new york dolls 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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New York Dolls “New York Dolls”

sfilzen — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:14:52 +0000

New York Dolls “New York Dolls” 1973. I’m spinning the Dolls’ debut album in tribute to Sylvain Sylvain, the Dolls rhythm guitarist, whose death was reported yesterday (b. Sylvain Mizrahi, February 14th, 1951, d. January 13th, 2021). We got a chance to see Sylvain perform once, sometime between ‘98 and 2000 (probably when he toured to promote his solo album Sleep Baby Doll) in Milwaukee, we think at The Globe, maybe Vnuk’s, but while we can remember exactly what he was wearing (a newsboy style hat, a purple scarf) we cannot recall the exact year or venue. Sylvain’s look was always unique and he was the Dolls member primarily responsible for the band’s over-the-top look

New York Dolls was a commercial failure at the time of its release, its glammy hard rock protopunk lost on pretty much everyone. However in retrospect the album has been recognized as a huge influence to the development of punk rock with the bands DIY and anti-establishment aesthetic and attitude. It had been my intention to focus solely on UK/London punk bands this week. However it is no stretch at all to directly connect Sylvain and the Dolls to 70′s punk; without the Dolls there would have been no Sex Pistols (Malcolm McLaren briefly managed the Dolls very shortly before helping to form the Sex Pistols), no Damned, Buzzcoks, etc., not even The Smiths (Morrissey was a MASSIVE Dolls fan). Anyway! New York Dolls has so many classic tracks: “Personality Crisis” and “Trash” (both tracks released as a double-A-side single; they did not chart), “Pills,” “Frankenstein” and “Jet Boy” (the other single from the LP, I’m fairly certain it also did not chart).

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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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New York Dolls “New York Dolls”

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:58:29 +0000

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.”

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