Lester Bangs

About me:

I was born in Escondido, California, USA. My mother was a devout Jehovah's Witness; my father died when I was young. In 1969, I began writing freelance after reading an ad in Rolling Stone soliciting readers' reviews. My first piece was a negative review of the MC5 album Kick Out The Jams, which was sent to Rolling Stone with a note detailing that should the magazine decide not to publish the review then they would have to contact me and tell me why. Instead, they published it. (I later became a big fan and friend of the MC5 after moving to Detroit.) I was fired from Rolling Stone in 1973 by Jann Wenner over a negative review of Canned Heat. Wenner contended that I was "disrespectful to musicians." I moved to Detroit to edit and write for Creem, which is where my legend really began to grow. After leaving Creem, I wrote for The Village Voice, Penthouse, Playboy, New Musical Express, and many other publications. I claimed my influences were not so much predecessors in journalism as they were beat authors, in particular William S. Burroughs. My ranting style, similar to Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo journalism, and my tendency to insult and confront my interviewees earned me distinction. I idolized the music of Lou Reed, but I had a complex journalistic relationship with Lou the performing artist, writing several legendary articles for Creem which depicted hilarious confrontational interviews, often reflecting aspects of my own personality against my difficult interview subject. The essay/interview Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves from 1975 is a distinctive example. I was not only involved as a critic of music but as a musician in my own right. I teamed up with Joey Ramone's brother, Mickey Leigh to put together a New York group named Birdland. In 1980 I traveled to Austin, Texas and met a punk rock group named The Delinquents. During my stay in Austin I recorded an album as Lester Bangs and The Delinquents entitled, Jook Savages on the Brazos. ............