Richard Hell

The Richard Hell Story (Rhino)

Tom Verlaine

Warm and Cool (Rykodisc)

New York legends Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine (once known as Richard Meyers and Tom Miller) formed Television in the mid-'70s. Although Hell left the group before it recorded th e loud, raw, and now-legendary Marquee Moon (Sire/Rhino), he did help lead the punk charge to the stage at CBGB. Together with Verlaine, he helped take rock beyond the blues-based tedium that threatened to anesthetize the '70s as thoroughly as it had energized the previous decade.

Hell had a then-cool name and helped shape the aesthetic sensibility of a generation by ripping up the clothes he performed in. He and Verlaine had the looks, presence, and star power that New York demanded – and refuses to forget even now.

In an era dominated by California country rock, self-important British superstars left over from the '60s, and the first signs of the disco epidemic, Marquee Moon's sound was challenging enough to make me think that my copy of the album had been pressed off-center. I listened, I learned. Hell went on to form the Heartbreakers with New York Doll Johnny Thunders in 1975 and, a year later, unveiled the Voidoids, featuring the amazing guitar playing of Robert Quine. Blank Generation (Sire/Rhino), the band's 1976 debut, had a pair of future punk classics: the title cut and "Love Comes in Spurts."

Voidoids came and went during the next few years, and Hell became as well known for his heroin habit as for his music (he's been clean since 1985). He made a few waves as Madonna's boyfriend in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, released a retrospe ctive on ROIR in 1990, was part of an uninspired Television reunion, and, in 1992, joined the Dim Stars along with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. It's no surprise that, with the exception of the five songs from the Dim Stars, The Richard Hell Story is dominated by material from the '70s and early '80s.

Verlaine's path was similar to that of Hell's – both became high-profile poets, although that's a low-profile world. Verlaine, however, apparently managed to avoid picking up a drug habit. The all-instrumental Warm and Cool – charitably described as "spare" – was recorded in 1992, but it's only now been released by Rykodisc. The label will release a new Verlaine album this fall, and it's likely trying to capitalize on any interest generated by the new recording.

Had the underdeveloped, ultimately bland material on Warm and Cool been recorded by a kid from Queens, it's likely the album wouldn't have seen the light of day.

Still, Verlaine and Hell had their day, and Hell's Story should be heard. Steer clear of Warm and Cool – instead, pick up the reissued Marquee Moon to discover why bohemian enclaves are littered with Television T-shirts. (J.H. Tompkins)