LESTER BANGS

I first read Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung)!

Lester Bangs

Lester Bangs is the one that most budding critics and fans turn to. He predicted punk years in advance, lived and died by his faith in rock and roll, and produced addictively readable, hilarious, and often shockingly abrasive commentary on the art. 

Lester Bangs was never one to eschew a smart putdown. His first published Rolling Stone review was a brutal de-clawing of the raw power of the MC5, a band he would grow to revere. 

Bangs became notorious for harshness to Grand Funk Railroad (who he despised) and Lou Reed (who he worshipped) and even his former colleagues and confidantes such as Patti Smith and Blondie. Bangs' attitude was accentuated by his Beat-influenced prose, often ignoring punctuation and going on for thousands of words. He was on speed many times when writing record reviews, and it showed. When you first read Bangs' review of, say, the Stooges' Fun House, or his mock review of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, Bangs' style is ostensibly what draws you in.

Yet, while that style may be the most obvious draw, what has kept Bangs relevant even today was something deeper about what he had to say. Bangs may have guarded his insights with self-described beatnik drivel, but it was his passion for rock and roll--and his assessment of its value to modern society–that made him the biggest icon in rock criticism

Jim DeRogatis & Lester Bangs

Jim DeRogatis was Bangs' biographer.

"DeRogatis said that The thing that people miss about Lester was that he was devoted to music, he really believed it was a force for life, and nothing less. There was an unfailing honesty in his writing that he felt he owed people" said Jim DeRogatis, Bangs' biographer. "One of the things that disturbs me is that people think it was all about the style, and far greater rock writers than the ones at Pitchfork thought this. I disagree to the core of my being."

Long Live Lester!

Amen!

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