Richard Hell (born
Richard Meyers; October 2, 1949) is a singer,
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
,
bass guitarThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
ist, and
writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
.
Hell is probably best known as frontman for the early
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Their 1977 album,
Blank Generation, influenced many other punk bands. Its
title songBlank Generation is the title track of The Voidoids' debut album Blank Generation. Hell wrote the song during his time with the band Television, and performed it live with another band, The Heartbreakers. British contemporaries of Hell, the Sex Pistols rewrote Blank Generation into their own song...
was named "One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock" by music writers in the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
listing, and, for instance, is ranked as one of the all-time top-ten punk songs by a 2006 poll of original British punk figures, as reported in the
Rough Guide to Punk.
Hell was an originator of the
punk fashionPunk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including...
look, the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with
safety pinA safety pin is a simple fastening device, a variation of the regular pin which includes a simple spring mechanism and a clasp. The clasp serves two purposes: to form a closed loop thereby properly fastening the pin to whatever it is applied to, and to cover the end of the pin to protect the user...
s.
Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren is a performer, impresario, self-publicist and most famously, former manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls.-Early years:...
, manager of the
Sex PistolsThe Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They are responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, has said Hell was an important inspiration for the Sex Pistols' look and attitude, as well as the safety-pin accessorized clothing McLaren sold in his
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
shop, Sex. (Some members of the Sex Pistols dispute this.)
Since the late 1980s Hell has devoted himself primarily to writing, publishing two novels, as well as several other books. He was the film critic for
BlackBookBlackBook Magazine is a bimonthly arts and culture magazine published in the United States by BlackBook Media Corporation. Founded in 1996 as a quarterly publication, BlackBook has now expanded to six issues yearly and a circulation of roughly 150,000. The magazine covers topics ranging from art,...
magazine from 2004–2006.
Early life and career
Hell grew up in
Lexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 65th largest in the United States. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, in the 1950s. His father was an
experimental psychologistExperimental psychology is a methodological approach rather than a subject and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
, researching
animal behaviorEthology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
. He died when Hell was seven years old. Hell was raised by his mother, who, after her husband's death, returned to school and eventually became a
professorThe meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual...
.
Hell attended
Sanford PreparatorySanford School is a private, college preparatory, coeducational day school for students in junior kindergarten through grade twelve, located in Hockessin, Delaware. Originally known as "Sunny Hills School", it was founded on September 23, 1930 by Sanford and Ellen Sawin, in memory of their eldest...
in
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named.Delaware is located in...
for one year (the 11th grade) where he became friends with Tom Miller (later
Tom VerlaineTom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best-known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
). They ran away from school together and were arrested in Alabama for
arsonArson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires caused by lightning for example. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation...
and vandalism a short time later.
Hell never finished high school but moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to make his way as a poet. In New York he bought a used table-top offset
printing pressA printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium , thereby transferring an image. The mechanical systems involved were first assembled in Germany by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, based on existing screw-presses used to press...
and began publishing books and magazines under the imprints Genesis: Grasp and then Dot Books. Before he was twenty-one his own poems were published in numerous periodicals, ranging from
Rolling Stone to the New Directions
Annuals. Along with Tom Verlaine, in 1971 Hell also published under the pseudonym Theresa Stern, a female poet whose photo was actually a combination of both his and Verlaine's faces, in makeup and a female wig, superimposed over one another to create a new identity.
The Neon Boys, Television, and the Heartbreakers
In 1969, Verlaine joined Hell in New York and they eventually formed the
Neon BoysThe Neon Boys was a New York band during the early 1970s, composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca. The trio later went on to form the American rock band Television in 1973...
. Their 1973 demo tracks of "Love Comes in Spurts" and "That's All I Know (Right Now)", later released by Shake Records, were arguably the first punk recordings. In 1974 the band added a second guitar player and changed their name to
TelevisionTelevision is an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. Although Television have never had more than a cult audience in their American homeland, they have achieved significant commercial success in Europe...
.
