Descriptive Summary
| Title: | Richard Hell Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1944-2003 (Bulk 1969-2003) |
| Abstract: | The Richard Hell Papers consist of comprehensive documentation of Richard Hell's career as a poet, novelist, author, publisher, musician, and filmmaker. Materials include personal journals, manuscripts and materials relating to the publication of several works, correspondence, clippings, reviews, posters, photographs, film, video and audio materials and objects and artifacts. In addition the collection contains financial and legal documents pertaining to Hell's publications, and musical career. The materials span 1944-2003 with the bulk of the material covering 1969-2003. |
| Quantity: | 100.0 Linear feet (74 boxes) |
| Call Phrase: | MSS 140 |
Biographical Note
Richard Hell was born Richard Meyers on October 2, 1949 in Lexington, KY, where he lived until he was 15. He dropped out of high school in 1966 to come to New York and make his way as a poet. In New York he bought a used table-top offset printing press and began publishing books and magazines under the imprints "Genesis : Grasp" and "Dot Books". Before he was twenty-one his poems were published in numerous periodicals, ranging from Rolling Stone to the New Directions Annuals. Wanting more direct, physical relief, he started a rock and roll band with his high school friend, Tom (Miller) Verlaine. This band, The Neon Boys (1973), evolved into the group Television, which Richard left in 1975 before the group recorded their first album. He then immediately joined with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, who had just departed the New York Dolls, to form the Heartbreakers, which Richard also quit after one year and before recording a studio album. In 1976 he founded the group the Voidoids (1976). Hell became known in the mid-Seventies as an originator of the punk movement. His album Blank Generation (Sire/Warners, 1977) by 'Richard Hell and the Voidoids' was chosen by the New York Times as one of the ten best albums of the decade.
Hell's second album, Destiny Street (Red Star/Jem, 1982), was declared by the Times to be among the ten best of its year of release. His third release was R.I.P. (ROIR, 1984), a collection of outtakes and unreleased material from the length of his musical career as well as several new songs recorded in New Orleans. Hell retired from music after the release of R.I.P., but made an exception in 1992 to record a one-off set with Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Don Fleming of Gumball. The self-titled CD by this new group, Dim Stars, was released worldwide in 1992.
As a poet, Hell is the author of Wanna Go Out? by Theresa Stern (collaborative poems with Tom Verlaine, Dot Books, 1973) , I Was A Spiral On The Floor (poems, Soyo Publications, Amsterdam, 1988), and Across the Years (Soyo, Amsterdam, 1992). A short novel, The Voidoid that he wrote in 1973, was published by CodeX in Britain in 1996. The collection of his notebooks from the seventies, Artifact, was published by Hanuman Books in 1990. In the late '80s he edited the NY literary magazine CUZ for the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. He has been widely anthologized and, is represented in such '90s anthologies as: Out of This World (fiction, Crown Publishers, 1992), Am Lit (fiction, Editions Druckhaus Galrev, Berlin, 1992), The Penguin Book of Rock Criticism (essays, Penguin, 1992), Jungles D'Ameriques (fiction, AAC Editions, Paris, 1993), Low Rent (fiction, Grove Press, 1994), and The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats (essay, Hyperion, 1999), as well as Beat Punks (essay, Da Capo, 2000), and Aroused (introductory essay, poems, and fiction, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2001).
Hell's first full length novel, Go Now, an account, set in 1980, of a burned-out junkie punk driving across America with a former girlfriend, was published in 1996 by Scribner in the U.S.A. and Fourth Estate in Britain. The paperback of Go Now (Scribner) came out in the U.S., June, 1997.
In 1998 Richard embarked on a project of co-publishing--with Will Patton, actor, and Mette Madsen, painter--and editing a series of poetry pamphlets under the imprint CUZ Editions. The first of these was a small book by Hell entitled Weather. Seven more titles (Autobiography in Words by Susan Noel with drawings by Mette Madsen, WillieWorld by Maggie Dubris, Sitting Pretty by Michael DeCapite, Lassitudes of Fire by Will Patton, Chaldea/I Dig Girls by Nick Tosches, Love Poems by Rene Ricard with drawings by Robert Hawkins, and Padgett, Ron's Poems I Guess I Wrote with drawings by George Schneeman) were published in 1998-2001, completing the series.
