Lester Bangs

Noted rock music critic and journalist Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was born on December 13, 1948 in Escondido, California. His mother Norma Belle was a Jehovah's Witness while his Conway Lesley Bangs was a drunk and a truck driver who died in a fire when Bangs was only nine years old. Lester was raised by his mother in El Cajon in San Diego County, California. Lester attended El Cajon Valley High School and developed in interest in such things as writing, jazz music, science fiction, and comic books while growing up as a kid. Bangs briefly went to San Diego State College in 1968 before eventually dropping out and had his first album review published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1969. Lester continued to write album reviews for Rolling Stone up until 1973 when editor/publisher Jann Wenner fired Bangs for disrespecting musicians in his reviews. (He was eventually rehired by Rolling Stone in 1979.) Lester started writing album reviews for the Detroit, Michigan-based rock publication Creem in August, 1970. Bangs subsequently moved to Detroit to became a member of the staff and a head writer for Creem, which he remained a key part of before quitting the magazine in 1976. During his time at Creem Lester established himself as an expert on the burgeoning punk rock music movement of the 1970's and carved a niche for himself as one of the most colorful, distinctive, and opinionated rock music critics of his generation. Outside of Creem, Bangs also wrote for a variety of publications that include Fusion, Playboy, Penthouse, New Musical Express, and Phonograph Record Magazine. After parting ways with Creem Lester moved to New York City and wrote a slew of album reviews for the newspaper The Village Voice. Moreover, Bangs also recorded a few singles and albums as well as wrote a controversial book on the New Wave band Blondie. Lester died at the tragically young age of thirty-three on April 30, 1982 from an accidental drug overdose at his apartment in New York City. Widely hailed as one of the all-time great pioneers of gonzo rock music criticism, his love and passion for music continues to live on in perpetuity in his highly charged and inimitable writing.