Editing Richard Hell (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Richard Hell and the Voidoids 1977 press photo.jpg|thumb|The punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids in a 1977 press photo. (L-R): Richard Hell, Ivan Julian, Marc Bell (Marky Ramone), and Robert Quine]]

===Early life and career===
Richard Lester Meyers was born in [[Lexington, Kentucky]], in 1949.<ref name="Larkinindie">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-579-4|page=135}}</ref> His father, a secular Jew,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk|year=2007|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=9781569762288|page=136|author=Steven Lee Lee Beeber|quote=Richard Hell: "My father was born a Jew but he didn't believe in that. He didn't have anything to do with religion....[he] raised me as a communist and atheist."}}</ref><ref>Turley, Richard. [http://www.orbmagazine.com/the-orbiter/exclusive-punk-rocker-richard-hell-asks-himself-am-i-a-jew-what-is-a-jew/ "Punk Rocker Richard Hell Asks Himself: "Am I a Jew? What Is a Jew?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905090514/http://www.orbmagazine.com/the-orbiter/exclusive-punk-rocker-richard-hell-asks-himself-am-i-a-jew-what-is-a-jew/ |date=September 5, 2016}}, ''Orb Magazine'', July 9, 2015.</ref> was an [[Experimental psychology|experimental psychologist]], researching [[ethology|animal behavior]]. He died when Hell was seven years old. Hell was then raised by his mother, [[Carolyn H. Rhodes]], who came from Methodists of Welsh and English ancestry.<ref>Family records, Richard Hell Papers, Fales Library, NYU</ref> After her husband's death, she returned to school and became a professor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olander |first=Renee |date=March 2021 |title=Still in Play: Reflecting on the Work and Life of Carolyn H. Rhodes for Women's History Month |url=http://www.odu.edu/facultydevelopment/news/2021/3/still_in_play |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Old Dominion University |language=en-us}}</ref>

Hell attended the [[Sanford School]] in [[Delaware]] for one year, where he became friends with Tom Miller, who later changed his name to [[Tom Verlaine]].<ref>"We'd met at a little school right outside of Wilmington. It was a mediocre boarding school, co-ed, called Sanford Prep. I'd been sent there because I'd been getting in trouble in school since I was fourteen, and things were looking pretty dire ... I arrived a little after the start of the school year of 1965–1966, when I was in the 11th grade." 
 – Richard Hell (describing how he and Tom Verlaine met) in the first chapter of Hell's autobiography-in-progress, as published in ''Vanitas'' No. 2, 2006, p. 153.</ref> They ran away from school together and a short time later were arrested in Alabama for arson and vandalism.

Hell never finished high school, instead moving to New York City to make his way as a poet. In New York he met fellow young poet David Giannini, and moved to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], for several months, where Giannini and Meyers co-founded ''Genesis:Grasp''. They used an AM VariTyper with changeable fonts to publish the magazine.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/05/richard-hells-obsessive-fan|title=Richard Hell's Obsessive Fan|last=Seabrook|first=John|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2018-01-29|access-date=2019-12-13|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref> They began publishing books and magazines, but decided to go their separate ways in 1971, after which Hell created and published Dot Books.

Before he was 21, his own poems were published in numerous periodicals, ranging from ''Rolling Stone'' to the [[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]] ''Annual''s. In 1971, along with Verlaine, Hell also published under the pseudonym Theresa Stern, a fictional poet whose photo was actually a combination of both his and Verlaine's faces in [[Drag (clothing)|drag]], superimposed over one another to create a new identity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/01/garden/at-home-with-richard-hell-punk-for-posterity.html|title=AT HOME WITH: RICHARD HELL; Punk For Posterity|first=John|last=Leland|date=January 1, 2004|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2019-10-10}}</ref> A book of poems credited to "Stern", ''Wanna Go Out?'', was released by Dot in 1973.<ref name="fales">{{Cite web|url=http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/hell/bioghist.html|title=Guide to the Richard Hell Papers, 1944-2010 (Bulk 1969–2003) MSS.140|website=Dlib.nyu.edu|access-date=2019-10-10|archive-date=August 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802180920/http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/hell/bioghist.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===The Neon Boys, Television, and the Heartbreakers===
In 1972, Verlaine joined Hell in New York and formed the Neon Boys.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> In 1974, the band added a second guitarist, [[Richard Lloyd (guitarist)|Richard Lloyd]], and changed their name to [[Television (band)|Television]].<ref name="Larkinindie"/>

