Spend a Night with Lenny Kaye

Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll

Lenny Kaye's writing changed rock 'n' roll.

A young Lenny Kaye was working at Village Oldies in New York City in 1969 when he wrote an article on doo-wop music for Jazz and Pop magazine. The piece caught the attention of Patti Smith, who tracked Kaye down at the record store. It was instant chemistry.

“Patti called me out of the blue and came to the record store where I was working and we danced to 'The Bristol Stomp' (by the Dovells) together and we got friendly,” Kaye said. “It was just about the time she was going to do a poetry reading and she asked me to bring my electric guitar and shake it up a little bit. So I did, and who knew that 50 years later we’d still be shaking it up.

Smith and Kaye's collaboration rocked rock music. They called it punk rock. Now, Kaye, a North Brunswick native, has a new book titled “Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll” which artfully, and informatively, examines pivotal scenes of rock music.

“The music lifted my spirit and gave me a calling and a reason for inspiration,” Kaye said. “I’m grateful to the music, and this is one of my ways I can pay back that debt.”