149 - Richard Meltzer - Spielgusher

Richard Meltzer was one of the first rock critics, penning the first full-length book on the subject, “The Aesthetics of Rock,” in 1970, while reveling in much of he excesses of the day. He wrote for many of the seminal magazines, including the Village Voice, Crawdaddy, Creem and Rolling Stone. He also had a long association with Blue Oyster Cult, co-writing several songs, including “Burning For You,” “Stairway to the Stars,” and “Death Valley Nights.” He’s also hosted a radio show and fronted a punk band called VOM.Meltzer’s latest project has been in the works for over 25 years – Spielgusher teams his spoken-word pieces with instrumental backing courtesy of legendary Minutemen & firehose bassist Mike Watt, along with some Japanese session musicians. The result is a dizzying collection of 63 tracks – some abrasive, some laugh-out-loud funny, but all delivered in Meltzer’s dry affectation. Icon Fetch talks with the infamous writer about the origins of the album, being pigeonholed as a music journalist, and how he left the original Woodstock in disgust after only one day.