Television's performances at
CBGBCBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
helped kick-start the first wave of punk bands, inspiring a number of different artists including
Patti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer–songwriter, poet and visual artist who was a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses. Called the "Godmother of Punk", she integrated the beat poetry performance style with three-chord rock...
, who wrote the first press review of Television for the
Soho Weekly News in June 1974. She had an affair with Tom Verlaine, and formed a highly successful band of her own (the Patti Smith Group). Television was the band that convinced CBGB owner
Hilly KristalHilly Kristal was an American club owner and musician who was the owner of the iconic New York City club, CBGB, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006 over a rent dispute....
to book rock bands at his club, and they built its first stage.
Hell started playing his song "Blank Generation" during his stint in Television. In 1975, Hell quit (or was fired from) Television after a dispute over creative control. Hell claimed that he and Verlaine had originally divided the songwriting evenly but later Verlaine favored his own songs. Verlaine remains characteristically silent on the subject.
Hell left Television the same week that
Jerry NolanJerry Nolan was an American punk rock drummer, best known for playing with The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers.-Career:...
and
Johnny ThundersJohnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an Italian American rock and roll/protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter....
quit the
New York DollsThe New York Dolls are an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1971. In 2004 the band reformed with three of their original members, two of whom, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, continue on today and have released two records of new material...
and the three of them formed a band called
The HeartbreakersThe Heartbreakers, also known as Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, were an American rock & roll band formed in New York in May 1975. The band was part of the first wave of punk rock.-History:...
in May 1975 (not to be confused with
Tom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
's band, which adopted the same name the following year). After a few shows Walter Lure joined The Heartbreakers as a second guitar player.
The Voidoids
A year later, in early 1976, Hell quit The Heartbreakers and started Richard Hell & the Voidoids with
Robert QuineRobert W. Quine was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison...
,
Ivan JulianIvan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/ New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and LoveliesHe has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
and
Marc BellMarky Ramone is an American drummer. He is best known for being the drummer for the Ramones, but has also played in other notable bands like Dust and Richard Hell and The Voidoids. He is currently hosting "Marky Ramone's Punk Rock Blitzkrieg" on Sirius XM 28/52 Faction, Tuesdays at 8pm ET...
. The band released two albums, though the second,
Destiny StreetDestiny Street is the second and last studio album by punk band Richard Hell and The Voidoids. It was originally released in 1982 on Red Star Records, and was reissued in 1995 by Razor & Tie...
, was a less successful lineup that retained only Quine from the original group and suffered from Hell's distractions, narcotics especially, during recording, as he himself has described. (Besides Hell and Quine, the lineup on the
Destiny Street album was Naux (Juan Maciel) on guitar and Fred Maher on drums.) Hell's best known songs with the Voidoids were "
Blank GenerationBlank Generation is the title track of The Voidoids' debut album Blank Generation. Hell wrote the song during his time with the band Television, and performed it live with another band, The Heartbreakers. British contemporaries of Hell, the Sex Pistols rewrote Blank Generation into their own song...
" (the title track of the group's
original album), "Love Comes in Spurts", "The Kid With the Replaceable Head" and "Time". On 10 July, 2009, it was announced that
Destiny Street would be remade and released as
Destiny Street Repaired with new guitarists
Marc RibotMarc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music...
,
Bill FrisellWilliam Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late '80s Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
, and
Ivan JulianIvan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/ New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and LoveliesHe has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
playing along to the original rhythm tracks. The new album is scheduled to be released in September 2009, and will include a limited edition deluxe set of 1000 pressings all signed by Richard Hell .
Dim Stars and Hell's books, further life
Hell's only other album set to date was in the band
Dim StarsDim Stars was an alternative rock supergroup active briefly in the early 1990s. The group was composed of bassist Richard Hell of The Voidoids, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, guitarist Don Fleming from Gumball, and some guitar work by Robert Quine, also of the...
, for which he came out of retirement for a month in the early 1990s. Dim Stars was considered something of an
indie rockIndie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The term is often used to describe the means of production and distribution of independent underground music, as well as the style of music that was first associated with this means of...
supergroupIn the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups." Supergroups tend to be short-lived, often lasting only for an album or two...
