Robert Quine

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they are discussing his loss on the marquee moon list as well. apparently his wife passed earlier this year.

there is quite an informative site here.

william (william), Monday, 7 June 2004 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Aw man. This is just like the McGeoch thread, I click on it not knowing what to expect and then this.

Even if he hadn't been a damn good guitarist, for the VU set last year alone he deserves credit. RIP.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 June 2004 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

That's a goddamn shame, he was one of the greats. Those Richard Hell LPs would've been worth little without Quine's (and to a lesser extent, Ivan Julian's) tightly coiled riffs and sproingy solos.

RIP

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 7 June 2004 05:34 (twenty-one years ago)

oh man, this sucks. RIP.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 7 June 2004 05:39 (twenty-one years ago)

This is sad, bad news. I did not know about his wife's passing away. Rest in peace. [Destiny Street will be played loud tonight]

willem (willem), Monday, 7 June 2004 06:18 (twenty-one years ago)

That's so depressingly sad. I don't really know what else I can say.

NickB (NickB), Monday, 7 June 2004 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Weird - I was just talking to my guitarist friend Mark abt Robert Quine last night, I was on about this Lou Reed live concert w/Quine playing, that got filmed. A really astonishingly powerful performance, and Quine's playing is up there w/the best. Now I read this. Damn, what a fuckign shame...

Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 7 June 2004 08:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Sad news indeed, RIP

mentalist (mentalist), Monday, 7 June 2004 08:58 (twenty-one years ago)

...used to see him on the street every day when i lived in the east village, i think he was in the building next door. he was friendly in a gruff, no-bullshit way, and seemed genuinely surprised that somebody would know who he was. A genius guitar player (and also a lawyer). RIP.

lovebug starski, Monday, 7 June 2004 09:33 (twenty-one years ago)

oh man. this actually makes me sad.

tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Monday, 7 June 2004 09:34 (twenty-one years ago)

its never too early to listen to Blank Generation.

tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Monday, 7 June 2004 09:51 (twenty-one years ago)

One of my greatest inspirations.

His squeals and weals, his steers off-road and up-neck. His lurches and car crashes of sound; his conjured explosions and high twang drifters.

the quinefox, Monday, 7 June 2004 10:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Sad news - he was a truly great and inspirational guitarist. RIP.

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 7 June 2004 10:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Not at all what I was expecting when I opened the thread. I thought this was going to be a thread about how great Robert Quine is ....

Terrible news...

dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 7 June 2004 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)

This is heartbreaking news. Robert Quine was my favorite guitarist with my favorite sound: "The Blue Mask" and "Destiny Street" are among my top LPs ever simply because Quine's stuff sounded so great. Then when he and Richard Lloyd both turned up on "Girlfriend" I was in tone heaven. RIP man.

briania (briania), Monday, 7 June 2004 11:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought this was going to be a thread about how great Robert Quine is ....

it is.

stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 7 June 2004 11:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Robert Quine was so great!

Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Monday, 7 June 2004 11:18 (twenty-one years ago)

This confirms it sadly. :-((((

jesus nathalie (nathalie), Monday, 7 June 2004 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

quine and elvin gone practically in the same month... :-((((((

Marcello Carlin, Monday, 7 June 2004 12:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I have several records in my collection I refuse to weed out simply because Quine plays on them. A few Lou Reed, Matthew Sweet, the Mori/Ribot collab "Painted Desert." Not that these albums are bad, by any stretch, but it's really his playing that makes them. Sad news.

Anyway, let the anecdotes begin: anyone else hear the story of the '74 or '75 Richard Hell tour with the Ramones in the UK, where - older and crankier than his tourmmates - Quine allegedly throttled whatever gobbers dared spit on his nice guitar?

Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Monday, 7 June 2004 12:13 (twenty-one years ago)

If you like his work for others, buy Lloyd Cole's solo LPs: or at least the first one, whose magnificence is in large part - but not only - Quine's.

the quinefox, Monday, 7 June 2004 12:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Quine and Lacey in the fuckin' WEEK, man...

Colin Meeder (Mert), Monday, 7 June 2004 12:23 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, man. i just found out 'bout this on another website. i had no idea. this is...quite shocking, to say the least. To an incredible guitarist, RIP.

Fr4ncis W4tlingt0n (Francis Watlington), Monday, 7 June 2004 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

god.

(message ends)

mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 7 June 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

a great, great guitarist - love the voidods and what he did with zorn and waits and reed. what a sad way to go.

Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Monday, 7 June 2004 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

This really sucks. Damn. What to say? I'm really saddened by this.

kjoerup, Monday, 7 June 2004 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I think what makes it sad is that not enough people knew who he was. He seemed like the kind of guy who was too talented and too cool to ever be famous or fully appreciated. I mean, if someone like Axl Rose had died, I wouldn't really care - I'd think of it as an ending to fit his personality .. and yet, there would be nonstop articles and MTV specials about it. And with Quine, you hope that at least there's a memorial/benefit concert that comes out of it - whatever.. he won't get all that he deserves.

dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 7 June 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

RIP. that's all I have.

Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Monday, 7 June 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000526473

King Kobra (King Kobra), Monday, 7 June 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow-- he'd been dead for a week before he was found.

King Kobra (King Kobra), Monday, 7 June 2004 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

That link says that he defined the possibilities of punk guitar. Maybe. But I don't think of him in terms of punk: no - of sounds and drama, combustion and voyage, beyond what that word suggests.

the quinefox, Monday, 7 June 2004 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Favourite Quine solos?

'Don't Look Back', 'Sweetheart' (1990)

'Tell Your Sister (The "L" Word) (1991)

'Like Lovers Do' (1995)

'Man on the Verge' (2000)

or many others.

the quinefox, Monday, 7 June 2004 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

"Yes It Is"..by Quine/Harris
...so beautiful.

thomas de'aguirre (biteylove), Monday, 7 June 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

my day just went to shit

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 7 June 2004 20:12 (twenty-one years ago)

haha not only will have to explain to my co-workers who Robert Quine is but I'm going to have to explain why his suicide might make me cry

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 7 June 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Detailed interview from 1997 with the man -- well worth it.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 June 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

So sad. He was one of the good guys.

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Monday, 7 June 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm playing Ugly Truth Rock by Matthew Sweet (lead guitar: Robert Quine): "You don't wanna die but the living gets you down / We want to act like nothing's wrong even though you heard a sound / And then you're ripped right out of the ground like a fucking root / No you simply cannot hide from the ugly truth." RIP.

JoB (JoB), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 09:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Seventeen second guitar solo in Scritti Politti's Don't Work That Hard!

JoB (JoB), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 10:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Quine's wife died less than a year ago and they'd been together over 35 years. She had a heart attack in the bath, and Quine came home and found her. He was utterly destroyed, as they were true soul mates. Rest easy, Robert.

shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 11:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck! Robert Quine dead, no no no no. Can't believe it.

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Fucking heroin!

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 12:18 (twenty-one years ago)

easily one of my top 5 fav guitarists ever....very sad he ended this way. rip.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

actually a huge moment for me was buying this comp tape at wal-mart, it was a major label but it had a bunch of 70s nyc punk stuff like gloria by patti smith, x-offender by blondie, new values by iggy pop....but anyway....blank generation was on it and totally blew my mind, esp. the guitar work on that....really really a key musical moment I remember fondly....

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

An amazing musician

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

RIP. He was one of the best.

Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

This is terrible indeed. Fuck a heroin.

adam (adam), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Awful news. Been playing "Painted Desert" and his collab with Maher, "Basic," a lot during the last month or so. He's so great with Matthew Sweet too. "Kid with the Replaceable Head" with Hell is one of my favorite tracks ever. So sad he's gone.

eddie hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I became aware of him in the early '90s through Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend. I had been cultivating a fervent anti-rockist mindset for several years, but I responded so strongly to the work of Quine and Lloyd on that record that a Damascene shift in attitude became inevitable. I had already been alerted to the pleasures of the electric guitar through listening to Joey Santiago and Dean Wareham, but Quine in particular made me realise that instrumental virtuosity could actually be a very good thing, when applied with imagination and taste. (As I recall, it wasn't long after that I began thinking that perhaps I should give this guy Hendrix a chance...)
It's so sad that his talent and love of music, of sound itself, wasn't enough to get him through. RIP.

