richard hell - pioneer or silly old fool

Thanks!

I see. First it’s the original album then repaired then remixed and then finally the demos.

Great thread, thx. Omnivore also has DS Remixed and the Hell-inclusive CBGB Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (alas not a doc, but soundtrack might be good?) http://omnivorerecordings.com/richard-hell/

Also, somewhere I prob still have something, legit, I think w live RH x VoidOids in London---liner notes say that the encore-demanding chant is led by Rotten, and sure sounds like him in there.
Also, I hopefully still have his ROIR tape, described by xgau (basically right, except the limitations might well have more to do w notoriously iffy ROIR normal-bias Radio Shack cassette quality, bearable though it is) :

R.I.P. [ROIR, 1985]
Supposedly the farewell of annotator Lester Meyers to his alter ego Hell, this fourteen-song all-previously-unreleased compilation begins with Johnny Thunders in New York, ends with Ziggy Modeliste in New Orleans, and preserves seven new songs and eight new Robert Quine cuts. What could be bad? you ask perspicaciously, and yet I'm a little disappointed. Only Fats Domino's "I Live My Life" and a painful lament for a masochist groupie called "Hurt Me" would improve Blank Generation or even Destiny Street, and the alternate versions alter nothing. Recommended to Walkpeople. B+ Fuck grades, it ain't bad.

Haven't read the memoir, but I better, judging also by xgau's take:This counterpoint of modesty and self-regard is the essence of Hell's charm. He's an embodiment of hipster cool who explains why he isn't cool at all: "I'm cranky under pressure, I'm a mediocre athlete, I get obsessed with women, I usually want to be liked, and I'm not especially street-smart." Immediately after declaring himself king, he qualifies the claim: "the crown was mine largely by virtue of my appreciation of the realm and because I hated royalty." In this second instance, I should add, Hell's modesty is false flat-out even if you extend the "appreciation of the realm" part to his immersion in the neighborhood and its artist denizens--he was especially devoted to the New York School poets, in particular such second-generation obscurities as Bill Knott, Tom Veitch, and future uber-agent Andrew Wylie. Basically, Hell was king because he'd generated a sensibility so many could emulate and run changes on. Only the Ramones were as seminal, and they were half cartoon. https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2013-03.php

the Hell memoir? it's superb, def recommended

Yeah, just finished “Tramp” & wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in Hell, the 70s NY scene, or punk in general. I don’t know how reliable a narrator he is, but it feels almost overly even-handed & def added some colour to my understanding of the milieu.

News update from Hell's site:

http://richardhell.com

JANUARY 2022: There's now up an astounding video from 1974 of the original Television lineup, playing Tom Verlaine's "Hard on Love" on a tiny stage in a New York club (not CBGB), when Richard was not only in the band, but singing and writing many of the songs and heavily influencing the group's style. This period lasted about six months before Verlaine had fully succeeded in changing the direction of the band, dropping Hell's songs from the setlist, insisting that band members stand still on stage, and reverting to ordinary hipster thrift-shop streetwear, rather than the various stylistic concepts Hell had conceived. No denying that Verlaine is stunning in the clip though. What a band. There's speculation that the gig is from late May at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. (The band's very first gig was in March.) What we do know is that John Lennon saw it in September because he remarks on it during an interview in Melody Maker as he watches it on local TV that month (Sept. 14 issue). This is also the version of the band that initiated CBGB, thrilled Malcolm McLaren and Patti Smith, and made Robert Quine think that perhaps there was a place for him in rock and roll after all. You can see the clip (and read what Lennon said, in the uploader's intro text) at YouTube. Pair it with the veryearly Ork loft rehearsal tapesand you can see what the excitement was about in 1974, and where punk began...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLlhYiN4gmU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcGEcB5M4es

Warner/Rhino has just released a new limited edition (5000?) of the 2017 remaster of the Blank Generation (1977) album, now on translucent blue vinyl...

https://earwaxrecords.net/UPC/603497842681

Richard's writing some additional booklet-text for a new release of the Blank Generation on CD, which will use the original album's cover and the original album's tracks (the 2017 remasters), but present a mixture of the original CD booklet's contents and newer text and graphic material. It will be released by org music in late spring or early summer...

