Television’s Fred Smith passed away at age 77 on Thursday, February 5. The band confirmed his death from an unspecified illness on its official social media pages. Smith was the original bassist in Debbie Harry and Chris Stein’s first band, Angel and the Snake (later renamed Blondie and the Banzai Babies, and then just Blondie). Smith left Blondie in 1975 to replace Richard Hell in Television, a group co-founded by Hell, Tom Verlaine, and Richard Lloyd. His rhythms were crucial—even underrated—on Marquee Moon and Adventure, especially “Days,” “Marquee Moon,” and, in the ’90s, “1880 or So.” As Grant Sharples wrote in our greatest albums of all time ranking, Marquee Moon “is a vivid distillation of the milieu that its bandmates inhabited. You can hear its influence throughout the ages, from the noisy, howling dynamism of the Pixies to the hooky, synthy guitar tones of the Strokes. Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca, and Fred Smith, all these years later, have made certain that their names will be remembered. They’re still on the marquee, and they always will be.”
Television and Blondie would play gigs together at CBGB residencies in the mid-1970s. Recounting that period to MOJO, Smith called Blondie a “sinking ship” and Television his “favorite band.” Smith would remain Television’s bassist until its breakup in 1978, brief reformation in 1992, and subsequent tours before Verlaine’s death in 2023. When he wasn’t working in Television, Smith contributed to Verlaine and Lloyd’s solo records, and he made records with bands like the Roches, Peregrins, the Revelons, and, most prominently, the Fleshtones.
On Instagram, Jimmy Rip wrote: “The legendary bassist for Television, Tom Verlaine and many others, Fred Smith, was not only my bandmate for 46 years—he was my true friend. He was a great running buddy and exactly the guy you wanted around when road life got wearisome. His sense of humor, much like his musical voice, was dry, subtle, to the point, hilarious and always left you wanting [sic] more. Yesterday, he left this world, leaving so many who loved him wanting so much more… of him. We met in 1980 playing, with Jay Dee Daugherty on drums, in The Eve Moon Band, and soon after, the three of us were the NYC version of Holly and The Italians with Holly Beth Vincent. In 1981 when Tom Verlaine was preparing to tour for his disc Dreamtime, which Fred and Jay had performed on, they recommended me as second guitar, leading to very long and rich musical, and personal friendships.”
“If you are a lover of melodic bass lines and counterpoint, you could go to school on what Fred created so effortlessly,” Rip continued. “He was a natural—never flashy, always essential—always serving the song in ways that only the greatest musicians can. He fought his illness long and hard these last few years, looking always forward to new projects… We had big plans to play Tom’s music live this year… but it just wasn’t meant to be. Thankfully, we were able to say goodbye, ‘love you’ were our last words to each other. I will miss him more than anyone can imagine.”