Editing Lester Bangs

{{short description|American music critic and journalist (1948–1982)}}
{{About|the American music journalist|the British/German music journalist|Alan Bangs}}
<!-- sometimes they are confused even in printed press if only the surname is used -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lester Bangs
| image              = Lester Bangs.jpg
| caption            = Bangs photographed by [[Roberta Bayley]] in 1976
| birth_name         = Leslie Conway Bangs
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1948|12|14|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Escondido, California]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1982|4|30|1948|12|14|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| occupation         = {{hlist|Music journalist|music critic|musician|author}}
| module             = {{Infobox writer|embed=yes
| period      = 1969–1982
| genre       = 
| subject     = [[Rock music]], [[jazz]]
| movement    = 
| influences  =
| influenced  = 
| signature   =
| website     =
}}
}}

'''Leslie Conway''' "'''Lester'''" '''Bangs''' (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/bangs-82.php |title=Lester Bangs, 1948-1982 |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=May 11, 1982 |access-date=January 31, 2014 |author=Christgau, Robert}}</ref> was an American [[music journalism|music journalist]] and critic. He wrote for ''[[Creem]]'' and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazines and was also a performing musician.<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=1315 Lester Bangs]. Random House. Retrieved on November 4, 2007.</ref><ref>Lindberg, Ulf; Gudmundsson, Gestur; Michelsen, Morten; Weisethaunet, Hans (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8HAYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death ''Rock Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers, and Cool-Headed Cruisers'']. Ed. Ulf Lindberg. Peter Lang, International Academic Publishers. p. 176. {{ISBN|0-8204-7490-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8204-7490-8}}.</ref> The music critic [[Jim DeRogatis]] called him "America's greatest [[Rock music|rock]] critic".<ref>{{cite web |last=Garner |first=Dwight |author-link=Dwight Garner (critic) |date=April 23, 2000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/23/reviews/000423.23garnert.html |title=High Fidelity |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> 

==Early life==
Bangs was born in [[Escondido, California]]. He was the son of Norma Belle (''née'' Clifton) and Conway Leslie Bangs, a truck driver.<ref name= Blurt>{{cite book |title= Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic |year= 2000 |first= Jim |last= Derogatis |publisher= Broadway Books |location= New York |isbn= 0767905091 |url= https://archive.org/details/letitblurtlifeti0000dero |url-access= registration }}</ref>{{rp|3–4}} Both of his parents were from [[Texas]]: his father from [[Enloe, Texas|Enloe]] and his mother from [[Pecos County, Texas|Pecos County]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/jul/13/my-highschool-days-lester-bangs/ |title= My Highschool Days With Lester Bangs |work= [[San Diego Reader]] |date= July 13, 2000 |access-date= November 7, 2012}}</ref> Norma Belle was a devout [[Jehovah's Witness]]. Conway died in a fire when his son was young. When Bangs was 11, he moved with his mother to [[El Cajon, California|El Cajon]], also in San Diego County.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Bart |title=Lester Bangs: The El Cajon Years |url=http://sandiegotroubadour.com/2013/06/lester-bangs-the-el-cajon-years/ |work=San Diego Troubador |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-09 |title=Lester Bangs at 75: legacy of 'America's Greatest Rock Critic' endures four decades after his death |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2023/12/09/lester-bangs-at-75-legacy-of-americas-greatest-rock-critic-endures-four-decades-after-his-death/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=My El Cajon Valley High School days with Lester Bangs {{!}} San Diego Reader |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/jul/13/my-highschool-days-lester-bangs/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=www.sandiegoreader.com |language=en}}</ref> 

His early interests and influences ranged from the [[Beat Generation]] (particularly [[William S. Burroughs]]) and jazz musicians [[John Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]], to [[comic books]] and [[science fiction]].<ref name= Bustillos /> He met [[Cameron Crowe]] while they were both contributing music pieces to ''[[The San Diego Door]]'', an [[underground newspaper]] of the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=Micha |date=25 September 2019 |title=The way Lester Bangs loved it |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2019/sep/25/theater-anti-way-lester-bangs-loved-it/ |access-date=16 August 2024 |work=[[San Diego Reader]]}}</ref>

==Career==
===''Rolling Stone'' magazine===
Bangs became a [[freelance writer]] in 1969, after reading an ad in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' soliciting readers' reviews. His first accepted piece was a negative review of the [[MC5]] album ''[[Kick Out the Jams]]'', which he sent to ''Rolling Stone'' with a note requesting, if the magazine were to decline to publish the review, that he be given a reason for the decision; no reply was forthcoming, as the magazine did indeed publish the review.

