New York Dolls “New York Dolls” released on this date July 27, 1973. Mercury Records. Absolutely shocking for the early 70′s and probably one of the best, iconic record covers of all time. At its release, it charted and sold poorly but over time has become influential in the extreme; it can be argued that without the Dolls, bands like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Smiths: punk rock (and new wave) would not exist as we know them today.

The tracks are raucous and messy – Todd Rundgren produced and apparently clashed repeatedly with the Dolls, stating at one point to “get the glitter out of your asses and play.” Despite this, the album now repeatedly makes the top 100 in best-fill-in-the-blank-records-of-all-time and has many classic tracks: “Personality Crisis,” “Looking for a Kiss,” “Frankenstein (Orig.)” and “Trash” to name a few. David Johansen’s vocals set the punk bar for a New York accented sloppy drunken shouting delivery and Sylvain Sylvain “attributed its influence on punk rock to how Rundgren recorded his guitar through the left speaker and Thunders’ guitar on the right side, an orientation which he said younger bands such as the Ramones and the Sex Pistols ultimately adopted.”