Richard Hell & The Voidoids Blank Generation

180 gram pressing!

Richard Hell's place in the annals of music history
would be assured if all he did was be in the first rock
band to play at CBGB's, but his long list of
accomplishments extends far beyond merely that.
Often credited with devising the standard punk rock
look of spiked hair, drawn-on shirts, and safety pins,
(A look that producer Malcolm McLaren would co-opt
for the Sex Pistols) Hell's raucuous musicianship can
be heard with innovative early punk groups like
Television, Neon Boys, Johnny Thunders & The
Heartbreakers, and his own solo project Richard Hell
& The Voidoids. (Which had over the years featured
the likes of guitarist Robert Quine, Marc Bell of The
Ramones, Jody Harris of The Contortions, and
numerous others in its lineup.)
In 1977 the band released their full-length debut on
Sire Records, titled Blank Generation, after a novel
that Hell had been working on that the time. While the
album was not a major commercial hit, it was a
revelation among rock critics, and received
widespread praise. The combination of Hell's arty,
philosophical lyrics, alongside Quine's virtuostic
guitar work, laid out a solid blueprint of the punk rock
movement, and dubbed the Voidoids as one of the
definitive bands of the New York music scene of the
time. Blank Generation's nihilistic message was a key
inspiration for UK punk anthems like Sex Pistols'
"Anarchy In The U", The Clash's "London's
Burning", and others, and would also go on to
influence groups like Sonic Youth and Minutemen.