First thing I am playing this January 1, 2020 is from the Patti Smith Group... Land. Sort of like a greatest hits compilation of hers that I got at the old Virgin Records where I briefly worked.
I heard "because the Night" on radio but it weas that old New Wave compilation that I got that featured the Patti Smith Group song, "Piss Factory." The first album of hers that I got was the fourth album, Wave, that contained "Frederick" and "Dancing Barefoot."
I was into Patti Smith Group, the Doors, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band who were all inspired by Beat Generations writers and Bob Dylan as was I. They wrote poetry and I did too -- heavily, I might add, at that time.
Both Easter and Wave have remained huge favorites of mine all these years. I occasionally play them and just as they did all those years ago, they have this effect on me. Back then, I wrote in these notebooks of mine (I only have one left that contains all my poetry). Today, well, I type on my keyboard and write. And write I do like my old inspirations - Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Borroughs, and Bob Kaufman.
Patti Smith though... it was easy to have Debby Harry and Pat Benatar as my male fantasies at this time, but truth to tell, it was Patti Smith who I crushed on. If there is one person who I would wanted to make love with it was Patti Smith. She wasn't a sex symbol like the aforementioned women but that isn't my point. I was also in love with her soul. For who she was and what she stood for.
Listening to her music today... they remain as vibrant as they did when I first heard them. They stir up passions and emotions.
There aren't any more artists who fuse poetry with rock. Maybe it was just the time. But what a time.
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