Do we really need to say anything more about TV Smith?
TV Smith should be a name known to anyone who has even slightly engaged with punk.
TV Smith is, if I may put it this way, living history. He was born in 1956 and started making music at an early age. He has remained true to that path.
Now it is the year 2020. The special year. A year like no other.
This year has also been special for TV Smith.
Firstly, because he has been sitting on the sidelines since March, meaning he cannot play concerts, which is significant for someone who still plays around 100 concerts a year. Usually alone, just him and his guitar. Sometimes Drummer Vom Ritchie from Die Toten Hosen joins him, and rarely does he perform with a band.
Secondly, TV Smith contracted the coronavirus and was thus personally affected by the terrible virus that has turned our world upside down and continues to do so. A virus that has impacted us all, directly or indirectly.
Thirdly, TV Smith has released a new album titled “Lockdown Holiday,” which truly deserves the label “concept album.”
On “Lockdown Holiday,” TV Smith processes his own experiences from this year. However, he does not only focus on himself; he also shines a light on those who are forgotten in crises. There are the many refugees who do not even have the most basic necessities for life. Even fires in the overcrowded camps did not bring any improvement. Not to mention the lack of acceptance and integration.
TV Smith also sees the many people who have lost their jobs and are now left with nothing. He particularly looks at his country of birth.
The release is not only thematically special but also because he has arranged the songs chronologically according to their creation for the album. This way, you can feel how he felt. You sense what Smith sensed.
Thus, “Lockdown Holiday” is a very personal and powerful work.
It is certainly difficult to pick one album from the output that TV Smith has and declare it the best. However, what is undisputed is that this album is something special. It should be regarded as such.
If, hopefully, next year things improve and we can go to concerts again, TV Smith will surely be there as well. He will stand on stage again, powerfully celebrating his songs with every fiber of his being. For me, TV Smith is an icon. The way he reveals himself on stage with his guitar and sings his songs is so deep, so personal, and so powerful that I almost get goosebumps while writing these lines.
