Richard Hell
Encyclopedia
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter
, bass guitar
ist, and writer
.
Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music
and fashion
. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pin
s. Malcolm McLaren
, manager of the Sex Pistols
, has credited Hell as a source of inspiration for the Sex Pistols' look and attitude, as well as the safety-pin and graphics accessorized clothing that McLaren sold in his London
shop, Sex.
Hell was in several important, early punk bands, including Neon Boys
, Television
, and The Heartbreakers
, after which he formed Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Their 1977 album, Blank Generation, influenced many other punk bands. Its title song
was named "One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock" by music writers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
listing and 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.
Since the late 1980s Hell has devoted himself primarily to writing, publishing two novels and several other books. He was the film critic for BlackBook
magazine from 2004 to 2006.
, in the 1950s. His father was an experimental psychologist
, researching animal behavior
. He died when Hell was seven years old. Hell was then raised by his mother, who, after her husband's death, returned to school and eventually became a professor
.
Hell attended the Sanford School
in Delaware
for one year, where he became friends with Tom Miller, who later changed his name to Tom Verlaine
). They ran away from school together and were arrested in Alabama for arson
and vandalism a short time later.
Hell never finished high school, instead moving to New York City
to make his way as a poet. In New York he met fellow young poet, David Giannini, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico for several months, where Giannini and Meyers co-founded "Genesis:Grasp". They used an IBM Varityper with changeable fonts to publish the magazine. They began publishing books and magazines but decided to go their separate ways in 1971, after which Hell created and published 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 fictional poet whose photo was actually a combination of both his and Verlaine's faces, in drag
, superimposed over one another to create a new identity.
. In 1974 the band added a second guitarist, Richard Lloyd
, and changed their name to Television
.
Television's performances at CBGB
helped kick-start the first wave of punk bands, inspiring a number of different artists including Patti Smith
, 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 one of the early bands to play at CBGB, and persuaded owner Hilly Kristal
to book rock bands there on a regular basis. They also built the club's first stage.
Hell started playing his song "Blank Generation" during his stint in Television. In 1975, Hell parted ways with Television after a dispute over creative control. Hell claimed that he and Verlaine had originally divided the songwriting evenly but that later Verlaine refused to play Hell's songs. Verlaine remains characteristically silent on the subject.
Hell left Television the same week that Jerry Nolan
and Johnny Thunders
quit the New York Dolls
. In May 1975 the three of them formed The Heartbreakers
; not to be confused with Tom Petty
's band, which adopted the same name the following year, at which time the bands name was changed to "Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers", to avoid copyright infringement. After a few shows Walter Lure joined The Heartbreakers as a second guitarist.
, Ivan Julian
and Marc Bell
. The band released two albums, though the second, Destiny Street
, retained only Quine from the original group, with Naux (Juan Maciel) on guitar and Fred Maher
on drums, and suffered from Hell's distractions, narcotics especially, during recording. Hell's best known songs with the Voidoids were "Blank Generation
", "Love Comes in Spurts", "The Kid With the Replaceable Head" and "Time". In 2009, the guitar tracks on Destiny Street were re-recorded and released as Destiny Street Repaired, with guitarists Marc Ribot
, Bill Frisell
, and Ivan Julian
playing with the original rhythm tracks.
, for which he came out of retirement for a month in the early 1990s. Dim Stars featured guitarist Thurston Moore
and drummer Steve Shelley
from Sonic Youth
, Gumball
's guitarist Don Fleming
, and Robert Quine. They formed only to record the one album and one EP, both titled Dim Stars, and played one show in public, a WFMU benefit at the The Ritz
, in Manhattan. Hell played bass, sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the album.
Hell also co-wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "Never Mind"
by The Heads, a 1996 collaborative effort between three former members of Talking Heads
.
In 1996 Hell wrote a novel, Go Now, that was drawn largely from his own experience, and 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 Cooper
'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
, 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 University
's Fales library in 2003.
Hell has appeared in several low budget films, most notably Susan Seidelman
's Smithereens
. (Other acting appearances include Uli Lommell's Blank Generation
, Nick Zedd
's Geek Maggot Bingo, Rachel Amadeo's What About Me?, and Rachid Kerdouche's Final Reward. Hell had a non-speaking cameo role as Madonna
's murdered boyfriend in Susan Seidelman's 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan
.) In 2007 he began making a movie which he wrote and acts in as well as directs.
