Oh! Sweet Nothing

(I first encountered Robert Quine when I first bought a Matthew Sweet CD in the early '90s. I soon found out his importance in the New York art damage/punk scene of the late '70s/early '80s. Then I got into Television, and the Patti Smith Group, and everything relevant that followed. He will be missed. RIP)

Guitarist Robert Quine, one of punk rock's most daring soloists, was found dead Saturday (June 5) in his New York apartment. He was 61. According to close friend and guitar maker Rick Kelly, who discovered Quine's body, the musician died of a heroin overdose Memorial Day weekend. He had been despondent over the recent death of his wife. Born in Akron, Ohio, Quine was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, whose music he recorded obsessively while living in San Francisco. He moved to New York in 1971 and became the lead guitarist for bassist Richard Hell's important group the Voidoids, with whom he recorded two albums. His skittering, unpredictable work with Hell defined the possibilities of punk guitar. During the '80s, he recorded and toured frequently with Lou Reed and played on saxophonist/composer John Zorn's best-known albums. Quine made key guest appearances on Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" (1985) and Marianne Faithfull's "Strange Weather" (1987). In 1989, he began a long association with Matthew Sweet; he also worked regularly with Lloyd Cole. In 2001, Universal released a three-CD box of Quine's live 1969 recordings of the Velvet Underground, "The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes." "He was a marvelous guitarist, a soulful music lover with high standards and had an eviscerating wit," Patti Smith Band drummer Jay Dee Daugherty said. "He did not suffer fools gladly, but made up for it with a thinly disguised generosity of spirit."

RIP