, featuring guitarist
Thurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running Ecstatic Peace! records.-Early years:Moore was born in Coral Gables, Florida, but was...
and drummer
Steve ShelleySteven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth....
from
Sonic YouthSonic Youth is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Mark Ibold and Steve Shelley ....
and
GumballGumball was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1990. The original lineup consisted of Don Fleming , Eric Vermillion , and Jay Spiegel...
's guitarist
Don FlemingDon Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of bands such as Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball. He was also a member of Dim Stars. He is more widely known as a seminal producer for bands such as Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, and The Posies.- Productions :* The...
, as well as some guitar playing by Voidoid Robert Quine. They formed only to record the one album, written and recorded in three weeks, and one EP, both called
Dim Stars, and they never played in public. Hell played bass and sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the album.
In 1996 Hell wrote a novel,
Go Now, that was drawn largely from his own experience, and he released a collection of short pieces (poems, essays and drawings) called
Hot and Cold in 2001. His second novel,
Godlike, was published in 2005 on
Dennis CooperDennis Cooper is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist.-Career:Cooper grew up the son of a wealthy businessman in Arcadia, California. His first forays into literature came early, focusing on imitations of Rimbaud, Verlaine, de Sade, and Baudelaire...
's Little House on the Bowery Series on Akashic Books. All three books have been highly praised. Also published in 2005 was a book of thirteen poems written in collaboration with
David Shapiro (poet)David Shapiro is an American poet, literary critic, and art historian. Shapiro has written some twenty volumes of poetry, literary, and art criticism...
,
Rabbit Duck. Hell's non-fiction has been widely anthologized as well, including a number of appearances in "best music writing" collections.
Hell's archive of his manuscripts, tapes, correspondence (written and email), journals, and other documents of his life was purchased for $50,000 by
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Fales library in 2003.
Hell has appeared in several low budget films, most notably
Susan SeidelmanSusan Seidelman is an American movie director.-Career:Susan Seidelman belongs to the first wave of female independent film makers in the American cinema of the 1980s. She graduated Abington Senior High School in 1969 , and went on to study fashion and arts at Drexel University in Philadelphia...
's
SmithereensSmithereens may refer to:* Smithereens , a 1982 film by Susan Seidelman* The Smithereens, a rock band from New Jersey* Smithereens a book by Shaun Micallef* Natives of Smithers, a town in Canada...
. (Other acting appearances include Uli Lommell's
Blank GenerationBlank Generation is a 1980 WestGerman and American co-produced musical film. It was directed and co-written by Ulli Lommel, and it stars Carole Bouquet as the French journalist Nada. Acclaimed composer Elliot Goldenthal composed music for the film in his typically off-beat style.-Cast:*Carole...
,
Nick ZeddNick Zedd is an American filmmaker and author based in New York City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded filmmakers and artists using shock value and black humor in their work...
's
Geek Maggot Bingo, Rachel Amadeo's
What About Me?, and Rachid Kerdouche's
Final Reward. Hell film trivia: he had a non-speaking cameo role as
MadonnaMadonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance...
's murdered boyfriend in Susan Seidelman's 1985
Desperately Seeking SusanDesperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna. This movie was rated PG-13 in the USA & 15 in the UK-Plot:...
.) In 2007 he started making a movie which he wrote and acts in as well as directs. It appears to deal with the experience of aging.
Hell was married to Scandal's
Patty SmythPatty Smyth is an American rock and roll musician. She first enjoyed mainstream success in 1982 as lead singer of the band Scandal. That band's self-titled debut release became Columbia Records' biggest selling EP...
for two years, 1985–86, and they have a daughter, Ruby. Hell married Sheelagh Bevan in 2002 and lives with her in the
East VillageThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It lies east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Discography
- 1977: Blank Generation
- 1982: Destiny Street
Destiny Street is the second and last studio album by punk band Richard Hell and The Voidoids. It was originally released in 1982 on Red Star Records, and was reissued in 1995 by Razor & Tie...
