Here's an excerpt:
The apartment is in the back of the building on an upper floor, so it's quiet and full of light, with a great cross breeze. It has a funkiness that you don't find in Manhattan much anymore — worn unvarnished wood floors that groan when you walk on them, cracks in the plaster walls, sagging original moldings. The place only improves with degradation, as long as you don't try to tart it up.
And!
I'm not nostalgic. I don't feel like the apartment matters because it evokes the '70s or something. But it's nice that we've been together for so long and we're still compatible, even handsome, in a battered way.
Hell moved in in 1975, and wrote a lot of his music here, including "Time" and "The Kid with the Replaceable Head."
On the topic of "The Kid with the Replaceable Head," here's an animated cartoon music video created by Washington D.C. kid's show "Pancake Mountain" ...
5 comments:
Great piece. I wish they had included more photos.
I'm super-jealous that he still has neighbors who lived there in the '70s. Almost all of mine left and were replaced by--well, you can imagine.
Good to know there are still some old timer East Villagers in existence. My mom still lives at her rent stabilized but God knows how long (lots of war if you know what I mean). I also live in the EV and may live at the same building as he does. The EV edge is almost dead. :-(
I also feel better living where someone who was famous 40 years ago still lives with the neighbors he had 40 years ago. I would not feel so good about myself living in a neighborhood with other people like me, who were never famous.
Yes, Mr. Hell and his apartment are very very handsome.
I don't know WTF those two comments at the WSJournal are supposed to mean. Anyone have an Ayn Rand-to-English converter handy?
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