The French translation of Hell's novel Go Now, retitled by the publisher--Éditions de l'Olivier (Paris)-- L'oeil du Lézard, was published in April, 1999. In September, 1999, the French art book publisher Éditions Anna Polèrica returned to print in a facing-page French/English bilingual format the Tom Verlaine/R. Hell collaborative book of poems Wanna Go Out?.
Hell has publicly read from his writings at numerous clubs, universities, bookstores, and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. In video, Untitled, Big Show, and Prehistory are three poeokes (poem-karaokes) made by Hell in 1993-4 using software created by Perry Hoberman. Each one lasts 3-5 minutes. Richard frequently projects these videos on a large screen to provide a little spectacle at his readings.
In October 1998 Hell had a first gallery show of his drawings [at "Extended Play"] at Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery in New York. Accompanying the show was the publication of a new short collection of a miscellany of his writings (poems, essays, notebooks, etc.) and drawings entitled Hot and Cold (Vehicle Editions). The book was an advance preview of a full-length collection of such work that was published by powerHouse Books in 2001. The full-scale, 256 page Hot and Cold, is a compendium juxtaposing the best of Richard's writings and graphics which have not appeared previously in his books, including the lyrics to all the songs he'd written to date. Hell not only wrote the book and designed its pages, he also compiled its vivid index.
As an actor Hell established his reputation as a star of Susan Seidelman's (Desperately Seeking Susan, etc.) initial feature Smithereens, which made history by being the first American independent film to be invited to compete at Cannes. Hell has played leading roles in a number of New York underground films, from Rachid Kerdouche's punk film noir, Final Reward (1978), and Nick Zedd's mad-scientist/horror parody, Geek Maggot Bingo (1982), to Rachel Amodeo's examination of the plight of the homeless in, What About Me? (1992). The feature-length film, Blank Generation, in which Hell played opposite French star Carole Bouquet in 1978, features live performances by Hell and the Voidoids at CBGB. The film was re-released in March 2000.
In 2000, Hell accepted a commission from the major Internet music label MusicBlitz to record a new song. He ended up gathering his original band of Voidoids--Robert Quine, Ivan Julian, and Marc Bell--to do it. It was the first time they'd been in the studio together since 1977. The result is called "Oh" and was available for a year exclusively as an MP3 for free download at MusicBlitz.com, but was withdrawn as a free download upon release of the MusicBlitz CD compiled by Wayne Kramer entitled Beyond Cyberpunk which included the song.
In March 2002 Matador Records released a 2 CD compilation by Hell called Time, comprising an expanded version of his 1984 collection of demos, outtakes, and unreleased versions R.I.P., plus a CD of two live sets, one at the Music Machine in London, 1977, and a short one from CBGB in 1978.
Richard's most important recent undertaking is his new novel, Godlike. Excerpts from it have appeared in The World, Purple, and Bald Ego. A pamphlet of chapter XII of the novel, entitled 2-D Beckoning was published by Angry Dog Midget Editions (Colorado Springs) in 2003. The novel will be published by Dennis Cooper's imprint, Little House on the Bowery, at Akashic Books, to appear in July, 2005. Set largely in the early '70s, but structured as a middle-aged poet's 1997 notebooks and drafts for a memoir-novel, the book recounts the story of a young man's affair with a remarkable teenage poet.
Also in 2004 Richard undertook to write a regular feature movie column for BlackBook, the "progressive urban" youth culture bi-monthly out of New York.
Return to topScope and Content Note
The Richard Hell Papers consist of comprehensive documentation of Richard Hell's career as a poet, novelist, author, publisher, musician, and filmmaker. Materials include personal journals, manuscripts and materials relating to the publication of several works, correspondence, clippings, reviews, posters, photographs, film, video and audio materials and objects and artifacts. In addition the collection contains financial and legal documents pertaining to Hell's publications, and musical career. The materials span 1944-2003 with the bulk of the material covering 1969-2003.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES I: Manuscripts - Contains manuscript materials written by Richard Hell. Subseries are arranged by type and then chronologically. Manuscripts of book length projects are filed separately by project.
