johnny thunders Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…”

sfilzen — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:55:57 +0000

The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…” 1975/1991. Bomp! Records. Today, May 7th, would have been Heartbreakers/New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan’s 75th birthday (b. Gerard Nolan, 1946, d. 1992). What Goes Around… is live album, recorded at CBGB’s on July 7th, 1975 and at Mother’s on November 16th, 1975. The CBGB’s gig was one of their first; after forming out of the dissolution of the New York Dolls, Nolan along with Doll Johnny Thunders and Television’s Richard Hell, they played a gig in May and then added Walter Lure (from the Demons) and hit the stage at CBGB’s for this July show. Some of the songs performed there that are on this LP are “Can’t Keep My Eyes on You,” “Stepping Stone” and the punk anthem “Blank Generation” (written by Richard Hell originally for Television, it was performed live by them and the Heartbreakers and then appeared on the Voidoid’s album Blank Generation in ‘77). Included from the Mothers show are “So Alone,” “Pirate Love” (which is on The Heartbreakers only studio album L.A.M.F., 1977) and the other great punk anthem “Love Comes in Spurts” (also by Hell and on Blank Generation).

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The Heartbreakers “Chinese Rocks/Born to Lose”

sfilzen — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 17:20:38 +0000

The Heartbreakers “Chinese Rocks/Born to Lose” 1977. 12″ single, UK release. Today, July 15th, is Heartbreakers (and New York Dolls) singer, guitarist, songwriter Johnny Thunders’ birthday (b. John Genzale 1952, d. 1991). Last year we bought this original photo of Thunders by Milwaukee photographer Stanley Ryan Jones at his “The God-Almighty Stanley Ryan Jones $ell$ Out” retrospective.

Jones was one of the few photographers documenting the punk and new wave scene in Milwaukee in the 70′s and 80′s. Sadly most of his work was destroyed in a fire. When we got the photograph of Johnny Thunders signed, we asked Jones to tell us a bit about the picture. It was a show at The Starship (I think, or it was The Palms) and clearly Thunders was stoned out of his mind, about to smoke his cigarette wrong-way-around. Thunders was also not happy about getting his picture taken and was a real asshole about it. What I love about this photo is that his expression – dark circles under eyes and cheeks – clearly tells you everything about Thunders’ mindset (or lack thereof) and health but also you can feel and even smell the “artist lounge” at the club: the gross 70′s plaid couch that reeks of stale smoke through the glossy paper.

“Chinese Rocks” and “Born to Lose” are two of my favorite Heartbreakers songs. Both tracks appeared on their only LP L.A.M.F. “Born to Lose” is by Thunders but “Chinese Rocks” was written by Richard Hell and the Ramones’ Dee Dee Ramone (though there is some dispute about Hell’s contribution to the track; Dee Dee probably is responsible for most, if not all, of the song).

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New York Dolls “In Too Much Too Soon”

sfilzen — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 17:32:05 +0000

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.

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The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…”

sfilzen — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 16:30:13 +0000

The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…” 1975/1991 Bomp! Records. Today July 15th is Johnny Thunders birthday (b. John Anthony Genzale, Jr. 1952 d. 1991). Thunders played guitar for the New York Dolls and then in 1975 formed The Heartbreakers, along with Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, bassist/singer Richard Hell of Television and Walter Lure from the Demons. This LP is a live recording from a July 7th 1975 show at CBGB’s and a November 16th 1975 performance at Mothers, NYC and showcases the early sounds of gritty NYC punk.

On the back cover of this LP there is a review and history, of sorts, by Alternative Press Magazine’s Tim Stegall. He writes of Thunders, “[he] had gained a rep as THE prototype Seventies garageslop guitar slop player, lifting Keith Richard’s wasted, cig-dangling persona and most Berrychucked riffs and charging ‘em with the attitude and rocketfuel of the MC5′s Kramer/Smith tag team (which was easier to capture than their fretboard dexterity!).”

The album contains one track that would eventually go on to appear on The Heartbreakers only studio album “L.A.M.F.” – “Pirate Love.” However, many other classics appear like“Stepping Stone” as well as “Love Comes in Spurts” and “Blank Generation” (later recorded by Richard Hell and the Voidoids).

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