Television's performances at [[CBGB]] helped kick-start the first wave of punk bands, inspiring a number of different artists including [[Patti Smith]], who wrote the first press review of Television for the ''[[SoHo Weekly News]]'' in June 1974. She formed a highly successful band of her own, [[the Patti Smith Group]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/richard-hell-on-new-memoir-i-never-really-thought-of-anything-i-did-as-punk-246004/|title=Richard Hell on New Memoir: 'I Never Really Thought of Anything I Did As 'Punk'|last=Sullivan|first=James|date=2013-03-27|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref> Television was one of the early bands to play at CBGB because their manager, [[Terry Ork]], persuaded owner [[Hilly Kristal]] to book them alongside the [[Ramones]]. They also built the club's first stage. Hell started playing his punk rock anthem "Blank Generation" during his time in Television. In early 1975, Hell parted ways with Television after a dispute over creative control.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> Hell claimed that he and Verlaine had originally divided the songwriting evenly, but that later Verlaine sometimes refused to play Hell's songs. Verlaine remained silent on the subject.

Hell left Television the same week that [[Jerry Nolan]] and [[Johnny Thunders]] quit the [[New York Dolls]]. In May 1975, the three of them formed [[the Heartbreakers]] (not to be confused with [[Tom Petty]]'s band, which adopted the same name the following year).<ref name="Larkinindie"/> After one show, [[Walter Lure]] joined the Heartbreakers as a second guitarist. Four Heartbreakers demo tracks, recorded while Hell was still in the band, were later released on that band's ''[[L.A.M.F.|L.A.M.F. Definitive Edition]]'' reissue. A live album recorded with Hell in 1975 was released as ''What Goes Around...'' in 1991.

===Richard Hell and the Voidoids===
In early 1976, Hell quit the Heartbreakers and started Richard Hell and the Voidoids with [[Robert Quine]], [[Ivan Julian]] and [[Marky Ramone|Marc Bell]].<ref name="Larkinindie"/> The band released two albums, though the second, ''[[Destiny Street]]'', retained only Quine from the original group, with Naux (Juan Maciel) on guitar and [[Fred Maher]] on drums. Hell's best known songs with the Voidoids included "Blank Generation",<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldberg|first=Michael|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98011939/michael-goldberg-proto-punk-richard/|title=Proto-Punk Richard Hell Decided He Wants to Live|date=July 11, 1982|work=San Francisco Examiner|access-date=March 20, 2022|pages=Datebook 48–49|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> "Love Comes in Spurts",<ref name="Larkinindie"/> "The Kid With the Replaceable Head" and "Time". In 2009, the guitar tracks on ''Destiny Street'' were re-recorded and released as ''Destiny Street Repaired'', with guitarists Julian, [[Marc Ribot]] and [[Bill Frisell]] playing to the original rhythm tracks.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/10/richard-hell-remakes-album |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Richard Hell remakes album 27 years after first release |first=Sean |last=Michaels |date=July 10, 2009 |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> Also in 2009, Hell gave his blessing to the public access program [[Pancake Mountain]] to create an animated music video for "The Kid with the Replaceable Head".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8pKfwuc_kc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Q8pKfwuc_kc| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title="The Kid with the Replaceable Head" animated music video |website=[[YouTube]] |date=December 28, 2009 |access-date=October 8, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It was the Voidoids' first and only official music video. The cut used for the animation appears on Hell's 2005 retrospective album, ''Spurts, The Richard Hell Story''.

===Dim Stars and other collaborations===
Hell's only other album release was as part of the band [[Dim Stars]], for which he came out of retirement for a month in the early 1990s. Dim Stars featured guitarist [[Thurston Moore]] and drummer [[Steve Shelley]] from [[Sonic Youth]], [[Gumball (band)|Gumball]]'s guitarist [[Don Fleming (musician)|Don Fleming]], and Quine. They formed only to record a 1991 EP and a 1992 album, both titled ''Dim Stars'', and played one show in public, a [[WFMU]] benefit at [[The Ritz (rock club)|The Ritz]] in Manhattan. Hell played bass, sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the album.

Hell also guested on the 1993 ''Roller Coaster'' album by Shotgun Rationale, and co-wrote and sang lead vocals on the song "[[No Talking, Just Head|Never Mind]]" by the Heads, a 1996 collaborative effort between three former members of [[Talking Heads]].