Subseries A: Journals and Notebooks
Subseries B: Sketchbooks
Subseries C: Poetry
Subseries D: Prose
Subseries E: Film Scripts
Subseries F: Music
SERIES II: Correspondence - Contains Richard Hell's paper and email correspondence.
Subseries A: Paper-based Correspondence - organized alphabetically by correspondent; correspondence from unidentified or partially identified correspondents is organized by date and follows the last alphabetical entry; a folder containing the early correspondence of Richard Hell's parents (Ernest Meyers and Carolyn Hodgson) annotated by his mother follows and fan mail is collected at the end of the series.
Subseries B: Email Correspondence - Consists of Richard Hell's personal and professional email correspondence from 1997 to 2003. As of September 2005, the email files are in the process of being preserved and migrated for future access purposes.
SERIES III: Projects - Materials related to producing and publicizing Richard Hell's individual artistic projects (albums, books, films, etc.). Each project is arranged as a subseries with projects ordered chronologically by date of completion.
Subseries A: Genesis : Grasp - Materials relating to Richard Hell's first publishing imprint; contains correspondence, manuscripts, production files and business records.
Subseries B: Dot Books - Materials relating to Richard Hell's second publishing imprint; contains correspondence, production files and business records. Materials relating to the production of Theresa Stern's Wanna Go Out? filed separately in subseries C.
Subseries C: Wanna Go Out? - Materials relating to the production of Wanna Go Out? a collaborative volume of poetry authored by Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine under the pseudonym Theresa Stern.
Subseries D: Television - Materials relating to Richard Hell's role in the musical group Television.
Subseries E: Heartbreakers - Materials relating to Richard Hell's role in the musical group the Heartbreakers.
Subseries F: Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Blank Generation - materials relating to the production, publicity and marketing of the Voidoids first album, Blank Generation.
Subseries G: Final Reward - Materials relating the production of the film, Final Reward.
Subseries H: Blank Generation (film) - Materials relating to the production of the film Blank Generation.
Subseries I: 1980 Road Trip - Materials from Richard'd drive across the country in 1980 with Roberta Bayley. These notes later became source material for Go Now.
Subseries J: Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Destiny Street - Materials relating to the production, publicity and marketing of the Voidoids second album, Destiny Street.
Subseries K: Smithereens - Materials relating to Richard Hell's role in the Susan Seidelman film, Smithereens.
Subseries L: Nick Zedd - Materials relating to Richard Hell's work with filmmaker Nick Zedd.
Subseries M: RIP - Materials relating to Richard Hell's collection of Voidoids outtakes, R.I.P.
Subseries N: Heroin Research - Materials relating to the research and composition of Richard Hell's articles on heroin use from 1986-1996.
Subseries O: Poetry Readings - Materials relating to Richard Hell's poetry readings, including notes from his tenure as the coordinator of the Monday Night Poetry series at the Poetry Project.
Subseries P: CUZ - Files relating to the production of each issue of Richard Hell's literary journal, CUZ.
Subseries R: Artifact (1990) - Materials relating to the publication and publicity for Richard Hell's collection of materials from his journals, Artifact published by Hanuman Books.
Subseries Q: Poetry Collections - Materials relating to Richard Hell's poetry collections, I was a Spiral on the Floor and Across the Years.
Subseries S: Western Love Drive - Materials relating to the screenplay of the unproduced film, Western Love Drive, written by Richard Hell as commissioned by Kim Massee to be the screenplay version of a story by her.
Subseries T: Cookie Mueller Book - Materials relating to Richard Hell's compiling and editing an oral history book devoted to Cookie Mueller, the project was never completed.
Subseries U: Dim Stars (1992) - Materials relating to the production of the album, Dim Stars, a collaboration between Richard Hell, Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley and others.
Subseries V: The Voidoid - Materials relating to the publication of Richard Hell's novella, The Voidoid, written circa 1973.
Subseries W: Theresa Stern Story - Materials relating to the drafting of the screenplay, production and post-production for a film based on the life of Theresa Stern.
Subseries X: Go Now (1996) - Manuscript drafts of and materials relating to the publication of Richard Hell's novel, Go Now, published by Scribner's.
Subseries Y: Dear Reader - Materials relating to the publication of Dear Reader Comic.
