Live fast, die young... inspire punk rock

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Q.� Is punk rock a British phenomenon < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A.� The origins of punk rock lie fairly and squarely in the USA, although it was British music-lovers and the UK music�press who�used�its essential ingredients�to fuel�their own personal revolution.

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Q.� So who was the original punk band

A.� Opinions differ��- some purists�might say the Velvet Underground. But in terms of the social approach to the punk lifestyle, that honour goes to The New York Dolls, led by guitarist Johnny Thunders (pictured on our home page)�-�a band for who the term 'live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse', could have been invented.

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Q.� What made The New York Dolls a punk band

A.� Everything. Their look�(transvestite fashions including make-up, stack heels, hairspray and nail varnish), their sound�(guitar-based, rough-edged rock�'n' roll standing on the shoulders of glam rock), their lifestyle (drunkenness, drugs, groupies, fights, and a general aversion to any notion of conformity) all conspired to ensure that The Dolls were the band to follow if you wanted to upset people.

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Q.� Were they any good

A.� The two�- yes, there were only two!�- albums that The Dolls recorded during their high-octane rocket ride of a career remain healthy sellers, as well as acknowledged influences on a wide variety of bands who have followed after them:�Guns 'n' Roses, Aerosmith, Kiss, The Sex Pistols and a host of others. The band's eponymous debut album was produced by pop maverick Todd Rungren, but�was a commercial flop -�failing to extend The Dolls' audience beyond their hardcore New York fan base, built up as a result of memorably�shambolic live shows�staged in�the sleazier dives of that fair city.

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Q. What was The Dolls' response

A.� A British tour,�arranged in�the hope that the UK would prove more receptive to their message. The tour was less than successful -�particularly for drummer Billy Murcia, who succumbed to an overdose of drugs and alcohol; he actually drowned in the coffee that some well-meaning associates poured down his unconscious throat.

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Back home, the band recorded their follow-up album - �the wonderfully, and prophetically titled Too Much Too Soon. This�was critically well-received, having been produced by George Morton. The result was a commercial failure along the lines of the first album - America, it seems, was simply not ready to have its native music distorted and shoved in its face by a bunch of New York drag queens with bad habits and worse attitudes.

Q.� It doesn't sound like things were going too well!

A.� Not really, Mercury Records' response to the failure�to sell meaningful quantities of their two releases was to drop the band from its roster.
In a suicidal career move, the band approached Malcolm McLaren to manage them. McLaren was still learning the managerial skills he would use so effectively a few years later with The Sex Pistols, but he already knew about the need to court controversy.
McLaren's idea to move the band up a couple of commercial notches was dressing the Dolls in identical red leather outfits, and having them play in front of a Russian flag - on the ludicrous assumption that the band's (fictitious) communist sympathies would cause a stir.

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Q.� And did it

A.� In the wrong areas, it did. The fans thought the visual presentation was hideous, and potential record companies fought shy of signing the band for fear of encountering troubles at home and aboard.

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Q.� So that was the end

A.� Effectively it was. By 1975, Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan were out. Remaining members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain ditched McLaren and limped on for a few more years. Thunders and Nolan both died in 1991, drug overdose and stroke being the respective causes.

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Q.� The legacy they left

A.� A reputation as a band that were probably ahead of their time, in terms of ambition at least. The Dolls assisted the embryonic management skills of Malcolm McLaren, who learned his lessons well, and applied them with far greater success to The Sex Pistols.
The Dolls' visual and stylistic influence casts a very long shadow indeed�- virtually all the glam metal bands of America (Poison, Motley Crue et al) spring directly from their school of hard rocks. The two official albums, together with a welter of compilations and outtakes, ensure that The Dolls sell far more now than they ever did during their time together. Too much too soon indeed.

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by�Andy Hughes