Lead guitarist for seminal art/
punk band
Television in the
1970s and early 80s. Currently has his own
band (called, oddly enough, The Richard Lloyd Band) and is living fairly quietly, doing occasional session work and raising a son in
New York City.
He was the subject of a famous series of
Godlis photographs in
1978. There are a dozen or so pictures of him, pale and thin at
Beth Israel Hospital, being treated for a blood infection from
shooting up. Pictures of him lighting a
cigarette next to a NO SMOKING - OXYGEN TANK IN USE sign, sitting in a dimly lit hallway, slumped in bed with a
Variety in his lap. They are stunningly beautiful. Lloyd's in his late twenties but could pass for ten years younger. With his somber face and regulation white gown, he looks
angelic, almost like a religious painting come to life.
He hasn't aged well. Today, he looks ten years older than he should, and his solo music is wanky, irritating guitar-nerd
rawk. He waxes rhapsodic over
yoga and alchemical principles and
hypnosis. I've tried to listen to his solo album all the way through, but I just can't - I've realized that I should just stick to
Marquee Moon, because that
beautiful,
intense,
punkass Richard Lloyd is as dead as Television.
Still, I'd like to meet him someday. Maybe even take a
guitar lesson from him, if I ever have a spare hundred bucks or so lying around. Most of all, I'm curious to see if behind the craggy face and overblown guitar solos is that same pretty dark-eyed boy with a
halo and a
fuck you at the ready.