Subseries Z: Gustav Hasford (c.1995-1998) - Materials relating to Richard Hell's research on Gustave Hasford, a former marine, novelist and convicted bibliomaniac.
Subseries AA: Exhibition at Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery (1998) - Materials relating to Richard Hell's exhibition of his drawings. The exhibition catalog for the show would become the first version of Hot and Cold.
Subseries AB: CUZ Editions - Materials relating to Richard Hell's small press imprint, which published books by Hell, Maggie Dubris, Rene Ricard, Ron Pagett, and others.
Subseries AC: Hot and Cold (2001) - Materials relating to the assembly of Richard's collection of his drawings and other visual art.
Subseries AD: Time - Materials relating to the release of a two-CD retrospective of Richard Hell's musical career.
SERIES IV: Work in Magazines, Journals and Anthologies - Consists of Richard Hell's writings and artwork published in a broad spectrum of periodicals.
Subseries A: Interviews
Subseries B: Journalism
Subseries C: Poetry and Fiction
SERIES V: Photography - Photographic materials documenting Richard Hell's professional and personal life.
Subseries A: Professional Life - Photographic materials including prints, slides, contact sheets and negatives which document Richard Hell's career as musician, writer, publisher and personality. Photographers and dates are noted in the description when known. Materials described at the item level.
Subseries B: Personal Life - Collected photographs of Richard Hell's friends and family. Prints and negatives are interfiled. Materials are arranged chronologically and are described at the binder level.
SERIES VI: Artwork - Various pieces of framed and mounted art work, by various artists
SERIES VII: Manuscripts by Others - Manuscripts given to Richard Hell.
SERIES VIII: Periodicals and News Clippings
Subseries A: Flyers - Flyers from Events.
Subseries B: Periodicals and Tabloids - Periodicals and tabloids that Richard Hell collected.
Subseries C: Clippings - clippings from various sources collected by Richard Hell.
SERIES IX: Artifacts and Objects.
SERIES X: Personal and Business Files.
Subseries A: Financial - Richard Hell's Financial Records.
Subseries B: Legal - Legal records of Richard Hell's court cases.
Subseries C: Personal - Richard Hell's datebooks, calendars, and address books.
SERIES XI: Large Design Elements and Source Materials - Materials Richard Hell used to produce flyers, posters and various publications.
SERIES XII: Posters - Posters collected by Richard Hell, some of his own design.
SERIES XIII: Miscellaneous.
SERIES XIV: Motion Picture Film Materials.
SERIES XV: Videotape recordings.
SERIES XVI: Sound recordings.
Return to topArrangement
Materials are organized by project with some materials such as photographs organized by material type.
Materials are arranged chronologically, with series such as correspondence arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Separated Material
The following published materials from the Richard Hell Papers have been separated and individually catalogued into the Fales' Downtown Print and Periodicals Collection. Call numbers for these items can be located through Bobcat, NYU's online catalog.
2+2=3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9, New York, N.Y. : 2+2=3, etc.
The 11th St. Ruse, New York, NY : 11th St. Ruse, vol. 12, no. 7.
American Book Jam, New York : Back Up Co., vol. 1, no. 4.
Aroused : a collection of erotic writing / edited by Karen Finley ; [introduction by Richard Hell], New York : Thunder's Mouth Press ; [Berkeley, Calif.] : Distributed by Publishers Group West, c2001.
Beat punks / Victor Bockris, 1st Da Capo Press ed., [United States] : Da Capo, 2000.
Blank fictions : consumerism, culture, and the contemporary American novel / James Annesley, New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.
Chaldea ; and, I dig girls / Nick Tosches, New York, N.Y. : CUZ Editions, c1998.
Christopher Wool, Hydra, Greece : Ophiuchus Collection, Hydra Workshop, 1998.
The Curse, Bklyn, NY : DeCapite, vol.3, no.7.
Discourses : conversations in postmodern art and culture / edited by Russell Ferguson ... [et al.] ; foreword by Marcia Tucker ; a photographic sketchbook by John Baldessari, Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press ; New York, N.Y. : New Museum of Contemporary Art, c1990.