Hell was married to Scandal's Patty Smyth
for two years, 1985–86, and they have a daughter, Ruby. Hell married Sheelagh Bevan in 2002 and lives with her in the East Village
, New York City
.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist, and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music
Punk rock
Punk 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 perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and fashion
Punk fashion
Punk 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...
. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pin
Safety pin
A 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 McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
, manager of the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, has credited Hell as a source of inspiration for the Sex Pistols' look and attitude, as well as the safety-pin and graphics accessorized clothing that McLaren sold in his London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
shop, Sex.
Hell was in several important, early punk bands, including Neon Boys
Neon Boys
The Neon Boys was an early 1970s New York City band, composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca. The trio later went on to form the American rock band Television in 1973...
, Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, and The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also known as 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:...
, after which he formed Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Their 1977 album, Blank Generation, influenced many other punk bands. Its title song
Blank Generation (song)
Blank Generation is the title track of The Voidoids' debut album Blank Generation. Richard Hell wrote the song during his time with the band Television, and performed it live with another band, The Heartbreakers. The Sex Pistols' song "Pretty Vacant" was directly inspired by "Blank Generation"....
was named "One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock" by music writers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
listing and 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.
Since the late 1980s Hell has devoted himself primarily to writing, publishing two novels and several other books. He was the film critic for BlackBook
BlackBook Magazine
BlackBook is an American arts and culture magazine published 8x a year. Founded in 1996 as a quarterly publication, BlackBook has now expanded to a circulation of roughly 150,000. The magazine covers topics ranging from art, music, and literature to politics, popular culture, and travel guides....
magazine from 2004 to 2006.
Early life and career
Richard Hell grew up in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. 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 psychologist
Experimental psychology
Experimental 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 behavior
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
. He died when Hell was seven years old. Hell was then raised by his mother, who, after her husband's death, returned to school and eventually became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
.
Hell attended the Sanford School
Sanford School
Sanford 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 Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
for one year, where he became friends with Tom Miller, who later changed his name to Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom 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 arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
and vandalism a short time later.
Hell never finished high school, instead moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to make his way as a poet. In New York he met fellow young poet, David Giannini, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico for several months, where Giannini and Meyers co-founded "Genesis:Grasp". They used an IBM Varityper with changeable fonts to publish the magazine. They began publishing books and magazines but decided to go their separate ways in 1971, after which Hell created and published 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 fictional poet whose photo was actually a combination of both his and Verlaine's faces, in drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
, 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 formed the Neon BoysNeon Boys
The Neon Boys was an early 1970s New York City band, composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca. The trio later went on to form the American rock band Television in 1973...
. In 1974 the band added a second guitarist, Richard Lloyd
Richard Lloyd
Richard Lloyd is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Television.- Early life :...
, and changed their name to Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
.
Television's performances at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB 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 Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, 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 one of the early bands to play at CBGB, and persuaded owner Hilly Kristal
Hilly Kristal
Hilly 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. -Early years:...
to book rock bands there on a regular basis. They also built the club's first stage.
Hell started playing his song "Blank Generation" during his stint in Television. In 1975, Hell parted ways with Television after a dispute over creative control. Hell claimed that he and Verlaine had originally divided the songwriting evenly but that later Verlaine refused to play Hell's songs. Verlaine remains characteristically silent on the subject.
Hell left Television the same week that Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with The New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.-Career:...
and Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
quit the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
. In May 1975 the three of them formed The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also known as 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:...
; not to be confused with Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas 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, at which time the bands name was changed to "Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers", to avoid copyright infringement. After a few shows Walter Lure joined The Heartbreakers as a second guitarist.
Richard Hell and The Voidoids
A year later, in early 1976, Hell quit The Heartbreakers and started Richard Hell & the Voidoids with Robert QuineRobert Quine
Robert Wolfe 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 Julian
Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and Lovelies.He has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
and Marc Bell
Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the Ramones, but has also played in other notable bands like Dust, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and the Misfits.Although he is not the original drummer , Marky is the only living...
