ABOUT RICHARD HELL'S CD EP READING FROM GO NOW
Go Now
CDThe List, 30 June - 13 July 1995 (reviewer: Damien
Love)
One of the most original and profoundly influential figures
of the New York punk scene of the 1970s, Richard Hell (née Meyers)
was also -- with the exception of Patti Smith -- the most
literary-minded of his peers. With a history in small press poetry
publication, he had initially moved to the city with the avowed
intention of becoming a writer.
Punctuated with Robert
Quine's alleycat guitar, Go Now is a recording of Hell's
Marlboro-and-black-coffee reading of the opening chapters of
his forthcoming, highly autobiographical novel. Detailing the
minutiae of a spring morning in the early 80s -- a time when Hell
was both completely disillusioned with music and into the
umpteenth year of his on-again, off-again affair with heroin -- it
combines the first person narration and sparse, clipped styling of
the hardboiled tradition with occasional chains of visionary beat
poetry.
The result is an unforced, hypnotic flow of
storytelling which never fails to sound authentic, almost like the
private unfolding of someone's thoughts. Q
Magazine, (reviewer: Bill Prince)
With guitar accompaniment by former Voidoid Robert Quine,
Richard Hell reads the first two chapters of his imminent -- and
possibly autobiographical -- first novel, Go Now. the story
thus far, then: it's 1980, and our protagonist awakens in his
"lost apartment" in lower Manhattan, jerks off, touches a
conveniently located lover for the $25 needed to score, before
sitting back in the exhausted sofa that marks his long-haul
addiction to become a dope-fueled "ticker-tape machine of
poetry". Hardly new territory for Richard Hell, who has helped
essay such fatally glamorous junkie chic before, notably as the
using user in Susan Seidelman's grim portrait of New York's druggy
rock'n'roll underclass, Smithereens. But by leaving the
underdeveloped musical backings that marked his last recorded
venture (as the Dim Stars), in his rehearsal room, here
he's easily as compelling. Buzz
Factory #31
What we have here is a spoken word CD from the "Godfather
of Punk" himself, Richard Hell, taken from his forthcoming novel.
It portrays a bleak New York cinematic landscape of dependency and
isolation and at times makes for uncomfortable
listening. New Musical
Express, 10 June 1995 (reviewer: MG)
"Springtime: not hot enough for the garbage to smell."
Which doesn't stop punk godfather Richard Hell from describing its
rancid stink in two claustrophobic hardboiled chapters from his
forthcoming novel in this spoken word affair accompanied by
ex-Voidoid Robert Quine's guitar. When the book comes out, don't
expect a happy ending. Fear and
Loathing #31
Excellent spokenword excerpts from his forthcoming novel,
carefully set to an atmospheric soundtrack. This is very
accomplished, you should hear it. Velvet
Sheep #17
The story tells of a world-weary rock star who at last sees
a turn in Lady Luck -- talks of caves, jacking-up, money,
jacking-off, demoralisation, piss, burning holes in jeans, wishing
to ski off his girlfriend's butt ("there's no good word for it")
and much, much more. Hell's style is abrasive, incisive and very
insistent, and Quine's guitar slinks on top as if into a
casino.
top
|