https://orgmusic.com

please tell me "newer graphic material" = his tentacle porn comic from upthread

incredible, thanks so much xp

Hell's notes for the 2017 reissue spelled out the narrative behind the lyrics to The Plan, which I'd never really cottoned on to before, and which is boundary-pushing to a degree that is, for me, a colossal turn-off.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/how-richard-hell-found-his-vocation?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Interesting interview about his whole life, Tom Verlaine, visual art, poetry (new book of his coming ),

from New Yorker

New York was in such bad shape that it was a Wild West frontier town, and lawless, and no one was supervising anybody, but at the same time there was an endless fund of jobs and cheap apartments, and it still had all the cultural things—great movies, bookstores, bars, music. But the ironic thing is, in a way, that situation of New York as the Wild West in the seventies and early eighties is libertarianism, where it’s every man for himself. You look at John Lydon and he’s a Trumpist, so in a way being nostalgic for that is wishing for the strong to survive.

Now, after a long hiatus, he is publishing a book of new poetry, “What Just Happened,” written during the lockdown months of the covid-19 pandemic, with original images by Wool. (A reading and signing event pegged to the book’s release will take place on July 6th at White Columns gallery, in Manhattan.

Does the article address how he has supported himself for decades? I've honestly always wondered.

Not really. Mentions his books and his living situation. Hell has written two novels (1996’s “Go Now” and 2005’s “Godlike”), and an autobiography (2013’s “I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp”). He also published a collection of his early journals (1990’s “Artifact”), an anthology of critical essays (2015’s “Massive Pissed Love”), a compendium of early poetry, short essays, and drawings (2003’s “Hot and Cold”), and a collaboration with the painter Christopher Wool, a friend of Hell’s (2008’s “Psychopts”).

Hell, who is now seventy-three, still lives in the same East Village walkup tenement he has been occupying since 1974, with his girlfriend, the novelist Katherine Faw.

he owns his apartment, for one thing -- he made a wise choice to buy it when it was cheap. also he sold his archives to NYU for a nice chunk of change.

How these fringe acts earn a living fascinates me.

Indeed.

Katherine Faw's homepage does not sport your typcal author's photo.

Believe we had the exact same discussion when his old bibliophile running buddy passed away recently.
(xp)

Yeah, but Verlaine and Television toured, if only occasionally. A string of festival dates alone was probably enough to keep Verlaine comfortable. But Hell, even the payout from selling his archives or whatever was reportedly $50,000. That's not going to last long, even if you own your own place. And I can't imagine he made more than that from his books, and likely a lot less, unless he's huge in France or something.

Rich wife?

I looked, and that doesn't seem to be the case either! At least as far as CVs go.

How these fringe acts earn a living fascinates me.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, June 9, 2023 6:54 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

place and time play a big part here.

Yeah, I was gonna say. I'm more fascinated by how current fringe acts earn a living

Think hell had his editing gigs to eke by with maybe but who knows. But yeah, nowadays…

He used to have a movie review column for a few years. I think he’s able to make some money by writing regularly but it’s probably a different gig each time. (It’s possible he’s gotten work as an editor too.)

Inherited money? Spouses?

inherited money generally probably more of a factor than people assume, then and now. no idea about richard hell's case tho.

fwiw, when I googled him to get the wiki I saw the "estimated net worth" deal Google puts in the info box on the right, and it said $500,000. No idea where they come up with that, of course. I thought I had remembered him doing film music but no sign of that in the wiki.

chinese rocks is on a million compilations and probably some soundtracks.

I don't believe Verlaine or Hell's background was anything more than middle class

That’s was my impression as well. They went to that private school but I don’t think it was particularly fancy.

Quick someone do a detective podcast series investigating how Hell can afford his bills.

(Sorry that sounds so snarky. It’s a funny line of inquiry is all, & I imagined someone getting really into the question.

Growing up in NJ, when I finally met other Richard Hell / Television fans they told me he worked at Guitar Bar in Hoboken, lol. I'm not sure that is/was actually true.

I think Bowie covering "Kingdom Come" helped out Verlaine a LOT.