. The band released two albums, though the second, Destiny Street
Destiny Street
Destiny Street is the second and last studio album by the 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. In 2008-2009, Richard Hell re-recorded the lead guitars, using players Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and...
, retained only Quine from the original group, with Naux (Juan Maciel) on guitar and Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
on drums, and suffered from Hell's distractions, narcotics especially, during recording. Hell's best known songs with the Voidoids were "Blank Generation
Blank Generation (song)
Blank Generation is the title track of The Voidoids' debut album Blank Generation. Richard Hell wrote the song during his time with the band Television, and performed it live with another band, The Heartbreakers. The Sex Pistols' song "Pretty Vacant" was directly inspired by "Blank Generation"....
", "Love Comes in Spurts", "The Kid With the Replaceable Head" and "Time". In 2009, the guitar tracks on Destiny Street were re-recorded and released as Destiny Street Repaired, with guitarists Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
, Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
, and Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and Lovelies.He has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
playing with the original rhythm tracks.
Dim Stars and Hell's books, further life
Hell's only other album set to date was in the band Dim StarsDim Stars
Dim 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; there was some guitar work by Robert Quine, also...
, for which he came out of retirement for a month in the early 1990s. Dim Stars featured guitarist Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
and drummer Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
from Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Gumball
Gumball (band)
Gumball was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1990. The original lineup consisted of Don Fleming , Eric Vermillion , and Jay Spiegel . In 1992, a fourth member was added, Malcolm Riviera who had previously played with Fleming and Spiegel in the Velvet Monkeys.-History:After Fleming...
's guitarist Don Fleming
Don Fleming (musician)
Don Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball.-Biography:...
, and Robert Quine. They formed only to record the one album and one EP, both titled Dim Stars, and played one show in public, a WFMU benefit at the The Ritz
Ritz (rock club)
-History:The Ritz was founded in 1980 by Jerry Brandt on 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Formerly a ballroom known as Webster Hall, The Ritz still retained some of its previous incarnation's Art Deco style. As a venue, it focused...
, in Manhattan. Hell played bass, sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the album.
Hell also co-wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "Never Mind"
No Talking, Just Head
No Talking, Just Head is an album by The Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers...
by The Heads, a 1996 collaborative effort between three former members of Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
.
In 1996 Hell wrote a novel, Go Now, that was drawn largely from his own experience, and 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 Cooper
Dennis Cooper
Dennis 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
David Shapiro (poet)
David Shapiro is an American poet, literary critic, and art historian. He 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 University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based 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 Seidelman
Susan Seidelman
Susan Seidelman is an American director, producer, writer, and actress.-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...
's Smithereens
Smithereens
Smithereens 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 Generation
Blank Generation (1980 film)
Blank Generation is a 1980 West German 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.-Cast:*Carole Bouquet as Nada*Richard Hell as Billy...
, Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd
Nick 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 had a non-speaking cameo role as Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's murdered boyfriend in Susan Seidelman's 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan
Desperately Seeking Susan
Desperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...
.) In 2007 he began making a movie which he wrote and acts in as well as directs.
Hell was married to Scandal's Patty Smyth
Patty Smyth
Patty Smyth is an American rock and roll musician. She first enjoyed mainstream success in 1982 as lead singer of the band Scandal and later scored a solo #2 hit with her song "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough"...
for two years, 1985–86, and they have a daughter, Ruby. Hell married Sheelagh Bevan in 2002 and lives with her in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Discography
- 1977: Blank Generation
- 1982: Destiny StreetDestiny StreetDestiny Street is the second and last studio album by the 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. In 2008-2009, Richard Hell re-recorded the lead guitars, using players Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and...
- 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 : ScribnerCharles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
ISBN 978-0684832777 - 2001 : Hot and Cold : powerHouse BooksPowerHouse bookspowerHouse 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 BooksAkashic BooksAkashic 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 LibraryFales LibraryNew York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
at New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based 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)
- Mallory Curley. A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia, Randy Press (2010)
- 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
- Richard Hell's official website
- 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 BlackBookBlackBook MagazineBlackBook is an American arts and culture magazine published 8x a year. Founded in 1996 as a quarterly publication, BlackBook has now expanded to a circulation of roughly 150,000. The magazine covers topics ranging from art, music, and literature to politics, popular culture, and travel guides....
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