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New York Dolls

Profile:
Formed : December, 1971 // New York, NY, United States
Disbanded : January, 1977

Initiated by Morrissey, the New York Dolls reformed in 2004 for a one off show at the Meltdown Festival and again in 2006 for an album release and world tour.

Members : Rick Rivets (guitar), Billy Murcia (drums), Johnny Thunders (guitar, vocals), Arthur Kane (bass), David Johansen (vocals), Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, vocals), Jerry Nolan (drums), Peter Jordan (bass), Tony Machine (drums), Bobby Blain (keyboards), Blackie Lawless (vocals)
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Discography

Releases:
Bad Girl / Subway Train (7")   Bellaphon 1972
Personality Crisis / Looking For A Kiss (7")   Bellaphon 1972
Jet Boy (7", Single)   Mercury 1973
New York Dolls (Album) (5 versions)   Mercury 1973
Too Much Too Soon (Album) (5 versions)   Mercury 1974
New York Dolls / Too Much Too Soon (2 versions)   Mercury 1977
Personality Crisis (12")   Kamera Records 1982
Pills / Down, Down, Downtown (7", Single, Whi)   Fan Club 1984
Red Patent Leather (Album) (2 versions)   Fan Club ... 1984
After The Storm (2 versions)   Receiver Records Limited 1985
Personality Crisis (CD, Maxi)   See For Miles Records Ltd. 1990
Seven Day Weekend (3 versions)   Receiver Records Limited ... 1992
Rock 'N Roll (Comp) (2 versions)   Mercury 1994
I'm A Human Being (Live) (CD, Album, Liv)   Receiver Records Limited 1998
Teenage News (LP, Pin)   Munster Records 1998
A Hard Night's Day (CD)   Norton Records (2) 2000
Actress: Birth Of The New York Dolls (LP, Album)   Get Back 2000
Lipstick Killers (2 versions)   Danceteria ... 2000
Judy Is A Punk / Human Being (CD, Shape)   Musical Tragedies 2001
Live In NYC - 1975: Red Patent Leather (CD)   Trojan Records 2001
Lipstick Killers - The Mercer Street Sessions 1972 (CD)   Trama 2003
Live From Royal Festival Hall, 2004 (CD)   Attack Records (3) 2004
New York Doll (DVD-V, PAL, Dig)   UWe 2005
From Paris With Love (L.U.V.) (2xLP, Ltd)   Sympathy For The Record Industry 2006
One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This (Album) (5 versions)   Roadrunner Records 2006
Appears On:
Like It Or Not Live (2 versions) Bad Girl Posh Boy 1978
Stardust And Looser Wheelbarrows (Cass) Trash Lil' Lion Records  
Tracks Appear On:
New Wave (LP) Personality Crisis, Wh... Vertigo 1977
Personality Crisis (LP, Comp) Bad Girl, Personality ... Action Replay Records 1984
New York Rockers (Cass, Album) Jet Boy ROIR (Reachout International Records) 1989
Nice Enough To Eat (LP) Looking For A Kiss Receiver Records Limited 1991
73 Minutes 22 Seconds Of Great Music!!! (CD, Smplr) Bad Girl See For Miles Records Ltd. 1992
RCD Punk Plus Collection 14 (CD, Comp, Promo) Personality Crisis RCD Magazine 1993
Kamikaze (CD, Comp) Personality Crisis Receiver Records Limited 1994
The Tortellini Accident ! Taste The Originals (Comp) (2 versions) Human Being WEA ... 1994
La Fabuleuse Histoire Du Rock 15 - Rock Décadent-Punk (CD) Personality Crisis Club Dial 1995
Punk Legends - The American Roots (CD) Personality Crisis Jungle Records 1997
Punks On Drugs! (CD, Comp) Pills Antidote (3) 1997
Glam Goldmine (CD) Jet Boy Big Eye Music 2001
History Of Punk Rock (2xCD) Personality Crisis, Lo... Recording Arts SA 2001
Kill All Hippies: Castle Music Punk Sampler (CD) Give Her A Great Big K... Castle Music 2001
Punk Lives! (Comp) (2 versions) Personality Crisis Sanctuary Records ... 2001
Punk. (2xCD) Personality Crisis Columbia 2001
The Old Grey Whistle Test (2xDVD, PAL, Mono, 4:3 + Box, Gat) Jet Boy BBC Worldwide 2001
CBGB's And The Birth Of U.S. Punk (CD) Trash Ocho 2002
RadioRadio (CD, Comp) Jet Boy (Live) Uncut Magazine 2002
Teenage Kicks (2xCD) Personality Crisis Universal Music TV 2002
Hanging With The Strokes (CD) Trash New Musical Express 2003
Music Guide Vol. 1: Instant Garage (CD) Personality Crisis Mojo Magazine 2003
No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion (4xCD + Box) Personality Crisis, Trash Rhino Entertainment Company 2003
Under The Influence (Comp) (3 versions) Trash DMC Publishing 2003
Death Disco Ltd (CD, Comp) Personality Crisis (Live) Discotheque (2) 2004
Destroy All DJs (2 versions) Jet Boy Hypnotic 2004
Jet Boy - The Anthology (CD) Jet Boy Anarchy Music 2004
Songs To Save Your Life (CD) Vietnamese Baby New Musical Express 2004
Under The Influence - Bob Geldof (CD, Album) Personality Crisis DMC 2004
I ♥ NY Punk! (CD) Trash Mojo Magazine 2005
The Roots Of The Sex Pistols (CD) Chatterbox Mojo Magazine 2005
13 Trésors Cachés Du Punk (CD, Comp) Looking For A Kiss Les Inrockuptibles 2006
Elegy Sampler 45 (CD, Smplr) Gimme Luv & Turn On Th... Elegy 2006
Monitor This! (CD, Comp, Promo) Dance Like A Monkey The Music Monitor Network 2006
TRASH! - The Roots Of Punk (CD, Comp) Personality Crisis Mojo Magazine 2006
The Best Of Glam Rock - Mama We're All Crazy Now! (2xCD, Comp) Personality Crisis Universal Music (Netherlands) 2006
The Playlist July 2006 (CD) Dance Like A Monkey Uncut Magazine 2006
Punk / F**k Art Let's Danse (2xCD, Comp) Looking For A Kiss (Re... Music Club Deluxe 2007
Punk - The Platinum Collection (3xCD, Comp + Box) Looking For A Kiss EMI Music (Belgium) 2008
The Original Incident? (CD, Album) Human Being Affe Records 2008
The Roots Of The Ramones (CD, Comp, Promo, Car) Personality Crisis Rock Classics 2009
Punk - A World History - Volume 1 (CD) Personality Crisis, Lo... Sound Solutions  
Punk - A World History - Volume 2 (CD) Jet Boy Sound Solutions  
Punk - A World History - Volume 4 (LP, Comp, Promo) Jet Boy MBC Records  
Tommy Hilfiger Denim (CD, Comp) Trash V2 Records, Inc.  
Unofficial Releases:
Rehearsal & Live (7")   Not On Label 1974
Looking For A Kiss (12", Pic, Ltd)   Antler Records (3) 1986
Happiness Is A Warm Gun... (2 versions) Personality Crisis Bad Fuck 1991
Punk Collection (CD) Personality Crisis TEIC  
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YouTube Videos

