"Someday Quine will be recognized for the pivotal figure that he is on his instrument — he is the first guitarist to take the breakthroughs of early Lou Reed and James Williamson and work through them to a new, individual vocabulary, driven into odd places by obsessive attention to On the Corner-era Miles Davis."

—Lester Bangs (1977)

Robert Quine (December 30, 1942 - May 31, 2004), a native of Akron, Ohio, was a guitarist known for his guitar solos who worked with a wide range of impressive musicians, though he himself has remained relatively unknown in comparison. His collaborators include Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Lou Reed (notably on The Blue Mask ), Brian Eno (on Nervenet ), John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Marianne Faithfull (Strange Weather), Tom Waits (Rain Dogs), the Patti Smith Group, and many more, including a rare 7" by Lester Bangs.

After graduating from Earlham College in 1965, he spent a number of years working towards a legal career before giving up on it, and he happened to be working in a movie memorabilia store in New York City with Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine. Later he was invited by Hell to join his new band The Voidoids, thus making punk history and beginning his musical career.

Noting Quine's influence is Marc Ribot, who has stated, "in terms of punk rock guitar soloing, he could definitely be called the inventor." [1]

Quine continued recording into his 60s. Shortly after the death of his wife, Quine committed suicide by heroin overdose in his New York home on May 31, 2004.

Quine was a nephew of the philosopher W. V. Quine.

Quote

"You gotta hear this new box I got, it creates the most offensive noise ..." (to Lester Bangs)

External links

• Unofficial website
• Billy Bob Hargus interview
• i94bar interview
• New York Times obituary