In late 1975, the now famous Horses album was released, produced by the Velvet Undergrounds' John Cale with the striking cover shot being taken by Patti's best friend Robert Mapplethorpe. Patti's mesmerising, commanding and powerful vocals and her esoteric, rhythmic lyrics produced a unique and critically acclaimed album which the New Musical Express would call a better first album than those of the Beatles, Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan. Patti, who smoked, drank and loved her gear (heroin in particular but like a good Yankee mixed cocaine with everything) could easily provoke strong reactions. Her first appearance in Britain resulted in the Evening Standard reporting "She is the only girl singer I have ever seen spit on stage"! Melody Maker was not amused calling Horses 'contrived and amateurish'.

Patti went on to make another 7 albums including Easter (put together, after a years recuperation where she broke her neck falling off the stage in Florida giving her the first two top 20 hits with Easter and the track co-written with Bruce Springsteen 'Because The Night'. A compilation of her poetry - Babel was also published. Easter was followed by Wave in '79, the last album she produced with her band. Patti married Fred 'Sonic' Smith in 1980 and moved to Detroit where she had 2 children, Jackson and Jesse. Patti and Fred released Dream of Life in '88 after a 9 year hiatus - featuring the unifying and forceful 'People have the Power' and 'Paths That Cross'. It was an inspiring piece of work.

Patti Smith's disdain for the traditional song structure which left such an impression on the rock scene owed much to the jazz recitations of Jack Kerouac and the rhythmic chants of Alan Ginsberg. Mixed with her hard edged manic songs like 'Rock n Roll Nigger' has always been some disarmingly beautiful ones. Spooky Georgian chant type organ solos, a lullaby to her child, Rock n Roll has always been Patti Smith's salvation and she is very aware of a connection between her music and her religious upbringing. Her influence has permeated many of the late '70's punk bands and her performance and individuality was the strength behind many recent female vocalists such as PJ Harvey. She has never been a 'no future' type of punk instead the angular alien covered love, death, sex, politics and spirituality from a hopeful place in between.

Patti last album was released in '97 titled Peace And Noise. One might guess she's found the future she was striving for in the manic years. "As far as finding what you're looking for, artists are always searching. You can have peace within yourself about certain things, but you don't want total peace. Fred (Patti's husband who died in '94) said a little while ago that there are two extremes, mania and peace. That's part of our daily life, and you have to find a balance..... Art is by nature optimistic. If one keeps working one has hope for the future. If one didn't feel that, one would crawl into an opium den and pull covers over their heads". In Patti's poem 'Pinweels', she wrote about a girl with 'eyes like pinwheels,' who was 'waltzing on the edge of a stick'. Clearly that girl was Patti Smith

E.O

'I wake up. I am lying peacefully I am lying peacefully and my knees are open to the sun. I desire him, and he is absolutely ready to seize me. In heart I am a Moslem; in heart I am an American; in heart I am Moslem, in heart I'm an American artist, and I have no guilt. I seek pleasure. I seek the nerves under your skin.....We worship the flaw, the belly, the belly, the mole on the belly of an exquisite whore. He spared the child and spoiled the rod. I have not sold myself to God.'
(Babel '77-78)

A twisting flame of prose spoken by the thin white duchess herself, Patti Smith has always been impossible to pigeon hole or categorise. Her incantatory, impassioned and possessed blend of song and the spoken word has enabled her to move effortlessly between the musical and literary world and given her a unique freedom to explore the outer fringes of rock and roll. A skinny, androgynous figure with a shock of tangled black hair, Patti's demanding presence and hypnotic vocals drew a fanatical cult following and a music press who were both intrigued and irritated by her refusal to play by the rules. She was a woman who burst through challenging change, confronting the maleness of punk, which was held to ransom and forced to move over.

Born in Chicago in 1949, Patti grew up in New Jersey under the spell of a myriad of influences; her love of 60's icons like Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones went hand in hand with the writings of such poets as William Blake, William Burroughs, Baudelaire, Genet and Rimbaud. Dropping out of college after becoming pregnant (the baby was given up for adoption) Smith took a job in a New Jersey factory (the inspiration for the song Piss Factory) to earn enough money for a move to New York.

The late '60's in New York was buzzing with a vibrant avant-garde art and music scene and Patti began concentrating on her writing as a rock journalist (arguably one of the best in the world) for various magazines, and gave live readings of her poetry in clubs and cafes. In 1971, at a time when the Manhattan music scene was changing direction Patti drafted friend and music journalist Lenny Kaye to provide musical accompaniment to her readings. By 1973 she was opening for the New York Dolls who were responsible for spearheading the punk, glam rock movement that was growing at the time and was writing songs for the Blue Oyster Cult. A permanent pianist (Richard 'DNV' Solil) soon joined the duo and by 1974 the seeds of a band were sown.

By now the threesome were playing regularly and Patti soon began singing rather than just reciting her poetry, culminating in an unusual blend of improvised wordplay, free rock and jazz. A debut single (cover version 'Hey Joe/Piss Factory) sold out quickly and became one of the first indie-rock DIY productions. Although Patti's reputation was growing rapidly, the band felt that their sound needed 'filling out' so the trio added Ivan Kral on guitar and bass and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums and soon became one of the first 'new breed' of bands emerging from Manhattan to be signed by a major label, Arista.