Television - Call Mr Lee

What this video is

Released in October 1992, 'Call Mr. Lee' was the lead single from Television's self-titled reunion album on Capitol Records — the band's first new studio material in 14 years following their 1978 breakup. The video arrived during the height of the alternative rock boom sparked by Nirvana's 'Nevermind' (1991), yet Television pointedly refused to adapt to grunge trends, instead delivering an oblique noir-tinged…

Why it matters

Television are widely regarded as founding architects of post-punk and art-punk, and 'Call Mr. Lee' represents their 1992 restatement of that vocabulary into the alternative rock moment. The song's interlocking dual-guitar architecture — a Verlaine/Lloyd signature — directly influenced the…