T.V. Smith’s Explorers “The Last Words of the Great Explorer” 1981.  Singer T.V. Smith’s power pop/new wave band after the break-up of The Adverts in 1979 (The Adverts ‘77 song “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” is still considered one of the best punk singles ever). The Last Words of the Great Explorer was the band’s sole release and I’m pretty sure it didn’t chart or really even make a dent in the public consciousness at all. Smith has a great voice, really perfect for the new wave sound, but the record is kinda blah…Allmusic’s review says, “he [T.V. Smith] briefly flirted with a now badly dated new wave synthesizer sound that unfortunately was mixed way too high in an already over-produced record.” I do like the title track “The Last Words of the Great Explorer” and “The Unwelcome Guest” but a couple of the tracks are just way over-blown in sound, length and strained earnestness like “Imagination” and “The Easy Way.” This was in our pile of “should it stay or should it go” records and my vote is it should go.