Fred Smith, legend of the NYC scene, dies aged 77

News emerged yesterday that Fred Smith died on Thursday at the age of 77, having fought an unspecified illness for some time.

Fred Smith (not to be confused with legend of the Detroit scene Fred 'Sonic' Smith) was born in New York City in 1948, and played with many notable New York bands of the 1970s and 80s. He got his start in the early 70s in Angel and the Snake, with Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Billy O'Connor. They played two gigs in August 1974 under that name, but by the October they had transformed, via Blondie & The Banzai Babes, to just Blondie.

He opted to move on in 1975, to replace Richard Hell (who was forming his Voidoids) in another soon-to-be legendary NYC band, Television. His arrival coincided with their signing by Arista, and he was present for both their seminal debut record, Marquee Moon, and its follow up Adventure, before they split in 1978.

Television: See No Evil (audio only)

He would go on to play on the solo efforts by both his former colleagues, Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, and was with them again in 1992 when Television reunited and put out a third album. He also played and recorded with popular garage band The Fleshtones for several years in the late 80s.

Fred Smith (left) with his Television bandmates; Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd and Billy Ficca

Television: Prove It (audio only - with its beautiful rolling bass line)

He, and his wife Paula Cerighino, would go on to open a small scale winery in 1999; at first from their apartment in the East Village, before later moving it out to the Hudson Valley, buying in grapes from small growers, creating around 600 cases per year, mostly for sale to upscale restaurants back in the city.

Television: Days (audio only - lovely guitar-bass interplay from the second album)

Jimmy Rip, who replaced Lloyd when he left the band again in 2007, played with Smith in Television until the final end when Verlaine died in 2023 and had known him for more than 45 years. He said;

"His sense of humour, much like his musical voice, was dry, subtle, to the point, hilarious and always left you wanting more. Yesterday, he left this world, leaving so many who loved him wanting so much more... of him. If you are a lover of melodic bass lines and counterpoint, you could go to school on what Fred created so effortlessly. He was a natural - never flashy, always essential - always serving the song in ways that only the greatest musicians can."