His 1970 review of [[Black Sabbath]]'s [[Black Sabbath (album)|first album]] in ''Rolling Stone'' was scathing, rating them as imitators of the band [[Cream (band)|Cream]]:

{{blockquote|Cream clichés that sound like the musicians learned them out of a book, grinding on and on with dogged persistence. Vocals are sparse, most of the album being filled with plodding bass lines over which the lead guitar dribbles wooden Claptonisms from the master's tiredest Cream days. They even have discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitized speedfreaks all over each other's musical perimeters yet never quite finding synch—just like Cream! But worse.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/black-sabbath-19700917 |title = Album Review: Black Sabbath - 'Black Sabbath' |magazine = Rolling Stone |date = September 17, 1970}}</ref>}}

Bangs wrote about the death of [[Janis Joplin]] in 1970 from a drug overdose: "It's not just that this kind of early death has become a fact of life that has become disturbing, but that it's been accepted as a given so quickly."<ref>{{cite book |title=A Bad Woman Feeling Good: Blues and the Women Who Sing Them |last=Jackson |first=Buzzy |year=2005 |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York |isbn=0393059367 |page=[https://archive.org/details/badwomanfeelingg00buzz/page/234 234] |url=https://archive.org/details/badwomanfeelingg00buzz |url-access=registration |access-date=November 2, 2013}}.</ref>

In 1973, [[Jann Wenner]] fired Bangs from ''Rolling Stone'' for "disrespecting musicians" after a particularly harsh review of the group [[Canned Heat]].<ref name= Blurt />{{rp|95}}

=== ''Creem'' magazine ===
Bangs began freelancing for [[Detroit]]-based ''[[Creem]]'' in 1970.<ref name= Bustillos>{{cite magazine| last= Bustillos| first= Maria| url= http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lester-bangs-truth-teller |title= Lester Bangs: Truth-teller| magazine= [[The New Yorker]] |date= August 21, 2012| access-date= }}</ref> In 1971, he wrote a feature for ''Creem'' on [[Alice Cooper]], and soon afterward he moved to Detroit. Named ''Creem''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s editor in 1971,<ref>Harrington, Joe (2002). ''Sonic Cool: The Life & Death of Rock 'n' Roll'' (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard. p. 226. {{ISBN|0-634-02861-8}}.</ref> Bangs fell in love with Detroit, calling it "rock's only hope", and remained there for five years.<ref>Holdship, Bill (January 16, 2008). [http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12383 "Sour Creem: The Life, Death and Strange Resurrection of America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine".] ''[[Metro Times]]'' (Detroit, Michigan). Retrieved 3 January 2013.</ref>

During the early 1970s, Bangs and some other writers at ''Creem'' began using the term ''punk rock'' to designate the genre of 1960s [[garage rock|garage bands]] and more contemporary acts, such as MC5 and [[The Stooges|Iggy and the Stooges]].<ref>Bangs, Lester (2003). ''Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.'' Anchor Books. pp. 8, 56, 57, 61, 64, 101 (reprints of articles originally published in 1971 and 1972 and referring to garage bands such as the [[Count Five]] and [[the Troggs]] as "punk"); p. 101 (associating Iggy and Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers with the Troggs and their ilk as "punk"); pp. 112–113 (describing [[the Guess Who]] as "punk"—the Guess Who had made recordings as a garage rock outfit in the mid-60s, such as their hit version of "Shakin' All Over" in 1965); p. 8 (general statement about "punk rock" (garage) as a genre: "then punk bands started cropping up who were writing their own songs but taking the [[The Yardbirds|Yardbirds']] sound and reducing it to this kind of goony fuzztone clatter &nbsp;... oh, it was beautiful, it was pure folklore, Old America, and sometimes I think those were the best days ever)"; p. 225 (reprint from an article originally published in the late 70s refers to garage bands as "punk"</ref><ref>Marsh, D. ''Creem.'' May 1971 (review of live show by ? & the Mysterians Marsh describing their style as "a landmark exposition of punk rock.").</ref> Their writings provided some of the conceptual framework for the later [[punk rock|punk]] and [[New wave music|new wave]] movements that emerged in New York, London, and elsewhere later in the decade.<ref>''Punk: The Whole Story.'' ed. M. Blake. 2006 ''[[Mojo Magazine]]'', 2006. In the opening article, "Punk Rock Year Zero," the writer and former member of early Sex Pistols lineup Nick Kent discusses the influence of Lester Bangs on punk concept and aesthetic.</ref><ref>Gray, M. (2004). ''The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town''. Hal Leonard. p. 27 - Gray discusses how in the early 70s, while his mother was living overseas (in Detroit), she would send [[Mick Jones (The Clash guitarist)|Mick Jones]] (later of [[the Clash]]) copies of ''Creem'' magazine, and how writings by Bangs and others using the term ''punk rock'' influenced him.</ref> They were quick to pick up on these new movements and provide extensive coverage of the phenomenon. Bangs was enamored of the [[noise music]] of [[Lou Reed]],<ref>[[Charlie Gere|Gere, Charlie]]. (2005). ''Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body''. Berg. p. 110.</ref> and ''Creem'' gave exposure to artists such as Reed, [[David Bowie]], [[Roxy Music]], [[Captain Beefheart]], [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]], [[Brian Eno]], and [[the New York Dolls]] years earlier than the mainstream press. Bangs wrote the essay/interview "[[Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves]]" about Reed in 1975.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/milkitcollectedm0000dero|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/milkitcollectedm0000dero/page/188 188]|quote=Lester Bangs dead OR died OR death.|title=Milk It: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the '90s |first=Jim |last=DeRogatis |date=October 2, 2003|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=9780306812712|access-date=August 1, 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> ''Creem'' was also among the earliest publications to give sizable coverage to [[hard rock]] and [[Heavy metal music|metal]] artists such as [[Motörhead]], [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]], [[Judas Priest]], and [[Van Halen]].

