Editing Richard Hell and the Voidoids

{{Short description|American punk rock band}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Richard Hell and the Voidoids
| image           = Richard Hell and the Voidoids 1977 press photo.jpg
| caption         = Richard Hell and the Voidoids in 1977. Left to right: [[Richard Hell]], [[Ivan Julian]], [[Marky Ramone|Marc Bell]], and [[Robert Quine]].
| landscape       = yes
| background      = group_or_band
| alias           = 
| years_active    = 1976–1979, 1981–1983, {{nowrap|1990 (Japanese tour only),}} 2000 (recording only)
| genre           = {{flatlist|
* [[Punk rock]]
* [[art punk]]
}}
| origin          = [[New York City]], United States
| label           = {{flatlist|
* [[Sire Records|Sire]]
* [[Radar Records|Radar]]
* [[Red Star Records|Red Star]]
* [[ROIR]]
* Shake
}}
| associated_acts = {{flatlist|
* [[Neon Boys]]
* [[Television (band)|Television]]
* [[The Heartbreakers]]
* [[Dim Stars]]
* [[Ramones]]
* [[Misfits (band)|Misfits]]
* [[Lou Reed]]
* [[Matthew Sweet]]
* [[Sonic Youth]]
}}
| past_members    = [[#Members|See below]]
}}

'''Richard Hell and the Voidoids''' were an American <!-- Lead section, as per WIKI:MOS, is supposed to aim for generality. Specific subgenre and style are to follow afterward -->[[punk rock]] band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by [[Richard Hell]], a former member of the [[Neon Boys]], [[Television (band)|Television]] and [[the Heartbreakers]].

== History ==
[[Kentucky]]-born [[Richard Hell|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 Verlaine|Tom Miller]], founded the rock band the [[Neon Boys]] which became [[Television (band)|Television]] in 1973.{{sfn|Hannon|2010|p=98}} The pair adopted stage names; Miller called himself Verlaine after [[Paul Verlaine]], a French poet he admired, and Meyers became [[Richard Hell]] because, as he has said, it described his condition.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

The group was the first rock band to play the club [[CBGB]], which soon became a breeding ground for the early [[punk rock]] scene in New York.{{sfn|Hannon|2010|p=98}} 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.{{sfn|Finney|2012|p=5}} In 1975, after a failed management deal with the [[New York Dolls]], impresario [[Malcolm McLaren]] claimed to have brought these ideas back with him to England and eventually incorporated them into the [[Sex Pistols]]' image,{{sfn|Finney|2012|pp=47–48}} a claim which Sex Pistols' front man [[John Lydon]]/Johnny Rotten disputes, citing his own existing use of safety pins and spiked hair (dyed green) prior to joining the Pistols.{{sfn|Lydon|Zimmerman|1994|p=352}}

Disputes with Verlaine led to Hell's departure from Television in April 1975, and he co-founded [[the Heartbreakers]] with [[New York Dolls]] guitarist [[Johnny Thunders]]. Hell did not last long with this band,{{sfn|Hannon|2010|p=99}} and he began recruiting members for a new band in early 1976.{{sfn|Hermes|2011|p=207}} For guitarists, Hell found [[Robert Quine]] and [[Ivan Julian]]—Quine had worked in a bookstore with Hell, and Julian responded to an advertisement in ''[[The Village Voice]]''. They lifted drummer [[Marky Ramone|Marc Bell]], later Marky Ramone, from [[Wayne County & the Electric Chairs|Wayne County]]. The band was named "the Voidoids" after a novel Hell had been writing.{{sfn|Hermes|2011|p=207}}

Musically, Hell drew inspiration from acts such as [[Bob Dylan]], [[the Rolling Stones]], [[the Beatles]], [[proto-punk|protopunk]] band [[the Stooges]] and fellow New Yorker group [[the Velvet Underground]], a group with a reputation for [[heroin]]-fueled rock and roll with poetic lyrics.{{sfn|Finney|2012|pp=24–29}} Quine's admiration of the Velvet Underground led him to make hours' worth of [[bootleg recording]]s of the band in the late 1960s.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Hell also drew from—and covered—[[garage rock]] bands such as [[the Seeds]] and the [[Count Five]] that were found on the ''[[Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968|Nuggets]]'' compilation of 1972.{{sfn|Finney|2012|pp=25–26}} The Voidoids' music was also characterized as [[art punk]].<ref name="OL">«[http://www.outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=856 Rebel Art]», Outsideleft</ref><ref name="Brookes">Brookes, Tim (2006) ''Guitar: An American Life'', Grove/Atlantic, {{ISBN|978-0-8021-4258-0}}</ref>

