Claude Bessy (20 June 1945 – 2 October 1999), also known as Kickboy Face, was a French writer, magazine editor, singer, video producer, and painter. He is noted as an early organizer in the Los Angeles

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene in the mid 1970s and was involved in the British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

scene in the 1980s.

Biography

Bessy was born in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Bessy was kicked out of the Sorbonne after showing up drunk at nine in the morning, brandishing a bottle of brandy, and threatening a teacher. Bessy moved to the US in 1966 and to Los Angeles in 1967. Bessy later left for Afghanistan to "deal" hashish. Bessy later detoxed from methedrine in a French asylum. In 1970 Bessy returned to Los Angeles, finding work as a busboy in Santa Monica, a waiter, other jobs. and founded ''Angeleno Dread'', L.A.'s first

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

. In May 1977 he helped Steve Samiof launch the monthly punk rock magazine ''

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

'', which he edited until it ceased publication in 1980. * https://www.flickr.com/photos/giannimottiassistant/43675873690/ * https://www.flickr.com/photos/verylastexcitingmoment/39482451964/ * https://www.discogs.com/Bessy-Bessy-Talks-Turkey/release/1298968 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S57QF9fCB44 * As Kickboy Face (a pen name adopted from, ''Kick Boy Face'' a song and album by

Prince Jazzbo Linval Roy Carter (3 September 1951 – 11 September 2013), better known as Prince Jazzbo, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay and producer. Career Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, and raised in Kingston, Linval Roy Carter (who would ...

), Bessy was the lead singer for the band

Catholic Discipline Catholic Discipline was an American punk rock (first-generation new wave) band, formed in 1979 in San Francisco, California, by '' Slash Fanzine'' editor Claude Bessy. The initial line-up of the band featured Bessy on vocals, Phranc on guitar, R ...

, the film ''

The Decline of Western Civilization ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a ...

'' includes a Bessy interview, and two songs.Morris, Chris (23 October 1999)
"Declarations of Independents: In Memory of 'Kickboy,' the Voice of L.A. Punk Scene"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' 111 (43): 71.

"The scene was not fun anymore, so I bailed on L.A. and the USA, never to return the day Ronald Reagan was elected." — Claude Bessy

Bessy left California in November 1980. moving with his lifelong partner Philomena Winstanley to the U.K. where he landed a job as a press officer at Rough Trade record label. There he championed American groups such as

Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club w ...

and

Panther Burns Tav Falco's Panther Burns, sometimes shortened to (The) Panther Burns, is a rock band originally from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, led by Tav Falco. They are best known for having been part of a set of bands emerging in the late 1970s and ...

. In 1982 Bessy was hired as the resident VJ at

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

in Manchester. He went on to produce music videos and films for

The Virgin Prunes Virgin Prunes were an Irish post-punk band formed in 1977 in Dublin, Ireland. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1991. History The Vir ...

, The Fall and

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

, and work with

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

' Ikon FCL video label, producing a ''

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

video trailer ''Bessy Talks Turkey''. Bessy returned to London where he worked for

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

and wrote record sleeve notes. He contributed vocals to records by

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

Graham Lewis Graham Lewis (born Edward Graham Lewis, 22 February 1953) is an English musician. Lewis is the bassist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, a band formed in 1976. Biography On Wire's first studio album Graham Lewis was credited as ''Lewis''; ...

and trumpeter Marc Cunningham. In 1987 Bessy moved to

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

where he took to painting and earned a living teaching English. He died of lung cancer in 1999.

Discography

* ''Unanswerable Lust'' (1988), Luxuria * ''Trying To Make It To The End Of The Century'' (1991) * '' The First Letter'' (1991)

* "Adios Jupiter" (1994) Raeo * ''Underground Babylon'' (2004)

Filmography

* "Barbee Doll Lust" – ''

'' (January 19, 1980) * "Underground Babylon" – ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' (January 19, 1980)

References

External links

*
Claude Bessy
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bessy, Claude 1945 births 1999 deaths French magazine editors French writers about music Writers from Normandy French rock singers French expatriates in the United States French expatriates in the United Kingdom French expatriates in Spain French film producers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male singers Deaths from lung cancer in Spain 20th-century French male writers

Biography

Discography

Filmography

Further reading

See also

References

External links