Tom Verlaine of the Television dies aged 73

Singer, songwriter, and guitar player for influential New York band Television, Tom Verlaine has died aged 73 after a "brief illness", the New York Times reports. Verlaine shaped the sound of rock and punk music in the 1970s and beyond, applying a poetic flair and serious musicianship to the rougher edges of the wider movement. After Television broke up in 1978, Verlaine embarked on an extensive solo career that saw him release ten albums across the ensuing decades, exploring a variety of musical themes that generally get tossed together under the label “post-punk. Television's first album 'Marquee Moon', released in 1977, is one of the most critically heralded punk/post-punk albums of all time.