Intro (Edit)

The New York Dolls are an American rock band. They were formed in New York City in 1971. Musically, their sound influenced the punk rock era. Their visual style influenced the look of the 1980’s glam metal groups.

In 1970, Billy Murcia, Sylvain Sylvain, and Thunders formed a band. They called themselves “the Dolls.” Then Sylvain left the band to spend a few months in London, the band split.

In 1971, the band was back together. The band was originally composed of David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Rick Rivets, Killer Kane and Billy Murcia. After a few months, Rivets was replaced by Sylvain Sylvain.

The band’s sound can be described as unique, its was hard rock that was heavily influenced by punk, glam, blues, and soul.

The band got their break when Rod Stewart invited them to open a concert for him in London. At the time, London was the glam rock capital. Shortly after that gig, Billy Murcia died of an accidential suffocation. He was 21, he passed out from drugs and alcohol.

When the band returned to America, they started auditioning drummers. The band picked Jerry Nolan, who was a friend of the band. Once they decided on Nolan, they got signed by Mercury Records. Then they began the recording sessions for their debut album.

Their debut album, called New York Dolls, was released in August of 1973. In 2003, the album was ranked number 213 on the Rolling Stone’s list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The song “Personality Crisis” is ranked number 267 on the Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” The album peaked at number 116 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

In 1974 the band released “Too Much, Too Soon.” The album peaked at number 167 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The album is the last album with the original recording line-up. Soon after the album was released, Mercury Records dropped the New York Dolls.

In 1975, the band hired Malcolm McLaren as their new manager. The kind of stunts McLaren pulled with the band blew up in the Dolls faces. Soon after, McLaren was fired.

Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan left the band in 1975. While Thunders and Nolan left, the band was still on tour. Still, the band went on. They started looking for replacements. They found and recruited Blackie Lawless to play guitar for the remainder of the tour. Later on in the tour, the band recorded a live album called “Tokyo Dolls Live.” The band continued until 1975, then they went on hiatus.

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History (Edit)

During the absence of the Dolls, the other members stayed busy. Thunders and Nolan formed The Heartbreakers. They recruited bassist Richard Hell and Walter Lure to play guitar. Then the band replaced Richard Hell with Billy Rath. They were included in the line-up of bands for the “Anarchy Tour” with the Sex Pistols in the UK during 1976. After that, they only did a few gigs here and there. During this time, the band released their only album called, L.A.M.F.

During the 1980’s, Johnny Thunders continued recording and touring. He released one solo album called “So Alone.” The album consisted of several covers and a few original songs. Thunders died in 1991 in New Orleans of a heroin and methadone overdose. There are signs that he might have also been murdered over a drug related dispute.

A few months after Thunders death in 1991, Nolan died in 1992. He died of a stroke brougt on by bacterial meningitis.

Johansen and Sylvain stuck together after the Dolls split-up. Sylvain was the guitarist for much of Johansen’s solo career. Johansen’s solo career wasn’t that successful. He gained his peak of popularity by acting the part of a fictional lounge lizard / singer, Buster Poindexter. He also hosted a show on VH1 as Poindexter.

Throughout the 1990’s, Johansen started to play folk and blues. The band he was in was called David Johansen and The Harry Smiths.

Despite the Dolls being on haitus for 6 years, in 1981, they released an album called “Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972.” The album was made up of all demos from 1972, recorded by the New York Dolls. Despite having, The Mercer Street Sessions, in the title, these demos were actually recorded at Blue Rock Studio in New York City. All of the songs were re-recorded for their debut, except “Don’t Start Me Talking” and “Human Being” which those cuts made it to Too Much Too Soon. The only song not to make it to a later album was “Don’t Mess With Cupid.”

In 1984, the album Red Patent Leather was released. It is a live album of the band New York Dolls who were still disbanded at the time. The show it was recorded at took place on March of 1975, a month before they broke up in Florida.

Seven Day Weekend was released in 1992. This was another collection of demos from the band. These tracks were recorded in 1973. In addition to the demo versions of some songs already released, there were five new tracks that were not re-recorded for any New York Dolls album. These songs were, “Seven Day Weekend”, “Hoochie Coochie Man”, Back In The USA”, Great Big Kiss”, and “Endless Party.” Johnny Thunders did do a version of “Great Big Kiss” on his only solo album, “So Alone.”

In 2004, the only living band members, Johansen, Sylvain, and Kane reunited for the Meltdown Festival. The reunion led to a live album and a live DVD. However, the reunion was put on hold when Arthur Kane died an unexpected death on July 13,2004. The cause of death was leukemia.

In 2005, the two remaining members announced a tour and a new album. The album was called “One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This.” The album was released on July 25, 2006. The members recruited Steve Conte on gutiar and Sami Yaffa, the former bassist of Hanoi Rocks and JetBoy. They also recruited Brian Delaney for drumming and keyboarist Brian Koonin.

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Update (Edit)

After touring, May 5, 2009 saw the release of Cause I Sez So on Atco Records. The song “Trash” is a re-recording of the song that appeared on their debut album. The album peaked at #159 on the Billboard Hot 200.

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