=== Subsequent career ===
After leaving ''Creem'' in 1976, he wrote for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'', ''[[Playboy]]'', ''[[New Musical Express]]'', and many other publications. He won a posthumous [[Grammy Award for Best Album Notes|Grammy Award]] in 1984 for his [[liner notes]] on ''[[The_Fugs#Compilation_albums|The Fugs Greatest Hits, Volume 1]]''.

==Death==
Bangs died in New York City on April 30, 1982, at the age of 33; he was self-medicating a bad case of the flu and accidentally overdosed on [[dextropropoxyphene]] (an opioid analgesic), [[diazepam]] (a benzodiazepine), and [[NyQuil]].<ref name="wallace">Wallace, Amy; Manitoba, Handsome Dick. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HFKSxVpoPbMC&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&pg=PA56 ''The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists'']. Hal Leonard. p. 56.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = The Life and Work of Lester Bangs |work = The Guardian |url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/apr/12/artsfeatures.music |date=April 12, 2002|access-date = July 31, 2014 |first = Nick |last = Kent}}</ref>

Bangs appeared to be listening to music when he died. Earlier that day, he had bought a copy of ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]'' by English synth-pop band [[the Human League]]. Later that night, a friend found him lying on a couch in his apartment, unresponsive. "''Dare'' was spinning on the turntable, and the needle was stuck on the end groove," Jim DeRogatis wrote in ''Let It Blurt'', his biography of Bangs.<ref name= Blurt />{{rp|233}}

== Writing style and cultural commentary==
Bangs's criticism was filled with cultural references, not only to rock music but also to literature and philosophy. His radical and confrontational style influenced others in the punk rock and related social and political movements.<ref name= Bustillos /> In a 1982 interview, he said:

{{blockquote|Well, basically, I just started out to lead [an interview] with the most insulting question I could think of. Because it seemed to me that the whole thing of interviewing as far as rock stars and that was just such a suck-up. It was groveling obeisance to people who weren't that special, really. It's just a guy, just another person, so what?<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.furious.com/Perfect/lesterbangs.html |first = Jim |last = DeRogatis |title = A Final Chat with Lester Bangs |publisher = Perfect Sound Forever | website = furious.com|date = November 1999 |access-date = August 6, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100117095828/http://www.furious.com/perfect/lesterbangs.html |archive-date = January 17, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

A performer with his own band, he also appeared on stage with others at times. On one occasion, while [[the J. Geils Band]] were playing in concert, Bangs climbed onto the stage, typewriter in hand, and proceeded to type a supposed review of the event, in full view of the audience, banging the keys in rhythm with the music.<ref name="Cider">{{cite book |first= Stuart |last= Maconie |year= 2004 |title= Cider with Roadies |publisher= Random House |location= London |isbn= 0-09-189115-9 |page= 227}}</ref>

