's
everyone's friend. Daniel's friends with himself, he can't look people in the eye, sometimes he kicks them in the eye. Sometimes people try to use Daniel and sometimes he sees
through them. Daniel's a lovely person maybe, Geoffrey's a real good bloke. Geoffrey is in fact, a wee bit shallow, one dimensional. Daniel Treacy invented Geoffrey Ingram - the
Geoffrey Ingrams of this world could never, in a million years, invent a Daniel Treacy. Daniel Treacy has a pop group, my favourite ever pop group, the Television Personalities. OK the interview situation, me and Dan. |
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What are the TVPs all about? "Life." And your contribution to popular culture? "Social and loving awareness." Yeah, drugs? "Nothing serious, just dodos for my hay-fever." Oh that's OK, what about sex? "The disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I'm happier with friends than lovers." Daniel, probably straight, has one of the most highly developed camp affectations ever witnessed - on a good day he can put even Alan Horne to shame for this he does have the advantage of a rather smaller bum to wiggle around, which he uses to great effect. And the German boys? "I love them. Well not all of them. I don't love Nazis." Nazis or Nancy's? "Both, the German boys aren't cynical." But Dan, surely you're a very cynical person.. "Not as much as I used to be." The other day, I was reading a really old interview you did, in which you said that music was the most important thing in your life. Is it still? "Only as an outlet for the things I want to say. I never used to value anything else. I'm learning to value my friends." Which brings us on to the Joe saga. A problem Dan has always had has been in finding the right people to play his very beautiful songs - a problem now happily resolved with Jowe Head, fab, wacky bass person, "I view the TVPs as the difference between destitution and a heated swimming pool. I'm just in it for the bread, wholemeal of course." , and Jeffrey Bloom, fab, sensible drum-person, providing us with what is, perhaps the definitive fab, rocking TVPs sound. Anyway, Mr Joe from Hendon, school-chum of Dan and occasional TVP since '79 had perhaps, rightly or wrongly, become too involved with the group (re. "The Painted Word") culminating in bitter squabbles over money, oh and, artistic credit, and so went the way of Edward and others. OK Dan, what about this high turnover of personnel? "The TVPs is Dan." What about Joe? "He's off his rocker. He thinks I'm psychic. Just because I told him I met Marc Bolan the last time I was in Germany. There was just a growing level of mistrust, mostly caused by outside influences." And songs? "When Ed was in the group he wrote lots so we did them (live) but Joe only ever wrote one ("It had to happen", typically fab TVPs song circa 1980), I mean it was a good song but you know.." Do you like "The Painted Word"? "I can't listen to it but some of the songs are good like "Someone to Share My Life With". And Creation Records? "I don't mind influencing people as long as they don't rip off my songs for b-sides." The TVPs would now appear to have, finally, left Rough Trade for good (Rough Trade would appear to have no-one any good), a hit single would appear as elusive as ever. Ironically that label can now chart. What happened? "Quite simply I refuse to bastardise myself. Morrisey, Green, Roddy Frame all did. I won't." So what'll happen, will the music scene catch up with the TVPs or will the TVPs maybe catch up with the music scene? "Oh yeah, a head-on collision's inevitable." |
| Great Rock & Roll Traditions. |
| No.1. The TV Personalities gig. A bit like watching your favourite film over and over again, you maybe get a wee bit sick of it but you love it anyway. TVPs gigs, well something always goes wrong and they always finish with a medley (gruesome). Jeffrey always wears a nice shirt and Jowe too and Daniel, the high priest of tradition leads the mass. 'We'd like to take you back to '67 now.. and leave you there", "This song's about the well known artist and homosexual David Hockney.. oh well, at least we've got something in common", or more bluntly, "I'm a rampant homosexual for all the world to see", yeah, and don't the kids just love it! |
| SOME SONGS A personal selection. |
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| Early / punk "I'm sorry I'm a boy" "Bill Grundy" "Part-time Punks" |
Mid / mod "Geoffrey Ingram" "I Don't Know" "La Grande Illusion" |
Nowadays "If I Could Write Poetry" "Someone To Share My Life With" "Now You're Just Being Ridiculous" |
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'Juniper Beri-Beri' was edited and produced by Stephen and Aggi Pastel. Thanks to Mark Flunder for providing the initial scans of the material. Thanks to Chris Davidson for the subsequent loan of the item. |
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