The New York Dolls
Related: 1971 - glam rock - New York - proto punk - punk rock - American music
The New York Dolls (1973) - The New York Dolls [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Biography
The New York Dolls are a rock music group formed in New York City in 1971.
They found little success during their lifetime, but the New York Dolls prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era and even later; the Dolls' over-the-top crossdressing influenced the look of many glam metal groups, and their shambling, sloppy but highly energetic playing style set the tone for many later rock and roll bands. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Dolls [Mar 2006]
The New York Dolls (1973) - The New York Dolls
New York Dolls is an album released in 1973 (see 1973 in music) by the American rock band New York Dolls. The album's hard rock sound is mixed with influences of proto punk and girl group-pop. The New York Dolls had a reputation as wild troublemakers, and the slurred vocal style helped to reinforce this reputation. Lyrically intelligent, though, the album addresses controversial issues like the Vietnam War, mental health and other social issues of the time. New York Dolls is a pioneering recording in the history of punk rock, which would explode in popularity within a few years.
New York Dolls peaked at #116 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. In 2003, the album was ranked number 213 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Dolls_%28album%29 [Mar 2006]
Amazon review
In 1972, when rock & roll was all but dead in Manhattan, five cross-dressing glam punks from the boroughs convened and began hammering out crude, sub-Chuck Berry rock for the downtown in-crowd. It took another year before a record company dared to sign them, thus foisting The New York Dolls on an essentially uninterested world. Taking their cue from the band's guitarist/Keefalike Johnny Thunders, hardcore Dolls fans pooh-poohed Todd Rundgren's production as wimpy: twenty-five years after its release, songs like "Personality Crisis" and "Looking for a Kiss" sound more trashily invigorating than ever. With the Rolling Stones finished as a vital force by '73, the doomed Dolls were there to step into the void. A classic. --Barney Hoskyns for Amazon.com
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