In 1979, writing for ''The Village Voice'', Bangs wrote a piece about [[racism]] in the punk music scene, called "The White Noise Supremacists", wherein he re-examined his own actions and words, and those of his peers, in light of some bands using [[Nazi]] symbolism, and other racist speech and imagery, "for shock value". He came to the conclusion that generating outrage for attention was not worth the harm it was causing fellow members of the community, and expressed his personal shame and embarrassment about having engaged in these racist behaviors himself. He praised the efforts of activist groups like [[Rock Against Racism]] and [[Rock Against Sexism]] as "an attempt at simple decency by a lot of people whom one would think too young and naive to begin to appreciate the contradictions."<ref name=Bangs79>{{cite book|last=Bangs |first=Lester |author-link=Lester Bangs |date=1988 |editor-last= Marcus |editor-first= Greil |editor-link=Greil Marcus| title=[[Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock 'n' Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock 'n' Roll]]|publisher=[[Anchor Press]] |page= 282|isbn=0-679-72045-6}}</ref><ref name=WNSpdf>{{cite web |url = http://www.mariabuszek.com/mariabuszek/kcai/PoMoSeminar/Readings/BangsWhite.pdf  |first = Lester |last = Bangs |title = The White Noise Supremacists |publisher = |work= The Village Voice| via= mariabuszek.com |date = April 1979 |access-date = April 11, 2021 }}</ref>

==Music==
Bangs was also a musician. In 1976, he and [[Peter Laughner]] recorded an acoustic improvisation in the ''Creem'' office. The recording included covers/parodies of songs like "[[Sister Ray]]" and "[[Pale Blue Eyes]]", both by [[the Velvet Underground]].

In 1977, Bangs recorded, as a solo artist, a 7" vinyl single named "Let It Blurt/Live", mixed by [[John Cale]] and released in 1979.

In 1977, at the New York City nightclub [[CBGB]], Bangs and guitarist [[Mickey Leigh]], [[Joey Ramone]]'s brother, decided to form a band named "Birdland". Although they both had their roots in jazz, the two wanted to create an old-school rock-and-roll group. Leigh brought in his post-punk band, The Rattlers (David Merrill on bass; Matty Quick on drums). On April Fool's Day 1979, the band snuck into [[Electric Lady Studios]] for an impromptu late-night recording session; the studio was under renovation but Merrill was helping and had the key. Birdland broke up within two months of the recording. The cassette tape from the session became the master, mixed by [[Ed Stasium]] and released by Leigh in 1986 as ''"Birdland" with Lester Bangs''. In a review of the album, [[Robert Christgau]] gave it a B-plus and said, "musically he always had the instincts, and words were no problem."<ref>{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=80|chapter=B|access-date=August 17, 2020|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s]]|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>

In 1980, Bangs traveled to [[Austin, Texas]], where he met a surf/punk rock group, The Delinquents. In early December of the same year, they recorded an album as "Lester Bangs and the Delinquents", titled ''Jook Savages on the Brazos'', released the following year.

In 1990, [[the Mekons]] released the EP ''F.U.N. 90'' with Bangs's declamation in the song "One Horse Town".

==In popular culture==

* Bangs is mentioned in the [[R.E.M.]] single "[[It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)|It's the End of the World as We Know It]]" from their 1987 album [[Document (album)|''Document'']].
* Bangs is a character in the short story "Dori Bangs" by [[Bruce Sterling]] in which Sterling imagines what would have happened if Lester hadn't died young and had instead met the artist [[Dori Seda]].
* Bangs is the subject of the song by [[Scott B. Sympathy]] "Lester Bangs Stereo Ghost" on the 1992 album ''Drinking With The Poet''.
*[[of Montreal]] mention Bangs in their 2003 song "There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics."
* Excerpts from an interview with Lester Bangs appeared in the last two episodes of Tony Palmer's 17-episode television documentary ''[[All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music]]''.
* [[Ramones|The Ramones]] name-check Bangs in their 1981 song "It's Not My Place."
* In the 2000 movie ''[[Almost Famous]]'', directed by [[Cameron Crowe]] (himself a former writer for ''Rolling Stone''), Bangs is portrayed by actor [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as a mentor to the film's protagonist William Miller. Bangs is also a major character in the [[Almost Famous (musical)|2019 stage musical version]], in which he was played by Rob Colletti.
* The 2003 [[Buzzcocks]] song "Lester Sands" is a coded reference to Bangs. Written in the 1970s, it was re-recorded and released on the 2003 album ''[[Buzzcocks (album)|Buzzcocks]]''.<ref>[https://www.jimdero.com/News2003/June20Buzzcocks.htm Buzzcocks turn it up]. ''Jim Dero''. 20 June 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2025.</ref>
* In 2018 an [[Off-Broadway]] play about Bangs, ''[[Erik Jensen (actor)#How to Be A Rock Critic|How to Be a Rock Critic]]'', premiered and was performed at several venues around the US. It starred [[Erik Jensen (actor)|Erik Jensen]] as Bangs, and was directed by [[Jessica Blank]], with music by [[Steve Earle]].<ref name=RSBrowne>{{Cite magazine|last=Browne|first=David|title=Lester Bangs Play 'How to Be a Rock Critic' Captures Writer's Wild Spirit - Off-Broadway production starring Erik Jensen invites audience into Bangs' world|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/lester-bangs-play-how-to-be-a-rock-critic-captures-writers-wild-spirit-118111|date=January 9, 2018|access-date=April 11, 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=NYPetrusich>{{Cite magazine|last=Petrusich|first=Amanda|title=Lester Bangs and the Soul of Rock Criticism|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/lester-bangs-and-the-soul-of-rock-criticism|access-date=2021-01-22|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-us}}</ref>

==Selected works==

===By Lester Bangs===
* [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/kick-out-the-jams-19690405 Review] of [[the MC5]]'s debut album, ''[[Kick Out the Jams]]'' — Bangs's first piece for ''Rolling Stone''
*[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1299&dat=19770829&id=6vZNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OYsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2945,3275749 "How Long Will We Care?"] [[Elvis Presley]] obituary. ''The Village Voice'', August 29, 1977
* [http://www.rocknroll.net/loureed/articles/mmmbangs.html "The Greatest Album Ever Made"], ''Creem'' magazine (1976) — about the 1975 [[Lou Reed]] album ''[[Metal Machine Music]]''
* [https://genius.com/Lester-bangs-astral-weeks-annotated "Stranded"], (1979) — about the 1968 album ''[[Astral Weeks]]'', by [[Van Morrison]]
* ''Blondie'', Fireside Book, 1980. {{ISBN|0-671-25540-1}}, 91 p.
* ''Rod Stewart'', Paul Nelson & Lester Bangs, Putnam Group, 1981. {{ISBN|978-0-933328-08-2}}, 159 p.
* ''[[Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock 'n' Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock 'n' Roll|Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic]]'', collected writings, [[Greil Marcus]], ed. Anchor Press, 1987. ({{ISBN|0-679-72045-6}})
* ''Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader'', collected writings, John Morthland, ed. Anchor Press, 2003. ({{ISBN|0-375-71367-0}})

===About Lester Bangs===
* ''Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic'', biography, Jim Derogatis. Broadway Books, 2000. ({{ISBN|0-7679-0509-1}}).
* ''How to Be a Rock Critic'', play, [[Jessica Blank]] and [[Erik Jensen (actor)|Erik Jensen]]. Kirk Douglas Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Public Theater, more; 2015–2018.

===Works citing Lester Bangs===
* ''Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk'', biography, [[Legs McNeil]] and [[Gillian McCain]]. Penguin Books, 1997. ({{ISBN|0-14-026690-9}}).

== See also ==
*[[Jeffrey Morgan (writer)|Jeffrey Morgan]]
*[[Greil Marcus]]
*[[Dave Marsh]]
*[[Greg Shaw]]
*[[Lenny Kaye]]
*[[Robert Christgau]]
*[[Ellen Willis]]
*[[Lillian Roxon]]

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite magazine | title = Lester Bangs columns|magazine= Rolling Stone| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/contributor/lester-bangs }}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031121161402/http://www.creemmagazine.com/BeatGoesOn/LesterBangs/BadTaste.html |date=November 21, 2003 |title=''MENTOR. EDITOR. LESTER: A Personal Appreciation'' }} by [[Jeffrey Morgan (writer)|Jeffrey Morgan]] of ''Creem''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043609/http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/lesterbangs/lesterbangs.html 1980 interview with Bangs] posted at rockcritics.com
* May 13, 1980 Interview with [http://www.cousincreep.com/index.php/lester-bangs/ Lester Bangs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120024940/http://www.cousincreep.com/index.php/lester-bangs/ |date=2013-01-20  }} by Sue Mathews of ABC Radio (Australia) Complete transcript plus MP3 stream of the interview.
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0333,hell,46160,1.html Richard Hell remembers Lester Bangs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629032327/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0333,hell,46160,1.html |date=2008-06-29  }} in ''The Village Voice'', August 7, 2003
* {{isfdb name}}
* {{IMDb name|id=3719271|name=Lester Bangs}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangs, Lester}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in New York (state)]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:American music journalists]]
[[Category:Drug-related deaths in New York City]]
[[Category:Journalists from California]]
[[Category:People from El Cajon, California]]
[[Category:People from Escondido, California]]
[[Category:Rock critics]]
[[Category:Rolling Stone people]]