Richard Hell - History 1

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Modern Rock owes Richard Hell a sizeable dowry. Born in Kentucky, Hell, under his given name of Richard Myers, attended a private school with one Tom Miller, later to be known as Verlaine.

In 1972 the pair initially conceived of the prototype punk band Neon Boys and though only getting so far as rehearsal stage recorded four songs that only saw the light of day around 1980. From the start there was a poetry art angle with Miller naming himself after the French symbolist Verlaine and Hell basing his look and image on an old picture of Rimbaud.

The pair in later life conceived of Television in New York (The name was an ideas of Hells). In Television Hells' most famous songs Love Comes in Spurts and the epic Blank Generation (see Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant version) were unveiled. But ego friction between Verlaine and Hell  over Hells' onstage antics compared to Verlaine's more static presence and the reduction of Hell's songs to a big fat zero caused Hell to leave the band scarred and bitter by the whole affair.
Hells style of dress, prickly hair and torn clothes caught the eye of Malcolm McLaren in 1975 as manager of the Dolls as they imploded. McLaren wanted to take Hell to England but Hell had other things on his mind as he was leaving Television.

Instead McLaren took the look and ideas and amalgamated them with his own more confrontational clothing  helping define an aggressive visual image that matched the emerging visceral UK punk scene.

"Richard Hell was a definite 100% inspiration... torn and ripped t-shirt...this look, this image of the guy, this spiky hair...By being inspired by it I was going to imitate it and transform it into something more English." Malcolm McLaren

"But ideas are free property. I stole shit too." Richard Hell

Please Kill Me

 History  Part2 

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