From 1973, here's The New York Dolls live on the Old Grey Whistle Test with "Looking for a Kiss." Legend has it that this is, in fact, the clip that inspired Morrisey to take his mopery public.
It's amusing to think about how radical and threatening these guys seemed at the time, especially to the leftover rock royalty of the 60s. I believe it was Stephen Stills who came away from a Dolls performance and famously remarked "How the hell can you dance in those damned platform shoes"?
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Cool. I've heard that song only once before and thought about it a million times.... It's "threatening" because it rocks.
Saw the Dolls on that mini Little Steven Garage tour a year or so ago and they were really quite good. Sylvain could use to drop a pound or 30 but who am I to cast stones?
BTW, Steve, we saw the Detroit Cobras on New Years and they completely rocked.
Love them crazy MoTown gals...
BTW, Steve, we saw the Detroit Cobras on New Years and they completely rocked.
Love them crazy MoTown gals...
The Cobras played with the Dolls in NYC last week.
I was going to go, but their publicist went on vacation before I could glom free tickets.
I am very depressed about this...
The rule of thumb in Berkeley, where deejays are required to play three genres per shift, is that you know you are playing a different genre when the band on the album cover has a different hairstyle. By the Berkeley definition, NY Dolls play the same stuff as the Rolling Stones, and Ramones play the same as Dolls. I always liked the Dolls, but they sure don't seem radical now.
If Johnny Thunders would have gotten royalties for all the guitarists who ripped him off on record, he would have been a very rich man.
Just listen to Steve Jones on "Never Mind the Bollocks."
The Dolls were more important for pointing music in the direction of punk then they ever were for their mediocre music. They were exciting, hell outrageous but not very good musically.
I speak from experience. I saw them open for Mott The Hoople in 1974. They put on a lively pouty show but were a snooze musically. The Stones and the MC5 did this kind of music much, much better.
And of course Kiss had to top The NY Dolls by taking the costumes and outrage a step further, with even lamer music.
Watch out I feel a proverb coming on.............
The louder the clothing the smaller the musical dick!!! Ouch!!!
I believe it was Stephen Stills who came away from a Dolls performance and famously remarked "How the hell can you dance in those damned platform shoes"?
As a semi-competent guitar player myself, I know what Stills was talking about. Arthur Kane looks like he was in pain just trying to play, let alone dance. Of course, knowing the Dolls', er, extracurricular activities, there could be other factors involved besides the shoes.
How the hell can you dance in those damned platform shoes?
How can you play guitar with your scarf falling over the strings?
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