Again, he does get published regularly, and his music has also been reissued every now and then - the Spurts compilation, the Destiny Street remake, then later the deluxe edition with the remix, the anniversary edition of Blank Generation, having his stuff licensed for various compilations by Rhino or Numero Group, etc.

(Also, they're apparently reissuing Blank Generation on CD this month - it's basically updating the old CD so that it 1) uses the 40th anniversary mastering from 2017 and 2) makes everything correspond to the original LP, which means using the original artwork and the original LP version of "Down at the Rock & Roll Club.")

In terms of published writings, here's a sample:

Across the Years Hell selected poems 1970-1991
(Amsterdam: Soyo Publishers, 1991)

ARTIFACT notebooks 1974-1980 (includes contributions from Hell)
(NY and Madras: Hanuman, 1992)

THE VOIDOID 1973 novelina
(Hove, U.K.: Codex, reprinted in 1996)

Go Now novel by Hell
(New York: Scribner, 1996)

WEATHER series of twelve poems
(New York: CUZ Editions, 1998)

WANNA GO OUT? by Theresa Stern poems of Theresa Stern
by R. Hell & T. Verlaine
(Perpignan: Éditions Anna Polèrica, reprinted in 1999)

Hot and Cold "essays poems lyrics notebooks pictures fiction" by Hell
(New York: powerHouse, 2001)

Rabbit Duck 13 collaborative poems by Richard Hell and David Shapiro
(Milwaukee: REPAIR, 2005)

Art show catalogue essay "Sadness Notes" by Hell
(Normal: University Galleries, 2005)

Godlike novel by Hell
(New York: Little House on the Bowery [imprint of Akashic], 2005)

The Toilet Paper Columns 14 newsmonthly columns
(New York: CUZ Editions, 2007)

Psychopts artist's book collaboration with Christopher Wool
(New York: JMc & GHB Editions, 2008)

Disgusting drawings and writings by Hell, with unique endpapers by Josh Smith
(New York: 38th Street Publishers, 2010)

And there are many more magazine articles/essays, book introductions, comic books, etc. In short, he's a working writer, and I'm sure he gets paid well given his well-earned reputation.

It’s a funny line of inquiry is all

I don't think it is. While there are more artists than ever writing songs about wealth inequality, it seems that actual inquiring about the ways in which mid-level or low-tier artists are able to own vintage modular gear and spend weeks recording in fancy studios remains taboo. I just assume the answer is always generational wealth, because how could it be anything else?

(Sorry that sounds so snarky. It’s a funny line of inquiry is all, & I imagined someone getting really into the question.

― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante),

I didn't take your point as snark, but I still don't get why asking how an artist lives day to day is strange.

Slightly different point, but what I always think about bands and artists that are full time bands and artists is what do they do all day?

Cocklodging is often the answer, can't speak for R. Hell in that regard mind

xpost

xp songwriting is work that takes time and effort! So is demoing, rehearsing, and recording music.

Cocklodging is often the answer, can't speak for R. Hell in that regard mind

Slightly different point, but what I always think about bands and artists that are full time bands and artists is what do they do all day?

― Renaissance of the Celtic Trumpet (Tom D.)

Bake brownies, read Elizabeth Bowen.

the little reading i've done by his girlfriend, all linked from her site, indicates her family is dirt poor.

_(Sorry that sounds so snarky. It’s a funny line of inquiry is all, & I imagined someone getting really into the question.

― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), _

I didn't take your point as snark, but I still don't get why asking how an artist lives day to day is strange.

Cocklodging is often the answer, can't speak for R. Hell in that regard mind

xpost

― I question your commitment to the revolution (Matt #2), Saturday, June 10, 2023 8:31 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

upthread someone said he bought his apartment years ago when it was still cheap

i think i was wrong about that; thought i'd read it somewhere. here he says it is rent-stabilized.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323936404578581993025822864

this has most of the content of the wsj article without the firewall:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2013/07/at-home-with-richard-hell-

here's an article by his downstairs neighbor:

https://bedfordandbowery.com/2013/07/looks-like-its-time-to-give-up-allen-ginsbergs-old-apartment/

hmm that poetry foundation link only works if you cut and paste it into a browser.