Victims - Television Addict

"Television Addict" was the A-side of the debut single by The Victims, an early punk rock band from Perth, Western Australia. The song is a mainstay of compilations of Australian punk from the 1970s, and has been recorded by the Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, The Hellacopters and Teengenerate.

It was co-written by singer-guitarist Dave Faulkner (known at the time as Dave Flick) and drummer James Baker. The slow, menacing, bass line, played by Rudolph V (Dave Cardwell), is also a prominent feature of the recording. The Victims released the single independently in late 1977 or early 1978 (sources vary), with "I'm Flipped Out Over You" on the B-side.

Lyrically, "Television Addict" revolves around a youth "who went out and shot someone", and whose lawyer then attributes his actions to violence on television: "blame the ratings for his crime." The song is, in large part, a satirical comment on the tendency to blame popular culture for crime, rather than individuals, or broader social problems. The song ends by questioning why other social phenomena are not attributed to TV progams: "just because I watch Dinah Shore, doesn't mean my brain has slipped, doesn't mean anything — at all."

The band broke up in 1979. During the mid-1980s, Baker and Faulkner were briefly reunited in the Hoodoo Gurus, who sometimes performed "Television Addict" as an encore. The Hoodoo Gurus (without Baker) later recorded "Television Addict", and issued it as a bonus track on Crank (2005 re-issue).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• victims
• television addict
• australia
• kbd
• punk
• killed by death
• hoodoo gurus
• fun things
• perth
• babeez
• chosen few
• leftovers
• psycho surgeons
• radio birdman
• razar
• rocks
• saints
• thought criminals
• johnny dole & the scabs
• lipstick killers
• scientists

[petedrums75]

james baker, legend of perth and austalian music !!

[edfeltch]

@fallspeed,playing in a real 70s punk band was hard work.playing punk gigs in Houston was the hardest physical work I ever done.

[edfeltch]

Can't believe I seeing this after hearing for so many years.spot on.

[mfwalker1]

Thank god it's recorded.

[guidedbythespirit]

Good

[erosromeo]

way cool for posting this -did not know the hoodoo guru link -thnks

[glukarok]

Dave Faulkner 's a genius!! long life to Gurus

[HelenKellersRythem]

@fallspeed Haha, it is.. I've been trying for a couple days now.

[mechgregor]

I love this tune

[SOUTHERNMIGHT]

i have this on vinyl, and its signed but the singer...