‘We’re catalysts of the new plague’ – from the archive, Patti Smith interviewed in 1976

What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘We’re catalysts of the new plague’ – from the archive, Patti Smith interviewed in 1976, 15 May 1976 : Robin Denselow meets New York’s latest sensation as she prepares for her first British concert She was sitting in a hotel in Notting Hill Gate, talking about her favourite subject. She was wearing a white shirt, a black tie and black trousers, and if it wasn’t for those piercing blue eyes she’d have looked like a rag doll in drag. Considering she had just got off a plane from New York, and had only been asked a simple question, the words were pouring from her in an excited and unexpected torrent. “Being into rock is like being into the most important, newest art form. I feel like an early prospector in California before the gold rush. I feel rock is going to explode and encompass everything. It’s like this fantastic plague over the universe and we’re in on it. We’re like catalysts of the new plague …” Patti Smith is New York’s latest sensation. She’s been an artist, a playw

Context

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What to watch

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Source

Primary source: ‘We’re catalysts of the new plague’ – from the archive, Patti Smith interviewed in 1976 via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.