New York Dolls then and now

Cruising the streets of New York atop a Volkswagen, the notorious Mafiosi known as the Lipstick Killers inflict their own brand of fear on the streets. These original visionaries, moonlighting from their vocation as splendorous, trashy glam-rockers the New York Dolls, had seemed forever lost, despite their impossibly mythic first two records.

You could be forgiven for thinking that, with only sporadic solo work from some members, the Dolls were in hiding, shying away for 32 years from crimes committed and documented on Bob Gruen’s All Dolled Up documentary, which evidenced the destruction left by the Dolls’ mutation of blues and rock’n’roll. But now, having first returned with sporadic live appearances before adding fresh material to their arsenal, the Dolls are enjoying a deserved renaissance that sees them performing rousing sets, albeit with more sophistication than recordings from the early days suggests. Back then the Dolls circulated feral prototype riffs of an overpowering dirty swagger, sonically and visually confronting the rock norm with a new, more inventive guitar language and dress code.

Initially formed as Actress, with guitarist Johnny Thunders on vocals, they approached David Johansen of local New York group Fast Eddie & The Electric Japs, with a view to him fronting their band. He …

by Tony Sanders
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