New York Dolls
Punk? New York Dolls pre-ambled the genre.
And of heavy metal? See above.
This extravagant, not-so-salubrious, cross-dressing, mess of men formed in late ’71. Furrowing a template of innocuous solos, ridiculously frenetic stagecraft and horrendous drug and booze indulgence, the New York Dolls weren’t very popular; though a cult in their native New York, it was too soon, too early for such gender-lax debauchery.
The ensemble of the time; guitarists Johnny Thunders, Rick Rivets (the latter replaced by the somewhat legendary Syl Sylvain), bassist Arthur Kane, drummer Billy Murcia, and vocalist David Johansen; numbered what would soon become some of modern music’s most iconic henchmen, preceding the likes of scene-leaders Television and The Ramones in their native city, let alone the eventual, Brit-punk shout-back of the ‘Pistols and The Buzzcocks some years later. Make no mistakes, NYD were the start of it all.
Yet, barely a year on, the rock ‘n’ roll suicides began. Drummer Murcia died of an overdose, and he was replaced by Jerry Nolan. Thereafter lay a record-deal in Mercury Records, with the cultish Todd Rundgren producing the self-titled, now-classic debut-LP. A critical success, its chart-performance was considerably awry, peaking at 116 in the Billboard charts. A follow-up – ‘Too Much Too Soon’ – did just as bad, despite another star-turn producer – George ‘Shadow’ Morton – making #167.
Mercury dropped the band. And no-one else would touch them. Apart from Malcolm McLaren, who helped f**k it up even further. Though his shock-tactics as manager would work with the Pistols later on, his attempts to dress NYD in red leather and have them perform in front of the USSR flag merely alienated the group further. Mid-’75 – Thunders and Nolan leave, while Johansen and Sylvain fired McLaren with a view to form a new line-up; two years followed, but nothing stuck. 1977 – ironically, the year punk finally ‘broke’ – marked the end of the New York Dolls.
2004: with Thunders and Nolan since passed away, through drug abuse and a stroke respectively, Kane, Johansen and Sylvain plus guests – inclusive of Gary Powell of The Libertines on drums – reformed the New York Dolls for a one-off performance at Morrissey’s Meltdown. The show sold out instantly. Another was added. And sold out instantly. The response was enough to herald further gigs – a memorable performance at the Reading Festival during the summer, and sets with The White Stripes – prior to both, however – tragically – Arthur Kane’s passing occurred.
Yet, still trudging on, the NYD continue – at last, now being afforded the recognition and reception that they’ve long been due.
PUNK77.CO.UK: Further images, audio and history of the band that you’d struggle to say didn’t invent the genre known as ‘punk-rock’.
NYROCK.COM: Find out what members of NYD did after disbanding the combo; plus photography.
FESTIVAL REVIEW: CARLING WEEKEND 2004: the NYD shocked mainstream Reading attendees this year by not being disappointing – aided by a bloody decent Janis Joplin cover, no less.
INTERVIEW-ARTICLE 2004 – Coming Soon: we share a couch with Syl Sylvain and David Johansen, reflecting in-depth over the band’s improbably influential stamina and notoriety. Not to be overlooked.