Richard Hell and the Voidoids were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and ...

, a former member of the

Neon Boys The Neon Boys were a short lived New York City proto-punk band, composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell and Billy Ficca. The trio later went on to form the influential rock band Television in 1973; Richard Hell also went on to form the influent ...

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

the Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers, sometimes referred to as Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jerry ...

History

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

-born Richard Meyers moved to New York City after dropping out of high school in 1966, aspiring to become a poet. He and his best friend from high school, Tom Miller, founded the rock band the

which became

in 1973. The pair adopted stage names; Miller called himself Verlaine after

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

, a French poet he admired, and Meyers became

because, as he has said, it described his condition. The group was the first rock band to play the club

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, which soon became a breeding ground for the early punk rock scene in New York. Hell had an energetic stage presence and wore torn clothing held together with safety pins and his hair spiked, which was to be influential in punk fashion - in 1975, after a failed management deal with the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial suc ...

, impresario

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provo ...

claimed to have brought these ideas back with him to England and eventually incorporated them into the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

' image, a claim which Sex Pistols' front man

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk rock, punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 197 ...

/Johnny Rotten disputes, citing his own existing use of safety pins and spiked hair (dyed green) prior to joining the Pistols. Disputes with Verlaine led to Hell's departure from Television in April 1975, and he co-founded

with

guitarist

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played wit ...

. Hell did not last long with this band, and he began recruiting members for a new band in early 1976. For guitarists, Hell found

Robert Quine Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist. A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown. Critic Mark Deming wrote that "Quine's eclect ...

and

Ivan Julian Ivan Julian (born June 26, 1955) is a guitarist, bassist and founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Lovelies. He has also performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, The Bongos, Richard Barone, and Shriekback. ...

—Quine had worked in a bookstore with Hell, and Julian responded to an advertisement in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''. They lifted drummer Marc Bell, later Marky Ramone, from Wayne County. The band was named "the Voidoids" after a novel Hell had been writing. Musically, Hell drew inspiration from acts such as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, protopunk band

the Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...

and fellow New Yorker group

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

, a group with a reputation for

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...

-fueled rock and roll with poetic lyrics. Quine's admiration of the Velvet Underground led him to make hours' worth of

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and trade ...

s of the band in the late 1960s. Hell also drew from—and covered—

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

bands such as

the Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single " Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savage ...

and the

Count Five Count Five was an American garage rock band, formed in San Jose, California in 1964, known for their hit single "Psychotic Reaction". Background The band was founded in 1964 by lead guitarist John "Mouse" Michalski (born 1948, Cleveland, O ...

that were found on the '' Nuggets'' compilation of 1972. The Voidoids' music was also characterized as

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spiri ...

.
Rebel Art
�, OutsideleftBrookes, Tim (2006) ''Guitar: An American Life'', Grove/Atlantic, Hell had written the song " Blank Generation" while still in Television; he had played it regularly with the band since at least 1975, and later with the Heartbreakers. The Voidoids released a 7" ''Blank Generation'' EP in 1976 on Ork Records including "Blank Generation", "Another World" and "You Gotta Lose". The cover featured a black-and-white cover photo taken by Hell's former girlfriend Roberta Bayley, depicting a bare-chested Hell with an open jeans zipper. It was an underground hit, and the band signed to

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

for its album debut. Aside from the influential Quine, Julian and future Ramone Bell, at various times the band included Naux Maciel, Michael Allison, Jahn Xavier, former Contortions and

Raybeats The Raybeats were an American instrumental neo-surf rock combo from New York City that arose from the No Wave musical scene. The original line-up consisted of Don Christensen (drums), Jody Harris (guitar), Pat Irwin (guitar, saxophone, Acetone ...

guitarist Jody Harris and Golden Palominos leader Anton Fier.

Legacy

The Voidoids are considered to have pioneered the " punk look" and studded appearance which also became popular later on in the UK via the Sex Pistols. Lydon disputes the Voidoids influence on British punk appearance.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Blank Generation'' (1977,

) * ''

Destiny Street ''Destiny Street'' is the second and final studio album by American punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. It was released in 1982 by record label Red Star. Background Richard Hell is pictured on the front cover with his friend Anne Militell ...

'' (1982. Red Star Records)

Singles and EPs

* "Another World'' EP (1976, Ork Records) * " Blank Generation" 7" single (1977, Sire Records) * ''The Blank Generation'' 12" EP (1977, Sire Records) * "The Kid with the Replaceable Head" 7" single (1978,

Radar Records Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed in late 1977 by Martin Davis (managing director) who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Recor ...

)

Live albums

* ''Funhunt: Live at CBGB's & Max's 1978 and 1979'' (1989,

ROIR ROIR (pronounced "roar"), or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper. Background ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label ex ...

) * ''Gone to Hell'' (2008, Vinyl Japan)

Compilation albums

* ''Destiny Street Repaired'' (2009, Insound)

Filmography

* '' Blank Generation'' (1980)

Members

– vocals, bass *

– guitar (died 2004) *

– guitar * Marc Bell (Marky Ramone) – drums * Naux (Juan Maciel) – guitar (died 2009) * Frank Mauro – drums * Michael Allison – guitar * Jody Harris – guitar *

Fred Maher Frederick J. Maher is an American drummer, music programmer and record producer. He was a member of the bands Massacre (1980–81), the Dance, Material, Scritti Politti, and has recorded and toured with Lou Reed. In 1984 he released ''Basic'', ...

– drums * Jerry Antonius – bass * Jahn Xavier Bonfiglio – bass * Ted Horowitz – bass * James Morrison – drums * Anton Fier – drums *

Geoff Freeman Geoff Freeman (born 1974) is president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. He was previously the president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, and, prior to that, the president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA). Career ...

– guitar * Charles Wood – drums * Michael Paumgarten – guitar * Sue Williams – bass

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hell and the Voidoids, Richard Punk rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Sire Records artists Radar Records artists 1976 establishments in New York City 1984 disestablishments in New York (state)