At a screening of Robert Bresson’s 1977 film The Devil, Probably, part of BAM’s series Bresson, Richard Hell brought both his punk lineage and his knowledge of film history to open a discussion of the film. Yet Hell wasn’t simply there to extol the virtues of The Devil, Probably; instead, his take on the film was an unorthodox one, both laudatory and — at times — brutally honest about its flaws. For a film with a focus on uncomfortable moments […]
Richard Hell Acting Like an Asshole is Still Cooler Than You Acting Normal
Let me add one last thing to this ponderous (sorry!) interview. Namely that I’m really gratified by the reception of Destiny Street Repaired altogether. It might have sounded like I was being pretty cutting about the reviewers, but actually I feel great about the record’s reception. The proportion of positive to negative has been about 50/50 or maybe 60/40 in favor, but, seriously, the positive reviews have been so much more intelligent and accurate than the negative ones (I mean […]
Richard Hell Revisits Blank Generation
What has always fascinated me about Richard Hell is his reluctance to revisit those days in bands like The Heartbreakers, Television, and especially, The Voidoids. While many of his colleagues from the old CBGB and “77 punk” scene are more than happy to do a few reunions for whatever reason (strapped for cash, revisiting past glory, etc.), Hell keeps on insisting that those days are behind him, and he just wants to concentrate on his writing — something I have […]