Palomino (Palomino), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Robert Quine's discography:


Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation (1977)
Lydia Lunch - Queen of Siam (1979)
Material - Temporary Music 1 (1981)
Robert Quine - Escape (with Jody Harris) (1981)
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Destiny Street (1982)
Lou Reed - The Blue Mask (1982)
Material - Red Tracks (1982)
Get Crazy - film soundtrack (1983)
Lou Reed - Legendary Hearts (1983)
Lou Reed - Live in Italy (1984)
John Zorn - The Big Gundown (1984)
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - R.I.P.: The ROIR Sessions (1984)
Robert Quine - Basic (with Fred Maher) (1984)
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)
Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985)
Wiseblood - Dirtdish (1986)
John Zorn - Spillane (1986)
Marianne Faithfull - Strange Weather (1987)
Matthew Sweet - Earth (1989)
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Funhunt (Live at CBGB & Max's) (1990)
Lloyd Cole - Lloyd Cole (1990)
Lloyd Cole - Don't Get Weird On Me Babe (1991)
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (1991)
Dim Stars - Dim Stars (1992)
Brian Eno - Nerve Net (1992)
Lou Reed - Between Thought and Expression (1992)
Suzanne Rhatigan - To Hell With Love (1992)
John Zorn - Film Works 1986-1990 (1992)
Hal Willner - Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus (1992)
The Odds - Bedbugs (1993)
Matthew Sweet - Altered Beast (1993)
Sion - I Don't Like Myself (1993)
Matthew Sweet - Son of Altered Beast (1994)
They Might Be Giants - John Henry (1994)
Lloyd Cole - Love Story (1995)
Mike Mainieri - Come Together: Guitar Tribute to the Beatles, Vol. 2 (1995)
Richard Hell - Go Now (1995)
Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun (1995)
Matthew Sweet - We're the Same (1995)
Mikel Erentxun - El Abrazo Del Erizo (1995)
John Zorn - Film Works V: Tears of Ecstacy (1996)
Material - Secret Life (1996)
Corin Curschellas - Valdun—Voices of Rumantsch (1997)
Ikue Mori (with Marc Ribot) - Painted Desert (1997)
John Zorn - Film Works III (1997)
John Zorn - Film Works IV: S&M (1997)
John Zorn - Film Works VII: Cynical Hysterie Hour (1997)
John Zorn - Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach (1997)
Reiss - Vibe of Life (1998)
John Zorn - Bribe (1998)
Material - Best of Material (1999)
John Zorn - Godard/Spillane (1999)
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - 'Oh' - MUSICBLITZ.com (2000)
Kazuyoshi Saito - Cold Tube (2000)
The Odds - Singles—Individually Wrapped (2000)
Sion - Songs (2000)
Wayne Kramer Presents Beyond Cyberpunk (2001)
Andre Williams - Bait and Switch (2001)
The Velvet Underground - Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (2001)
Lloyd Cole - Etc. (2001)
Richard Hell - Time (2002)
Michael DuClos - Lustro (2002)
Tom Clark and the High Action Boys - Cross-Eyed and Bow-Legged (2002)
Lys Guillorn - Lys Guillorn (2003)

louis firbank, Wednesday, 9 June 2004 09:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Just realized that info was already posted upthread

Ubiquitor, Friday, 16 August 2024 23:17 (one year ago)

one month passes...

Misleading title, since this new piece is mainly about stompboxes, but good mention of grooving with Quine:

Stompbox Shopping with Robert Quine
Pat Irwin

https://www.premierguitar.com/artists/forgotten-heroes-robert-quine
Search turns up several more Quine thangs, which I haven't read yet (incl. several transcriptions):
https://www.premierguitar.com/lessons/the-unpredictable-playing-of-robert-quine

dow, Saturday, 21 September 2024 21:45 (one year ago)

That was such a great read, thank you Dow

Judge Judy, executioner (stevie), Sunday, 22 September 2024 08:51 (one year ago)

Nice! Hadn’t heard the Art Garfunkel story before

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 13:06 (one year ago)

i'm not super familiar with quine's work, but when i was putting together my beatles cover project, i was really taken by the quine/harris version of "yes it is". i wouldn't call it "angular" or any of those kinds of words that often get used to describe quine's playing (tho i don't have a problem with "angular" as a description!). i just think it's really good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLejh80bsVM

Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:21 (one year ago)

Starting to finally think more clearly of what angular might mean after all these years. Yeah, he would never be angular, too much early rock and R&B in his playing combined with the outsideness– some of the outside quality comes from early rock!

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:49 (one year ago)

Rock ‘n’ roll, yeah rock ‘n’ roll

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:49 (one year ago)

Wouldn’t call Ivan Julian angular either

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:56 (one year ago)

Feel like angular means hardly any blues influence, hardly any direct European melodic influence, classical or otherwise, and no distortion but maybe a chorus effect

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:58 (one year ago)

Does anyone really know what's meant by angular though? I think of Andy Gill as angular and he comes out of Wilko Johnson, so plenty of blues there.

pisspoor bung probe prog (Tom D.), Sunday, 22 September 2024 16:04 (one year ago)

it's all that tolkien

mark s, Sunday, 22 September 2024 16:14 (one year ago)

Lol

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 16:55 (one year ago)

Some people say it means big intervals instead of small

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 16:56 (one year ago)

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/define-angular-guitar.76043/

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 September 2024 16:57 (one year ago)

I would say the Love Comes in Spurts solo is "angular," to me. I'd put the leads from, say, Safe As Milk to be in that category as well, as another example that's definitely blues based. I guess I'd say it is playing that is at angles with the key/mode that would be expected for the song.

encino morricone (majorairbro), Sunday, 22 September 2024 21:13 (one year ago)

Not trawling through some Hoffman link to find out but as well as the above I'd say playing at an angle to the rhythm, however you want to define that. Arto Lindsay, for example, just plays across the whole thing.

jam up the pump (Matt #2), Sunday, 22 September 2024 21:25 (one year ago)

it's a short thread! allow me to summarize:

It's a weak descriptive adjective with no real meaning. It's a horrible rock critic cliche whose user is too lazy to actually "write" what he means.

Yes, it's a bad description. I think the writer means that the rhythm guitarist is playing single lines instead of strumming the entire chord at once

go polish your nose ring (sleeve), Sunday, 22 September 2024 21:28 (one year ago)

btw I fucking love Quine's playing on the Voidoids LP. I always took the original "angular" to be the post punk dry clean guitar sound, eschewing effects, e.g. Entertainment! and Crazy Rhythms.

go polish your nose ring (sleeve), Sunday, 22 September 2024 21:30 (one year ago)

Arto is a perfect example!

encino morricone (majorairbro), Sunday, 22 September 2024 21:54 (one year ago)

I think of angular to mean lots of syncopated phrases with space in between, and probably using a lot of dissonance too.

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Sunday, 22 September 2024 22:50 (one year ago)

Yes I think of it as meaning staccato/chugging guitar parts or like erratic arpeggios or something

you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 22 September 2024 23:36 (one year ago)

I don’t think Lindsay is angular - he admits he can’t play guitar traditionally and treats it completely as a percussion instrument; angular guitar isn’t really *just* that

Angular guitar has too many notes that are purposely played.

Master of Treacle, Monday, 23 September 2024 00:17 (one year ago)

I've always thought of Jay Graydon's solo on "Peg" as the ur-angular guitar break.

Vast Halo, Monday, 23 September 2024 07:20 (one year ago)

nothing more angular than the waves of fear solo though.

dan selzer, Monday, 23 September 2024 11:49 (one year ago)

btw I fucking love Quine's playing on the Voidoids LP. I always took the original "angular" to be the post punk dry clean guitar sound, eschewing effects, e.g. Entertainment! and Crazy Rhythms

otm, yeah i think a lot of people habitually deploy "angular" when what they're really responding to isnt the playing but a certain sharp piercing tone

waste of compute (One Eye Open), Monday, 23 September 2024 13:39 (one year ago)

I've always thought of Jay Graydon's solo on "Peg" as the ur-angular guitar break.

That and Amos Garrett’s solo on “Midnight at the Oasis.”

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 September 2024 13:56 (one year ago)

i always like seeing this thread revived. what is it about quine? his obvious insecurity, his obvious talent.. i think we all sometimes think of ourselves as quine-ish (self aggrandizingly, perhaps)

Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 16:38 (one year ago)

Lol

The Clones of Dr. Slop (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 17:10 (one year ago)

Angular to me was using tritones, diminished or augmented chords that literally have the notes going at an angle on the fretboard. They are not minor or major more going for dissonance.

Like that opening chord of Liars Beware and the licks that follow.

The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Tuesday, 24 September 2024 17:39 (one year ago)

I listened to the back half of Girlfriend today, which Quine dominates. Talk about an okay pop record turned into a great one thanks to Quine (and Richard Lloyd and to a lesser extent Lloyd Cole).

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 17:50 (one year ago)

point of order: talk about a great pop record turned into a SUBLIME one, etc etc (one does not need to belittle Sweet's achievement to celebrate Quine and Lloyd imo)

Judge Judy, executioner (stevie), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 18:39 (one year ago)

ha, fair!

the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 18:57 (one year ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp-5V3PJ90E

35 Millimeter Dream Police (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 10 July 2025 12:11 (ten months ago)

Ah yes

curmudgeon, Thursday, 10 July 2025 12:19 (ten months ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ00GZTP93c

Galactic Poetaster (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 April 2026 11:44 (one month ago)


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