===Books===
''The Voidoid'', a novella written in 1973, was finally published by CodeX in 1993.<ref name="fales" /> It was reissued in 2009 by 38th Street Publishers with illustrations by Kier Cooke Sandvik.<ref>[https://www.38street.com/bd/?bid=15] {{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> His early poetry collections include ''I Was a Spiral on the Floor'' (1988) and ''Across the Years'' (1992), both published by Soyo Publications.<ref name="fales" /> ''Artifact: Notebooks from Hell 1974–1980'', a collection of his punk-era journals, was released in 1990 by Hanuman Books.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://printedmatter.org/catalogue/moreinfo.cfm?&title_id=5304 |title=PrintedMatter.org |publisher=PrintedMatter.org |access-date=July 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185152/http://printedmatter.org/catalogue/moreinfo.cfm?&title_id=5304 |archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>''A Cultural Dictionary of Punk: 1974-1982'' by Nicholas Rombes</ref> In 1996, [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] published Hell's first full-length novel, ''Go Now'', set in 1980 and drawn largely from his own experiences.<ref name="fales" /> Hell released a collection of short pieces (poems, essays and drawings) called ''Hot and Cold'' in 2001.<ref name="fales" /> His second novel, ''Godlike'', was published in 2005 by [[Akashic Books]] as part of [[Dennis Cooper]]'s Little House on the Bowery Series.<ref name="fales" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akashicbooks.com/godlike.htm |title=Indie &#124; Literary &#124; Books |publisher=Akashicbooks.com |access-date=July 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212003653/http://akashicbooks.com/godlike.htm |archive-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref> Also published in 2005 was ''Rabbit Duck'', a book of 13 poems written in collaboration with [[David Shapiro (poet)|David Shapiro]]. More recent works include ''Psychopts'' (2008), a collaboration with artist [[Christopher Wool]], as well as ''Disgusting'' (2010) and ''I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp'' (2013).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/richard-hell-i-dreamed-i-was-a-very-clean-tramp-1798176221|title=Richard Hell: I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp|website=Aux.avclub.com|date=March 25, 2013|access-date=2019-10-10|archive-date=October 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010152021/https://aux.avclub.com/richard-hell-i-dreamed-i-was-a-very-clean-tramp-1798176221|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hell's nonfiction has been widely anthologized, including a number of appearances in "best music writing"<ref>''The Penguin Book of Rock and Roll Writing'' (1992) and ''Best Music Writing 2007'' ([[Da Capo Books]])</ref> collections. ''The Toilet Paper Columns'' (2007) compiled his columns for the Colorado alternative magazine ''Toilet Paper'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.richardhell.com/hellrare.html|title=Merchandise: Richard Hell rare writings|website=Richardhell.com|access-date=2019-10-10}}</ref> while ''Massive Pissed Love: Nonfiction 2001-2014'' was issued by [[Soft Skull Press]] in 2015. Hell's archive of his manuscripts, tapes, correspondence (written and email), journals and other documents of his life was purchased for $50,000 by [[New York University]]'s [[Fales Library]] in 2003.

A mural in Hell's hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, created by students from Lexington [[Montessori education|Montessori]] High School, was completed in June 2019. The mural, located in the city's North Limestone neighborhood, has three parts: two profiles of Hell, and a quote from his autobiography, ''I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=I dreamed I was a very clean tramp : an autobiography|last=Hell, Richard|isbn=9780062190833|edition=First|location=New York, NY|oclc=795757208|date=March 12, 2013}}</ref> "This was in Lexington, Ky. when everybody was a kid. I looked for caves and birds and ran away from home. My favorite thing to do was to run away. The words ‘let’s run away’ still sounds magical to me."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article231821493.html|title=Montessori goes punk. Students paint mural of famous rocker from Lexington|website=Kentucky.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-26}}</ref>

===Films===
Hell has appeared in several low-budget films, most notably [[Susan Seidelman]]'s ''[[Smithereens (film)|Smithereens]]''.<ref name="Larkinindie"/> Other acting appearances include [[Ulli Lommel]]'s ''[[Blank Generation (1980 film)|Blank Generation]]'', [[Nick Zedd]]'s ''[[Geek Maggot Bingo]]'', Rachel Amadeo's ''What About Me?'' and Rachid Kerdouche's ''Final Reward''. Hell had a non-speaking cameo role as [[Madonna]]'s murdered boyfriend in Seidelman's 1985 ''[[Desperately Seeking Susan]]''.

===Personal life===
In 1976, Hell dated [[Nancy Spungen]] for a few months before she moved to England.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hell |first=Richard |date=December 1986 |title=Sweet Excess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FL-rqqrDxb8C&pg=PA16 |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|SPIN]] |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=21–4 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Hell was married to [[Scandal (American band)|Scandal]]'s [[Patty Smyth]] for two years during 1985–86, and they had a daughter, Ruby.  In January 2020, it was mentioned on Hell's website that he had begun a relationship with novelist [[Katherine Faw]].