- 1984: R.I.P
- 1989: Funhunt [live]
- 1992: Dim Stars
- 1992: Dim Stars EP
- 2002: Time (expanded version of R.I.P.)
- 2005: Spurts, The Richard Hell Story
- 2009: Destiny Street Repaired
Books
- 1992: Artifact: Notebooks from Hell 1974-1980. No. 37 : Hanuman Books ISBN 093781539X
- 1993: "The Voidoid : Codex Books, Hove, UK. (first printing of previously unpublished 1973 novella.
- 1997 : Go Now : Scribner
Charles Scribner's Sons is a New York City publisher that is best known for publishing a number of luminaries of American literature including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana and John Clellon Holmes.The firm published...
ISBN 978-0684832777
- 2001 : Hot and Cold : powerHouse Books
powerHouse Books is an independent publisher of art and photography books founded in 1995 by Daniel Power, and is located near the Brooklyn waterfront of DUMBO in The powerHouse Arena...
: ISBN 1-57687-082-0
- 2005 : Rabbit Duck (w/ David Shapiro) : Repair
- 2005 : Godlike : Akashic Books
Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent publisher. Akashic Books' collection began with Arthur Nersesian's THE FUCK UP in 1996, and has since expanded to include Dennis Cooper's "Little House on the Bowery" series, Chris Abani's Black Goat poetry series, and the internationally successful...
ISBN 1-888451-77-7
- 2008: Psychopts (w/ Christopher Wool) : JMc & GHB Editions. 2008 ISBN 9780979507755
- 2009: The Voidoid (w/ Kier Cooke Sandvik) : 38th Street Publishers ISBN 978-0-9818369-6-6
Further reading
- The Richard Hell Papers are located in the Fales Library
NYU's Fales Library and Special Collections houses nearly 200,000 volumes, and of archive and manuscript materials. It contains the Fales Collection of rare books and manuscripts in English and American literature, the Downtown Collection, the Food and Cookery Collection, and the general Special...
at New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. The Fales Library Guide to the Richard Hell Papers
- Nathan Brackett. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Simon and Schuster (2004)
- Bernard Gendron. Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club: Popular Music and the Avant-Garde, University of Chicago Press (2002)
- Clinton Heylin. From the Velvets to the Voidoids, Penguin Books (1993) ISBN 0-14-017970-4
- Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. Please Kill Me, the Uncensored Oral History of Punk , Grove Press (1996) ISBN 0-8021-1588-8
- Al Spicer. The Rough Guide to Punk, Rough Guides/Penguin (2006) ISBN 1-84353-473-8
External links
- NYU's Fales Library Guide to the Richard Hell Papers
- Excerpts at YouTube from 2007 movie written, acted, and directed by Hell: Age Monologue, Pt. 1, Age Monologue, Pt. 2, and Melinda's Neck
- Steven Beeber interview with Richard Hell from the "Luck" issue of CONDUIT magazine June 23 2003 — largely about Hell's writing, in which Hell explains his disbelief in free will. (This version is on a blog site and has not been verified as a true copy of the original).
- Richard Cabut and Andrew Gallix. Talk to Richard Hell about his latest novel and album, 3:AM Magazine, 2005
- David Dalton. Hell interviewed
- Jason Gross. Interview with Richard Hell, Perfect Sound Forever, December 1997 — interview is largely about his writing, but also about music.
- Richard Hell "Hell On the Movies" richardhell.com 2006 — Richard Hell's movie column for BlackBook
BlackBook Magazine is a bimonthly arts and culture magazine published in the United States by BlackBook Media Corporation. Founded in 1996 as a quarterly publication, BlackBook has now expanded to six issues yearly and a circulation of roughly 150,000. The magazine covers topics ranging from art,...
magazine, which appeared 2004-2006
- Richard Meyers & Roy Suggs. Official Press Biography richardhell.com
- Bryan Swirsky. – Exclusive Interview TRAKmarx, 2004 — About his music days in the 1970s
- Adam Travis. Interviewing Hell (25 February 2005), bookslut.com, March 2005 — an interview where Hell is intensely adversarial to the interviewer