Richard Hell And The Voidoids released two studio albums
back in the day – 1977’s
Blank Generation
and 1982’s
Destiny Street. Richard
Hell (Richard Meyers), who was also a member of Television and Johnny Thunders
And The Heartbreakers, was apparently never really satisfied with that original
release of
Destiny Street, and in
2009 released a different version of the album, called
Destiny Street Repaired, with new vocals and guitar parts. That too
did not quite meet his expectations or desires for this particular album, so
when most of the original masters were found, Richard Hell went back to work on
them, and we now have, as a result,
Destiny
Street Remixed. All three versions are included in the new two-disc set
Destiny Street Complete, along with a
bunch of demos and a booklet of liner notes. At the beginning of that booklet,
Richard Hell writes: “
I have to smile and
roll my eyes when I think of this, this package, but I was determined to do it.
Nobody made me, or even asked me. I take full responsibility for it. Three plus
versions of the same album. It’s ridiculous, but I’m glad.” I’m glad too.
And anyone who is a fan of punk music will likely share that feeling.
Disc 1
The first disc contains the original album and Destiny Street Repaired. The songs on
both versions are in the same order. The album opens with “The Kid With The
Replaceable Head,” an odd and totally enjoyable song that is somewhere between
punk and pop, a song you can dance to even if you don’t pay attention to the
lyrics. But if you do pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll enjoy it all the more.
Check out these lines: “(Look out!)They say
he's dead, he's my three best friends/(Look out!) He's so honest that the
dishonest dread/Meeting the kid with the replaceable head.” What does it
mean? I can’t say for sure. But it’s refreshing listening to something this
goofy and fun, especially as it provides a needed escape from the present troubles.
The version from Destiny Street Repaired
might be clearer, but I’m not sure if it’s better. It features
additional guitar work by Marc Ribot. That’s followed by the first of three
covers on the album, The Kinks’ “I Gotta Move,” a song that was originally
included on the All Day And All Of The
Night EP. Richard Hell And The Voidoids do a good job with it, mixing that
cool garage sound with punk, and this features some excellent rock and roll
guitar work. The second cover is Bob Dylan’s “Going Going Gone,” a song from
his Planet Waves album. This is a
slower tune, and I like the way these guys approach it. “I don’t really care what happens next/I’m going, I’m going, I’m gone.”
Bill Frisell plays guitar on the Destiny
Street Repaired version.
“Lowest Common Dominator” is of course a song title that
I completely love, a play on “lowest common denominator,” an expression I have
found myself using more and more. During the 2016 election, it seemed to be in
the air, right? But “Lowest common dominator” would have also been completely
apt during that election, and since then. This is a fun song, as you’d probably
guess, with a delicious beat. I love that bass line. And when it opens, it
feels like a punk version of The Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.” What
I love about the version from Destiny
Street Repaired is the backing vocal work by Ruby Meyers-McEnroe and
Sheelagh Bevan. There is a very playful vibe about it, and because of it, I
prefer this version. “Lowest Common Dominator” is followed by “Downtown At
Dawn,” one of my personal favorites. I recommend listening to it with
headphones, for there are lots of little touches and elements that kind of
surround you, creating a fuller landscape. It’s sort of a pop song, and these
guys kind of jam on it too. It’s nearly six minutes, pretty long for a punk
record, but it never drags, never feels repetitive, and it’s over before you know
it. And again, Richard Hell writes some unusual lyrics, such as these lines: “By indolence and insolence, the lovers
realize/Yeah, only dropout dancehall offers love so undisguised/That you just
get all de-civilized/And coalesce, you feel your best, and think about it less
and less.” The version on Destiny Street Repaired is actually like
a minute and a half shorter. I prefer the original, longer version.
In the liner notes, Richard Hell includes some brief
thoughts on each of the album’s tracks, and about “Time” he writes, “I was hoping Linda Ronstadt would pick it up.”
That made me laugh out loud when I read it. But, you know, I thought about it
for a moment, and she could totally have done this song justice. She would have
nailed it. It’s another of the album’s best songs. Bill Frisell plays guitar on
the Destiny Street Repaired version.
“Time” is followed by “I Can Only Give You Everything,” the third and final
cover of the album, this one originally recorded by Them. This is another cool
song, and Richard Hell’s rendition retains a lot of that great garage rock sound.
Plus, it has one of my favorite vocal performances of the album. I even love
the way it falls apart at the end. Marc Ribot adds some guitar work to the
version on Destiny Street Repaired. Then
“Ignore That Door” comes on strong with a heavy pulse and a scream that get
this one pumping and moving along. “And
the only human warmth comes/From decomposing whores.” The scream at the
beginning is dropped from the Destiny
Street Repaired version. Ivan Julian adds some guitar work to this version.
