Jean Baptiste Mondino
Patti Smith
Poet Turned Punk By Stewart MasonOne of the most important figures in punk's development.
Jim Morrison might have invented the archetype of the poet turned lusty hard rocker, but Patti Smith bested the Lizard King both as a wordsmith ("Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" trumps "Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name" every time) and as a powerful onstage presence. Though she only troubled the pop charts once, with1978's masterful Phil Spector homage "Because the Night," Smith is one of the most important figures in punk's development: not only was her 1975 debut Horses the first major release from the Manhattan punk scene, she was the first punk figure to be taken seriously as an artist, a feat more one-dimensional acts like the Ramones or Sex Pistols never quite managed. Smith retired after four albums to begin a family with her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith; following Sonic's 1994 death, she began performing and recording again. More experimental efforts like The Coral Sea, a reading of an epic-length poem over layered guitar improvisations by My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, typify Smith's more recent career. In 2010, Smith published Just Kids, a fond memoir of her early days on New York's pre-punk arts scene.
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