Most Recently (Feb 00): Janet Hamill now has Her Own WebSite which We are All invited to Visit: Lost Ceilings babelogue will, nevertheless, continue to post details of Performance Dates, Books, Recordings,...
Speaking of which,Janet and Moving Star continue deeply involved with Lenny Kaye in the Craft of Recording their Debut Disk - which it seems will be done almost entirely "Live in the Studio." Certainly then the Occasional Public Performance is Conducive to Perfecting their Delivery and such an Occasion is Impending. Janet and Moving Star have been called upon to Celebrate the Grand Opening of the Pioneer Theatre on Ave. A in New York City - Inaugurating at least a week of Wassail and Celebration. Of Course, if You haven't a Ticket Already, it's too late - but You may Cherish the details on the performance info page.
(Oct 99):
Fans of PS Friend Janet Hamill & her Group Moving Star will be
Pleased to know that they are getting ready to Record in early
november[1999] with Producer Lenny Kaye.
The resulting Disc should be out by Spring and Will Be Way Cool
(Of Course!)
To Perfect and Retain their Velvety Edge
Moving Star will soon be Performing in the NYC Locale....
Expect to find copies of Hamills' most recent book:
Lost Ceilings
(May 98):
Janet Hamill is to have a book published this summer by Telephone Books; It's a collection of prose poems entitled: Lost Ceilings..
Janet is Currently performing with a 'spoken word' group in the NYC area. The group is called *Janet Hamill and Moving Star*, and they have a self-released cassette available.
Janet Hamill is a friend of Patti's who attended Glassboro State Teachers College with her in the years 1964-66. Evelyn McDonnell of The Village Voice writes, "She and Smith have been friends since they were students at Glassboro State College in south Jersey; they met when the impoverished Smith used to grab unfinished food off Hamill's tray at the dorm cafeteria."
Hamill Performed in Support of Patti in Central Park, summer of 95, an evening that was arranged by Patti in advance. Patti introduced her as "my mentor." Hamill read several pieces from her 1992 book Nostalgia of the Infinite, which has a foreword by Patti Smith and art by Giorgio de Chirico. (It is published by Ocean View Books, Box 102650, Denver, CO 80250). One piece was "The Melancholy of Departure (La Messagere Nocturne)" which Hamill said was for Patti. While the poems lack Patti's visceral quality, they seemed to have some of the visionary quality. Another thing their poems have in common is hero-worship of artists: Hamill did a poem about Guillaume Appolinaire's green suit.
Hamill is mentioned in Patricia Morrisroe's Mapplethorpe: pp. 54, 57, 61, 158, and 225.
Janet and Patti were supposed to have been collaborating on a book titled The Eternal Café to be published by W. W. Norton, but as of 5/98, although the book is acknowledged, its Publication Date remains un-available.
Some links:
Poems by Hamill: "White Evening" and "The Sovereignty of the Clouds"
(both from Winter '96 issue of The Café Review )