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Productivity is not in the gene of a New York Doll. Precedence on the
other hand, very much is.
During their four active years in the early seventies, they shifted two poor
selling, hella-influential albums which projectile-vomited punk and glam rock
onto the scene. Revered by their peers (The Ramones, Blondie) and
responsible for a reel of others (Marc Bolan, Aerosmith, Morrissey, Guns 'N'
Roses, Manics, Motley Crue, Bobbie Gillespie, The Libertines) the Dolls
rode a runaway train, with excess a byword for indulgement.
Two Dolls departed as substance casualties - drummer Bill Murcia (drink and
drugs OD, 1972), legendary smack stringer Johnny Thunders (heroin, 1991). A few
months after Thunder's tribute concert, Murcia's replacement, Jerry Nolan, died
of a stroke at just 40.
Dolls had dropped like dominoes. Something had to be done. Morrissey copped
onto this two years ago when he curated the Meltdown festival. The remaining
members: singer David Johanson, guitarist Syl Sylvain and bassist Arthur Kane
agreed to the request of the onetime president of the Dolls' official British
fan club that they bury the hatchet and play. It was good timing. Kane
succumbed to his leukaemia troubles a mere month later.
Meltdown and Mozza were crucial to the Dolls being where they are today.
Roping in Hanoi Rocks' Sami Yaffa and Johanson's solo collaborators, One
Day... is a mixed bag of polished swaggery blues, trashy punk and mature
classic rock balladry.
Any Dolls fan who slips this on will be instantly transported back to 1973
with the cocksure stomp of We're All in Love and the unashamedly decadent OTT
romp of Runnin Around.
There are no less than four ballads on here which is no surprise given
Johansan's 55 years. Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano is the most notable of
these with Michael Stipe guesting. I know, what the hell is Michael
Stipe doing on a New York Dolls record? It is an odd pairing, especially
when the vocals mix - Stipe's euphoric tones to Johanson's haggard, hoarse
drawl make for the most unconventional Dolls recording.
Iggy Pop's appearance on the hooky blues of Gimme Luv & Turn on the
Light is much more like it. Anyone who looked kindly on Primal Scream's Riot
City Blues need look no further for the blueprint that it was based on,
than this record, or of course back to their eponymous debut and its follow up
Too Much Too Soon.
Morrissey once said that," Mick Jagger stole everything from David
Johanson," which bears some truth because old jumpin' jack flash did not start
donning the makeup, boas and prancing round the stage like he was carrying a
goldfish bowl in his pants until well after the Dolls rocked with their cocks
out.
Compared to A Bigger Bang, the underlying similarity between of these
two groups of grandfathers is that their new material treads a very fine line
between sounding their own and chancing it as an imitation.
There are great moments of lap slapping rock 'n' roll on this record that
make you wonder how far the Dolls could have gone had they not imploded from their
own excess. At the same time, listening to a 50-year-old singing about lipstick
and cigarettes is about as genuine as the Israeli army claiming it has never
intentionally targeted a civilian in Lebanon.
The Dolls get away with it though. I mean hey, the New York Dolls are back! A fair few people will definately be remembering this one.
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