Tune in to Early Television Personalities

For the second time in as many weeks, I have done a little digging into a favorite musician only to find out he is very ill. I'm not sure how I missed this but, back in October, Dan Treacy of Television Personalities was in a lengthy medically induced coma following an operation to remove blood clot on his brain. He was finally brought out of the coma in December. Unfortunately, most, if not all, of Treacy's 2012 will be spent in the hospital. It is probably too much to ever expect more music from this gifted artist, but I'm going to use all three wishes to hope for his speedy recovery. If you're a social-network type, it appears you can get periodic updates on him via Treacy's Facebook page. His sister is taking care of any new news.

The reason I was looking into Treacy was because I finally ventured beyond Television Personalities' brilliant debut album to purchase the third album, 'They Could Have Been Bigger Than the Beatles.' It's mostly comprised of early singles, demos, outtakes and unreleased tracks recorded between 1979 and 1982, and it was initially released in 1982 on the Ed Ball/Treacy label Whaam! Records. Thankfully, the good folks at Fire Records (also home to Close Lobsters) reissued it on glorious vinyl. The album has a lighter touch, but the lo-fi sound of Treacy's earliest work is still here. It kind of reminds me of Apples in Stereo's first few singles. Listen to the album opener below. Then buy it here.

Television Personalities - Three Wishes (mp3)