New York Dolls “In Too Much Too Soon” 1974. Today, January 9th, is Dolls singer/songwriter David Johansen’s birthday (b. 1950). Their second album, In Too Much Too Soon was a commercial flop (making it to only #167 on the US charts) but was later critically hailed as the precursor to punk, full of sleaze and recklessness. The Dolls dropped Todd Rundgren for the album’s production (Rundgren produced their debut and the relationship was contentious, with Rundgren at one point yelling “get the glitter out of your asses and play”), replacing him with former Shangri-Las producer Shadow Morton who allowed the band to play loose and dirty, adding touches of polish for better sound. However, the abundance of drugs and alcohol by Morton and the Dolls during recording led to an LP mixed with mostly re-recordings of old Doll demos (“Babylon,” “Who Are the Mystery Girls?,” “It’s Too Late” and “Human Being”) and covers ( “Don’t Start Me Talkin,’” “(There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown,” “Stranded in the Jungle” and “Bad Detective”) to fill the grooves. Notable is “Chatterbox” which was the first Dolls song written and sung by Johnny Thunders – and this track is truly the most punk in delivery on the record, with Thunders’ sneering wail and a guitar sound that would be recreated almost identically by the Sex Pistols just a couple of years later.