Gary Valentine Lachman

Infobox Paranormalpeople1


Class = Cultural Historian
Image_Caption =
Name = Gary Lachman
Born = Birth date and age|1955|12|24|mf=y
Blocation = Bayonne, New Jersey
Died =
Dlocation =
Phd =
Djob = Writer
Pjob = Occult/Fortean writer
Affiliates =|

Gary (Valentine) Lachman (born December 24, 1955 in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States) is a writer and musician.

Biography

Musical career

Gary Valentine was one of the founding members of Blondie, having joined the band as bassist in April 1975 when Fred Smith left to join Television (following Richard Hell's departure). He wrote the music and lyrics to the band's first single, "X-Offender", and popularized the band's sixties-retro look. In 1977 he left the group to form his own band and was replaced by Nigel Harrison, just as Blondie were starting to gain recognition. His song "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" was a UK top ten hit in 1978, and was subsequently recorded by Tracy Ullman and Annie Lennox. After Blondie, Gary moved to L.A. and in 1978 released a single, "The First One/Tomorrow Belongs to You" on Beat Records. Shortly after this he formed The Know,with Joel Turrisi and Richard d'Andrea who were the first band to play the infamous Madame Wong's Chinese restaurant-turned-new wave venue. (Valentine's claim to this distinction has been verified by several eye-witnesses). In 1980 The Know released a single "I Like Girls/Dreams" on Planet Records and were the only bi-coastal US "power pop" band, developing large followings in New York and Los Angeles. Failing to secure a album deal, he disbanded the Know and in 1981 played guitar with Iggy Pop. In 1996, after moving to London, he was asked to participate in the Blondie re-union, and in November of that year he recorded one of his songs, "Amor Fati," with Blondie, for their 'come back' album. In 1997 he performed with Blondie at several major festival concerts in the US. Back in London Gary worked with former X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic. In 1998 he formed Fire Escape with his current girlfriend violinist Ruth Jones and performed songs he had written for the Blondie reunion album (they had not been used due to the band ultimately excluding him from the recording process and the reunion tour). They released an EP to little fanfare and went on a permanent hiatus after two years. A compilation of Gary's work in music entitled "Tomorrow Belongs to You", was released in 2003 on the UK label Overground Records.

In 2006 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because of his time with Blondie, although ex-members weren't allowed to perform with the current line-up at the ceremony. [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1747963,00.html Reunion blues] ]

Literary career

Lachman moved to London in 1996 and became a full time writer, contributing to the "Guardian", "Mojo", "Times Literary Supplement" and other journals. His first book, "Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius", a revisionist history of the 1960s counter culture, appeared in 2001. It was followed in 2002 by "New York Rocker: My Life in The Blank Generation", an account of his years on the New York (CBGB) and Los Angeles music scene in the 1970s. In 2003 he produced "A Secret History of Consciousness," a study of non-reductive, non-materialist accounts of consciousness, with detailed discussions of Owen Barfield, Julian Jaynes, Jean Gebser, Juri Moskvitin, hypnagogia, and related themes. "The Dedalus Book of the Occult: A Dark Muse" (2004) charted the influence of the occult on western literature since the Enlightenment. The following years saw several more books, on the related themes of consciousness, the counter culture, and the influence of the occult and esoteric thought on mainstream western culture, including biographies of the Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky (2004), the Austrian 'spiritual scientist' Rudolf Steiner (2007), and the Swedish religious thinker Emanuel Swedenborg (2006). Recent works include a study of writers and suicide, (2008), with essays on Walter Benjamin,Yukio Mishima , Hermann Hesse, and others, and a history of occultism and politics, (2008), which addresses the theme of fascism and the occult through the work of Julius Evola, Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, Mircea Eliade,and others. He is a regular contributor to the "Independent on Sunday", "Fortean Times", and other journals in the US and UK, lectures frequently and occasionally broadcasts on the BBC. His work has been compared to Colin Wilson, and has been translated into German, Finnish, Czech, Russian, and Norwegian.

