Friday Night Jukebox, CXC--Richard Hell and the Voidoids: Blank Generation

Spending my formative years stuck in the small, but completely uninteresting town of Kokomo, IN, didn't lend itself to discovering much of what was happening in the late 70's in New York in the way of music.  Still, I was lucky enough to enter the music business in the early eighties, and got caught up in a hurry--noting this week's tune on some now long forgotten compilation LP (located somewhere in the basement, I'm sure...), considered by some to be among the best that came out of the American punk movement.

Richard Hell was born Richard Meyers in Kentucky before moving to New York City in 1966.  There he'd join up with his best friend from high school, Tom Miller (eventually Tom Verlaine), and form the Neon Boys, which became the band Television, one of the first punk bands to play regularly at the infamous club, CBGB's.  Verlaine and Hell eventually went their separate ways over group control, and Hell would join up with New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders to form The Heartbreakers (not to be confused in any way shape or form with Tom Petty's back up band...)...in which Hell also did not last long as a member.  Finally in 1976 he formed Richard Hell and the Voidoids, had an acclaimed record in 1977, had a heroin problem, released a second record in 1982 which went nowhere, and basically called it a career in the music business.  Hell has stayed busy through the years writing a couple of novels as well as many non-fiction pieces, and performing one man shows.  Other band members had a bit of success as well:  guitarist Robert Quine would work with punk godfather Lou Reed on a number of his records in the 80's, and drummer Marc Bell went on to quite a bit of fame as one Marky Ramone, the only member of the Ramones to still be alive when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Fun Fact:  Richard Meyers changed his last name to Hell because he said it described his condition...which is probably a bit better than changing his last name to Jesuschristwereallyliveinafuckedupworld...

Released on their now classic LP entitled, appropriately enough, Blank Generation, the single "Blank Generation" was not a huge seller (though it was considered an underground hit, for whatever that's worth) and did not chart, surprisingly enough for 1977 America, on the Billboard charts.  It did, however, end up on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "...500 Songs That Shaped Rock."

Opening with a wicked in your face splash of guitar, "Blank Generation" continues apace for the next two minutes and forty-five seconds painting a somewhat nihilistic picture of life in America in the mid 1970's.  Hell's vocals are an abrupt mixture of arrogance, anger, and ennui, echoing the sentiments of a, to quote a phrase, generation lost in space, and all the while the band's guitars are slashing, the drums are bashing, and Hell's bass guitar adds a nice flourish here and there.  And lest I forget, the doo-wop influenced, yet oddly eerie "ooh--oohs" interspersed throughout the song are the piece de la resistance which make you know you are listening to a piece of pop music genius.  While "Blank Generation" may not be the best punk song ever written (though it's certainly among them), it's certainly the one that best captured the spirit of the punk movement--and its influence on punk artists such as Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash cannot be understated.  It's another in a long line of performers who managed to make a little magic before fading into obscurity.

Lyric Sheet:  "The nurse adjusted her garters as I breathed my first/ The doctor grabbed my throat and yelled, 'God's consolation prize!'..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee