to a great guitarist, MR. ROBERT QUINE.

While I commend Richard for standing up and addressing the flack he's taken on this forum for besmirching the memory of Quine, I was embarrassed for him when I saw him step in the manure by claiming that most of the "protestors" would be unable to ascertain the difference in guitar styles between naux and quine. This belies a cavalier approach to the MUSIC that was endemic to the Richard Hell BAND and while Richard was a brilliant lyricist and stylist, he was a haphazard singer at best and a diffident performer who clearly resented having to "sell" his songs in performance and thought his lyrics were poems that stood alone and the music behind them was just an accompaniment to help get his lyrics "over"

I hope that Richard takes some time to address the dismal use of the word REPAIRED in the title of this new release of old material, because the implications behind it are detrimental to the memory of a great guitar player and as one of the few individuals on the planet who has been fortunate enough to be in bands with TWO memorable and influential guitar players, Richard knows first hand that in the metier of Rock and Roll it is usually the guitarist who touches people's ears and hearts initially.

While Richard's lyrics were often exuberantly cerebral and even too smart for the room in terms of the old "punk" audiences, the careening physicality and forceful drive and movement that marked the Richard Hell experience was conveyed by the music that was inextricably woven INTO Richard's wonderful words. Think of the most perfect Rock songs out there in terms of attitude & atmospherics and conveying a sense of a particular time and space such as Heroin by Velvet Underground or Unsatisfied by The Replacements and one realizes that the meaning of what those songs are about is evident in the music and that one would know what those songs were "about" even if one didn't know the lyrics or the even the title.

and so on Johnny Thunders BIRTHDAY, I beseech thee, Richard, please don't turn your back on Quine's contributions, but consider renaming your new release, Destiny Street ReVISITED.