Hell had written the song "[[Blank Generation (song)|Blank Generation]]" while still in Television; he had played it regularly with the band since at least 1975, and later with the Heartbreakers.{{sfn|Finney|2012|p=30}} The Voidoids released a 7" ''Blank Generation'' [[Extended play|EP]] in 1976 on Ork Records{{sfn|Hermes|2011|p=207}} 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.{{sfn|Balls|2014|p=58}} It was an underground hit, and the band signed to [[Sire Records]] for its album debut.{{sfn|Balls|2014|p=59}}

== Legacy ==
The Voidoids are considered{{by whom|date=November 2020}} to have pioneered the "[[punk subculture|punk look]]" and studded appearance which also became popular later on in the UK via the Sex Pistols.<ref>{{cite AV media |year=1995 |title=Punk Culture |people=Mark Chapal, [[Malcolm McLaren]] |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> Lydon disputes the Voidoids influence on British punk appearance.{{sfn|Lydon|Zimmerman|1994|p=352}}

== Members ==

* [[Richard Hell]] &ndash; vocals, bass
* [[Robert Quine]] &ndash; guitar (died 2004)
* [[Ivan Julian]] &ndash; guitar
* [[Marky Ramone|Marc Bell (Marky Ramone)]] &ndash; drums
* Naux (Juan Maciel) &ndash; guitar (died 2009)
* Frank Mauro &ndash; drums
* Michael Allison &ndash; guitar
* [[Jody Harris]] &ndash; guitar
* [[Fred Maher]] &ndash; drums
* Jerry Antonius &ndash; bass
* Jahn Xavier Bonfiglio &ndash; bass
* Ted Horowitz &ndash; bass
* James Morrison &ndash; drums
* [[Anton Fier]] &ndash; drums (died 2022)
* Geoff Freeman &ndash; guitar
* Charles Wood &ndash; drums
* Michael Paumgarten &ndash; guitar
* Sue Williams &ndash; bass

==Discography==

===Studio albums===
* ''[[Blank Generation (album)|Blank Generation]]'' (1977, [[Sire Records]])
* ''[[Destiny Street]]'' (1982, [[Red Star Records]])

===Singles and EPs===
* "Another World" EP (1976, Ork Records)
* "[[Blank Generation (song)|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]])

===Live albums===
* ''Funhunt: Live at CBGB's & Max's 1978 and 1979'' (1989, [[ROIR]])
* ''Gone to Hell'' (2008, Vinyl Japan)

===Compilation albums===
* ''Destiny Street Repaired'' (2009, Insound)

== Filmography ==

* ''[[Blank Generation (1980 film)|Blank Generation]]'' (1980)

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{cite book
| last         = Astor
| first        = Pete
| title        = Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation
| url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=XwMQAwAAQBAJ
| year         = 2014
| publisher    = Bloomsbury Publishing
| isbn         = 978-1-62356-856-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last         = Balls
| first        = Richard
| title        = Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story
| url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=NOQkBQAAQBAJ
| year         = 2014
| publisher    = Soundcheck Books
| isbn         = 978-0-9575700-6-1
}}
* {{Cite thesis
| last         = Finney
| first        = Ross
| title        = A Blank Generation: Richard Hell and American Punk Rock
| type         = Senior thesis
| url          = https://americanstudies.nd.edu/assets/91769/finney_thesis.pdf
| date         = 2012-04-10
| publisher    = University of Notre Dame
| access-date  = 2014-12-24
}}
* {{cite book
| last         = Hannon
| first        = Sharon M.
| title        = Punks: A Guide to an American Subculture
| url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=5CrUGq8t77kC
| year         = 2010
| publisher    = [[ABC-CLIO]]
| isbn         = 978-0-313-36456-3
}}
* {{cite book
| last         = Hermes
| first        = Will
| authorlink   = Will Hermes
| title        = Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever
| url          = https://archive.org/details/lovegoestobuildi0000herm
| url-access   = registration
| year         = 2011
| publisher    = [[Faber and Faber]]
| isbn         = 978-1-4299-6867-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last         = Law
| first        = Glenn
| chapter      = Richard Hell
| editor-last  = Buckley
| editor-first = Peter
| title        = The Rough Guide to Rock
| url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C
| year         = 2003
| publisher    = Rough Guides
| isbn         = 978-1-84353-105-0
| pages        = 485–486
}}
* {{cite book
| last1        = Lydon
| first1       = John
| author-link1 = John Lydon
| last2        = Zimmerman
| first2       = Keith
| title        = Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs
| year         = 1994
| publisher    = Picador
| isbn         = 0312428138
| edition      = 2008 Reprint
}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book
| last        = Hell
| first       = Richard
| authorlink  = Richard Hell
| title       = I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp
| date        = February 18, 2014
| publisher   = Ecco
| isbn        = 978-0062190840}}

== External links ==

* {{Discogs artist|263608}}

{{Richard Hell}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Punk rock groups from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Musical groups from New York City]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1976]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1984]]
[[Category:Sire Records artists]]
[[Category:Radar Records artists]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:1984 disestablishments in New York (state)]]