From the Velvets to the Voidoids : a pre-punk history for a post-punk world / Clinton Heylin, New York : Penguin, 1993.
Hot and cold / Richard Hell, Gallery show preview ed., [S.l.] : Vehicle Editions, c1998.
Gargoyle, Bethesda, Md : R. Peabody, no. 42.
The Judasjesus / Rolf Vasellari, Zurich : Black Sheep Press.
Jungles d'Amériques / textes rassemblés par Thierry Marignac, Paris : Nouvelles du Monde, 1993.
Kingfisher, Berkeley, Calif. : Kingfisher, no. 8.
Lassitudes of fire / Will Patton, New York, N.Y. : CUZ Editions, c1999.
Love poems / Rene Ricard ; drawings by Robert Hawkins, New York, N.Y. : CUZ Editions, c1999.
L'oeil du lézard / Richard Hell ; trad. de l'américain par François Lasquin et Lise Dufaux, [Paris] : Éd. de l'Olivier, 1999 27-Mesnil-sur-l'Estrée : Impr. Firmin-Didot.
On décolle? / de Theresa Stern version par Michel Bulteau.
The Penguin Book of Rock and Roll Writing / edited by Clinton Heylin ; illustrated by Ray Lowry, 1st ed., London : New York : Viking, 1992.
Punk Rock, So What? : the cultural legacy of punk / edited by Roger Sabin, London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.
Purple, Paris : Association Belle Haleine, no. 3.
Raw periphery, San Jose, CA : Slave Labor Graphics, no. 1.
Rockin' in time : a social history of rock-and-roll / David P. Szatmary, 2nd ed., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall, c1991.
The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats : the Beat Generation and American culture / edited by Holly George-Warren, 1st ed., New York : Hyperion, c1999.
Sitting pretty / Michael DeCapite, [1st ed.], New York : CUZ Editions, c1999.
Weather / Richard Hell, 1st ed., New York, N.Y. : CUZ Editions, c1998.
The World, New York : Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery, nos. 49, 53, 56/57.
Wray, Cleveland, Ohio : Wray, vol. 1/2 (92).
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers, except for Series X Subseries C, which needs the approval of a Fales curator. Folder numbers with an (*)asterisk are subject to photocopy and photo duplication restrictions. Appointments are necessary to consult archive and manuscript materials.
Use Restrictions
Collection use is subject to all copyright laws. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Director of Fales Library and Special Collections. Please contact fales.library@nyu.edu. or call 212 998 2596.
Return to topAccess Points
People
Bayley, RobertaCooper, Dennis, 1953-
CUZ Editions
DeCapite, Michael, 1962-
Dubris, Maggie
Hasford, Gustav
Hell, Richard
Meyers, Richard
Mueller, Cookie
Myles, Eileen
Padgett, Ron, 1942-
Patton, Will
Ramones (Musical group).
Ricard, Rene, 1946-
Rower, Ann, 1938-
Smith, Patti
Television (Musical group).
Verlaine, Tom
Zedd, Nick
Subjects
American literature -- 20th century.Artists and community -- United States.
Authors, American -- 20th century.
Avant-garde (Aesthetics)
Heroin.
Literature, Experimental.
New wave music.
Poetry 20th century Periodicals.
Poetry 20th century.
Punk rock music.
Rock music -- 1971-1980.
Rock music -- 1981-1990.
Small presses.
Organizations
Dot Books.Genesis : Grasp.
Heartbreakers (Musical group).
Sire Records Company.
St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery (New York, N.Y.). Poetry Project.
Voidoids (Musical group).
Warner Bros. Records.
Type
Acetate film -- 16mmArtifacts.
Business records.
Clippings.
Correspondence.
Diaries.
Electronic mail.
Financial records.
Journals.
Legal records.
Little magazines.
Manuscripts for publication.
Manuscripts.
Periodicals.
Photographs.
Posters.
Reviews.
Scrapbooks.
Screenplays.
Sketchbooks.
Sound recordings.
T-shirts.
Video recordings.
Places
New York (N.Y.)New York (N.Y.) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century.
Return to top
Administrative Information
Provenance
The Richard Hell Papers were purchased from Richard Meyers in May 2003.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Richard Hell Papers; MSS 144; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.