New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
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Reviews & Discussion

Review by trashcanasian Oct 26, 2009
Without any doubt, the New York Dolls were the seminal group of the New Wave movement in New York. The first group, formed in late `71, consisted of Johnny Thunders (then known as Johnny Volume), Kane, drummer Billy Murcia and guitarist Rick Rivets. The original name of the group was to be Actress, but when JoHansen (David Johansen) joined in early `72, they became the New York Dolls, soon afterwards substituting Sylvain Sylvain for Rivets. On a visit to Britain in November '72, Murcia died, allegedly of a drug overdose, and his place was taken by Jerry Nolan.
The most alarming thing about the Dolls was their appearance- "stack-heeled platform boots and bird´s nest coiffures" amounting to a grossed-out dyke look, complete with lots of leather and make-up. This bizarre image reflected a reportedly wild lifestyle and startled many observers.
The Dolls eventually signed with Merury Records after practically every other label had checked them out, but been deterred by their appearance. With Mercury, the Dolls made two albums, the first, simply titled New York Dolls, being produced by Todd Rundgren, and released in `73, and Too Much Too Soon, produced by Shangri-Las` producer Shadow Morton, coming out in `74.
Critical reaction to the group was decidedly negative, with the result that Nolan and Thunders eventually left while touring in Florida. However, before that the group had acquired a new manager in Malcolm McLaren, later to be the man behind the Sex Pistols. He met the group in 1974 when they came into his King`s Road, London, shop Let It Rock. A friendship developed and McLaren began to manage the group in early `75 in New York. He had inherited many problems, not least two of the group having to be hospitalized for drug abuse. In addition, the image so carefully nurtured during the group´s early days was by then out of date, having been largely overtaken by the "undernourished" look adopted by such as Tom Verlaine and Patti Smith. The group thus took on a `Communist chic`, playing in front of a `hammer and sickle` flag, dressed in red patent leather. Unfortunately, this image didn`t appeal to the audiences very much, and when Thunders and Nolan left, McLaren returned to Britian, and soon afterwards discovered the Pistols.
Thunders and Nolan got together with Richard Hell (bass), who had nearly joined the Dolls during the McLaren era, and Walter Lure (guitar), who had previously been in agroup called Demon, to become the Heartbreakers. JoHansen and Sylvain recruited Chris Robinson (keyboards), Peter Jordan (bass) and Tony Machine (drums) for a Japanese tour, but after it the fragmented Dolls broke up in May `75.
Thunders and Nolan remained in the Heartbreakers; Sylvain formed a group called Criminals in New York in April `77, Kane, after starting a band called Killer Kane in Los Angeles, became a member of LOK, back in New York. By mid-`77 David JoHansen started working on his first solo album for Blue Sky Records (the company owned by Johnny and Edgar Winter and their manager Steve Paul).
The New York Dolls were the originators of a hard, rough, raunchy rock sound which has been copied by numerous groups subsequently. There is no reference point, except perhaps the Stones at their most outrageous. The group`s attitude to what they were trying to do has been a great source of inspiration to many of those who have successfully followed their lead.