
He was a cartoon long forsaken by the public eye
The nurse adjusted her garters as I breathed my first
The doctor grabbed my throat and yelled, "God's consolation prize!"
I belong to the ______ generation but
I can take it or leave it each time
—from "Blank Generation"
Richard Lester Myers (born October 2, 1949 in Lexington, Kentucky), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American musician, writer, and sometime actor. While not at all prolificnote he is very influential, representing the transition between Protopunk and actual Punk Rock.
Both of Myers' parents were scientists and academics. As a teen he attended high school in Wilmington, Delaware and there befriended a local named Tom Miller. He and Miller published small-run poetry books together. They also started the band Neon Boys, with Miller renaming himself Tom Verlaine after Paul Verlaine and Myers dubbing himself Richard Hell after Arthur Rimbaud's epic poem A Season in Hell. While the Neon Boys would eventually become Television (band), Hell left early on over Creative Differences with Verlaine. He then formed the Heartbreakersnote with Jerry Noland and Johnny Thunders from New York Dolls.
After a few months, Hell left the Heartbreakers to start his own band which he'd call the Voidoids. He sang and played bass with this group along with an eclectic mix of backing musicians. Licensed attorney and musical autodidact Robert Quine played electric guitar. For rhythm guitar Hell chose Ivan Julian, a young African-American musician who had already toured with The Isley Brothers. Rounding out the lineup was drummer Marc Bell, who came from a mostly Heavy Metal background.
The Voidoids' first album, Blank Generation, was released in the summer of 1977. It made a strong impression on the select number who heard it. Critic Robert Christgau wrote that, "I intend to save this record for those very special occasions when I feel like turning into a nervous wreck." Their second album, Destiny Street, came out in 1982. By this time Julian and Bell, now better known as Marky Ramone, had left, replaced by, respectively, Juan "Naux" Maciel and Fred Maher.
After touring for Destiny Street Hell resigned from performing music, in large part because he wanted to kick a long-running drug habit. He's since continued to publish poetry and some fiction, and occasionally appeared in movies. He had a short-lived return to music with Dim Stars, a punk/noise rock supergroup that also included Thurston Moore and Stephen Shelley.
Discography
With the Voidoids
1977 Blank Generation
1982 Destiny Street
With Dim Stars
1992 Dim StarsFilmography
1980 Blank Generation: Billy
1982 Smithereens: Eric
1983 Geek Maggot Bingo: The Rawhide Kid
1985 Desperately Seeking Susan: Bruce Meeker
1986 No Picnic: Irate Tenant
1992 Sadness at Leaving (short): Carl Halman
1993 What About Me: Paul
1998 Blind Light: Max
Tropes associated with Richard Hell:
Artist and the Band: He did this with the whole Voidoids discography.
Cover Version: The CD reissue of Blank Generation includes his cover of "All the Way", a standard most associated with Frank Sinatra.
Human Notepad: The original cover of Blank Generation shows Hell tearing his shirt open with the words "You Make Me" written on his chest.
Love Hurts: The rhyme in "Love Comes in Spurts" is not coincidental.
Screw Yourself: He recounts seducing his younger self in the Time Travel-themed Title Track to Destiny Street.
