Sunday, March 3, 2013

Time again for Richard Hell


[Image of David Johansen & Richard Hell from 1977 via]

Expect to see and hear a lot from Richard Hell in the coming weeks. His memoir, "I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp," is out next week. The book by the writer, musician, actor, "founding father of the New York punk scene" covers everything from running away to New York in the late 1960s to his drug addiction in the 1970s.



Today, The New York Times kicked things off with two pieces... one a review of sorts of the book, highlighting a few of its "juiciest bits." (Example: The Ramones "were popular but were regarded by the core movers as intrinsically minor." Of Blondie: "Hardly anyone" took them seriously.)

The Times also has a feature on one of Hell's favorite possessions — a handmade book he received some 40 years ago. (The feature includes a nice shot of his books in the East 12th Street apartment he has lived in the past 38 years.)

On Wednesday, March 13, Hell is the guest of East Village Radio's The Rest is Noise show at noon. On Thursday March 14, he will appear at the Barnes & Noble on Union Square. (Details here.)

As for the book, the early reviews are positive. Per Publisher's Weekly:

Hell's refreshingly candid portrait of the artist searching for himself offers a glimpse into his own genius as well as recreating the hellishness and the excitement of a now long-gone music scene in New York City.

And from Kirkus: "A deft, lyrical chronicle by a punk with perspective."

Here's a video via Time Out New York of Hell reading from the book's manuscript in 2011...



Part II



And will leave you with this interview from 1993 on Steve Vizard's Tonight Live in Australia.

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2 comments:

  1. DrBOPMarch 3, 2013 at 11:00 PM

    Damn.....I was trying to channel you......guess it didn't work :+(

    One of my favorite sayings of ALL time is......

    "What fresh HELL is this?"

    ReplyDelete
  2. NEW YORK IN THE 1990's PHOTO ARCHIVESAugust 12, 2013 at 12:48 PM

    It's so great to hear from him...again !
    When I moved in NY from France in the 90's, I was living in his building... It was also Allen's Ginsberg's...R. Hell was a discreet guy with a very pretty girlfriend...
    There are images taken from the roof of this east 12th st. building in my blog about NY in the 90's : http///galessandrini.blogspot.fr
    I wish I had taken photos of him at the time !

    ReplyDelete

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