IT'S 30 years since Patti Smith's first single but the woman still ain't beat. This year she's back again with Trampin' and plays the Coal Exchange on Tuesday, July 26.
Her debut, Hey Joe, is widely regarded as the first punk single. It impressed Welshman John Cale enough to produce the next release, Horses.
The opening line, 'Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine', established her as some kind of punk poet and she went on to collaborate with Bruce Springsteen on Because The Night in 1978. But despite the commercial success that brought she ditched music in the 1980s to have kids with Fred -Sonic' Smith out of MC5, re-emerging only in 1998 with Dream of Life.
The death of Sonic in 1994 brought her back to live performance as a form of therapy.
Many albums and tours have followed. Dial 029 2049 4917.
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