There is a guitar intro to “Staring In Her Eyes,” and
then the song kicks in with a good beat. There is something oddly sweet, even
pretty, about this song. “No one could
stand feeling that way for long/So I, I chose to regard all the world as the
wrong/And to, and to make my own long assertions in song/I decided I just
didn't care/That I'd look and I could see nothing there.” Plus, this song
includes the line “And stare like a
corpse in each’s eyes.” The guitar intro has a slightly different vibe in
the version on Destiny Street Repaired,
and the line “I chose to regard all the
world as the wrong” becomes “I chose
to regard the whole world as the wrong.” The final song of the album is its
title track, “Destiny Street,” which has a certain funky flavor. The lyrics are
delivered sort of as spoken word, which works well with the story he’s telling
us. This is another of my favorite tracks. “Yes,
I seduced myself/I took me home.” On Destiny
Street Repaired, Richard Hell still presents the lyrics as spoken work.
It’s interesting, the way those opening lines about age feel different as
delivered in this version. This track is significantly longer than the original
version, two and a half minutes longer, becoming a jam with lots of interesting
guitar work toward the end.
Disc 2
The second disc contains the new remixed version of the
album. Before Destiny Street Repaired, Richard had wanted to remix the album, but
discovered that the company had misplaced the original masters. But in 2019,
those masters were found. Well, three of the four original tapes were found,
anyway. And so Richard went back to work on the album, remixing it from those
tapes. So this version of the album contains the original guitarists again, at
least for the most part. For the three tracks contained on the one tape still
missing, he used the Destiny Street
Repaired versions, remixing those. Those songs are “Lowest Common Dominator”
(so this version has those great backing vocals), “Downtown At Dawn” and
“Staring In Her Eyes.” Anyway, the album sounds fantastic. Mission
accomplished.
In addition to the songs from the original album, those
tapes contained one previously unreleased track, “Don’t Die,” written by
Richard Hell and Ivan Julian, and that track is included on this disc. It’s a
seriously cool and strong song (another version of it had been released). The
rest of the second disc is made up of demos and single versions, beginning with
the single of “The Kid With The Replaceable Head,” in which Richard sings “They say he’s done” instead of “They say he’s dead.” This single was
released in the late 1970s. The flip side, “I’m Your Man,” is also included
here. This totally fun song was also included on Richard Hell’s 1984
compilation, R.I.P., as well as the
2002 compilation Time. That’s
followed by demos of “Crack Of Dawn” and Bob Dylan’s “Going Going Gone.” I
particularly like the demo of “Going Going Gone,” because of Richard Hell’s
vocals. Oddly, this might be my favorite version contained in this two-disc
set. The demos of “Funhunt” and “Smitten” were previously included as bonus
tracks on Destiny Street Repaired.
Another highlight of this disc is the demo of “I Lived My
Life,” the Fats Domino song. It has that familiar Fats Domino groove, and so
has quite a different feel from the rest of the tracks in this two-disc set. This
song was previously included on Richard Hell’s R.I.P. album. That’s followed by the demo of “Ignore That Door,” which
features some really good work on guitar. Also included is the single version
of “Time.” Hey, I’ll take as many versions of this song as I can get. That’s followed
by the single version of “Don’t Die.” As much as I like the other version of “Don’t
Die” included on this disc, this version is even better. I love those backing
vocals by Kitty Summerall, as well as that guitar work. There is something
seriously delicious about this track. This disc contains two more previously
unreleased tracks – the demo of “Staring In Her Eyes” and a live version of
“Time” recorded in 2004 at the memorial for guitarist Robert Quine.
CD Track List
Disc 1
- The Kid With The Replaceable Head
- I Gotta Move
- Going Going Gone
- Lowest Common Dominator
- Downtown At Dawn
- Time
- I Can Only Give You Everything
- Ignore That Door
- Staring In Her Eyes
- Destiny Street
- The Kid With The Replaceable Head
- I Gotta Move
- Going Going Gone
- Lowest Common Dominator
- Downtown At Dawn
- Time
- I Can Only Give You Everything
- Ignore That Door
- Staring In Her Eyes
- Destiny Street
Disc 2
- The Kid With The Replaceable Head
- I Gotta Move
- Going Going Gone
- Lowest Common Dominator
- Downtown At Dawn
- Time
- I Can Only Give You Everything
- Ignore That Door
- Staring In Her Eyes
- Destiny Street
- Don’t Die
- The Kid With The Replaceable Head (Radar single version)
- I’m Your Man (Radar single version)
- Crack Of Down (demo version)
- Going Going Gone (demo version)
- Funhunt (demo version)
- I Lived My Life (demo version)
- Ignore That Door (demo version)
- Smitten (demo version)
- Staring In Her Eyes (demo version)
- Time (Shake single version)
- Don’t Die (Shake single version)
- Time (live)
Destiny Street
Complete is scheduled to be released on January 22, 2021 through Omnivore
Recordings.