Bibliography

Books

*"Two Essays on Colin Wilson: World Rejection and Criminal Romantics AND From Outsider to Post-Tragic Man (Colin Wilson Studies)" (1994, paperback ISBN 0-946650-52-7, hardcover ISBN 0-946650-53-5)
*"Colin Wilson as Philosopher (Colin Wilson Studies)" (with John Shand, 1996, ISBN 0-946650-59-4)
*"New York Rocker: My Life in the Blank Generation, with Blondie, Iggy Pop and Others, 1975-1981" (2002, ISBN 0-283-06367-X)
*"Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and The Dark Side Of The Age of Aquarius" (2002, ISBN 0-283-06366-1, 2003, ISBN 0-9713942-3-7)
*"A Secret History of Consciousness" (2003, ISBN 1-58420-011-1)
*"The Dedalus Occult Reader: The Garden of Hermetic Dreams" (editor of anthology, 2004, ISBN 1-903517-32-X)
*"In Search of P. D. Ouspensky: The Genius in the Shadow of Gurdjieff" (hardcover, 2004, ISBN 0-8356-0840-9, paperback, 2006, ISBN 0-8356-0848-4)
*"A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult" (2005, ISBN 1-56025-656-7)
*"Into the Interior: Discovering Swedenborg" (2006, ISBN 0-85448-149-4)
*"Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work" (2007, ISBN 1-58542-543-5)
*"The Dedalus Book of Literary Suicides: Dead Letters"(2008, ISBN 978-1-903517-66-6)
*"Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen" (2008, ISBN 978-0835608572)
*"The Dedalus Book of the 1960s: Turn Off Your Mind" (updated, enlarged edition 2008, ISBN 978-1903517703)

Articles

* "The Last of the Magi" (1999) "Fortean Times" #120, about Eliphas Levi
* "Sympathy for the Devil" (2000) "Fortean Times" #134, about the Process Church
* "The Mystical Count" (2000) "Fortean Times" #140, about Count Jan Potocki
* "The Damned" (2001) "Fortean Times" #150, about James Webb
* " [http://www.disinfo.com/site/displayarticle47.html Turn Off Your Mind: Gary Lachman Traces the Influence of the Occult in the Arts] " "The Independent on Sunday" (2001)
* "Waking Sleep" (2002) "Fortean Times" #163, about hypnagogia
* " [http://www.nthposition.com/themagicalworldof.php The magical world of Fernando Pessoa] " (2004) "nth Position", about Fernando Pessoa
* "Absinthe & alchemy" (2004) "Fortean Times" #180, about August Strindberg
* " [http://www.nthposition.com/workingitout.php Working it out] " (2004) "nth Position", about Gurdjieff and Ouspensky
* " [http://www.forteantimes.com/features/interviews/144/colin_wilson.html Inside the Outsider] " (2004) "Fortean Times" #188. an interview with Colin Wilson
* "Dweller on the Threshold" (2006) "Fortean Times" #205, about Rudolf Steiner

References

External links

* [http://www.garylachman.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:edud6j4771u0 Gary Valentine] at Allmusic
* [http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/content/camden/hamhigh/news/story.aspx?brand=northlondon24&category=whatsonfeatures&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshamhigh&itemid=WeED04%20Mar%202005%2013:10:24:237 The Philosopher of Punk] in the "Hampstead And Highgate Express", March 4, 2004
* [http://abrax7.stormloader.com/gary's%20auto.htm How Colin Wilson Saved my Life or: I had fame, wealth, women were at my feet and then I read "The Outsider"]

Reviews

* [http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article73236.ece "The Dedalus Book of the Occult"] , reviewed by Suzi Feay in The Independent, January 11, 2004
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1381393,00.html "The Garden of Hermetic Dreams"] , reviewed by Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian, January 1, 2005
* [http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article19152.ece "In Search of P D Ouspensky"] , reviewed by Jah Wobble in The Independent, November 7, 2004
* [http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article1963507.ece "Into the Interior: Discovering Swedenborg"] , reviewed by Tom Boncza-Tomaszewski in The Independent, November 12, 2006