Hell Patches Up Destiny Street

Insound.com and Richard Hell give the Voidoids' second album a makeover.

By Blurt Staff

Nearly thirty years after punk rockers Richard Hell and the Voidoids delivered their second album, Destiny Street, and almost fifteen years after it was reissued, Hell and Insound.com have given it a spit-shine.

In a press release, Insound says Hell was “dispirited by the ultimate recording” of Destiny Street. “At the time of the original recording I was so debilitated by despair and drug-need that I was useless,” says Hell. “The record ended up being a high-pitched sludge of guitar noise. It was a shame because the songs were clean, simple, and well-constructed, but those values were sabotaged by the inappropriate arrangements and production.”

The platter was frequently bootlegged and downloaded for “years in the nineties and early 21^st Century” until Hell reacquired the rights in 2004 and deliberately let it go out of print. It was upon finding a two-track recording of the original rhythm tracks that Hell decided to use them to realize his vision of what Destiny Street could have been. “I couldn’t resist trying to use them to fill and patch up the sinking feeling that the thought of the record had always produced in me.” Hell tracked new vocals, did some editing, recruited Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Ivan Julian to supplement Robert Quine’s original guitar parts. Naturally, Insound.com says “the updated version… manages to surpass the original in almost every way.”

On September 1, Insound.com will issue Destiny Street Repaired on digipak CD and as a signed, numbered limited-edition (1,000-copy) deluxe vinyl/CD version including a two-sided 18” x 24” color poster featuring a Roberta Bayley photo (from the session that produced the album’s original cover) and art by Josh Smith that incorporates Hell’s liner notes. The deluxe version CD will include two bonus tracks from 1979: the never-before-released “Smitten” and extremely scarce “Funhunt.” For both editions, renowned Scottish artist Jim Lambie retooled the original cover art. For more information, visit Insound.com and RichardHell.com.

Destiny Street Repaired Credits

All rhythm tracks by: Robert Quine, guitar; Naux, guitar, Fred Maher, drums; Richard Hell, bass. Produced by Alan Betrock at Intergalactic Studios, NYC. Engineer: Jay Burnette. Recorded 1982.

All lead vocals by: Richard Hell. All solos and additional guitar by: Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, Ivan Julian. Produced by Richard Hell at Hal Willner’s House of Knuck and John Kilgore Sounds and Recording, NYC. Recorded 2008-09, NYC, Engineer: Patrick Ford. Recorded 2009.