New York Dolls (Mercury) 1973
1. "Personality Crisis" (3:43)
2. "Looking for a Kiss" (3:20)
3. "Vietnamese Baby" (3:39)
4. "Lonely Planet Boy" (4:10)
5. "Frankenstein" (6:00)
6. "Trash" (3:09)
7. "Bad Girl" (3:05)
8. "Subway Train" (4:22)
9. "Pills" (2:49)
10. "Private World" (3:40)
11. "Jet Boy" (4:40)
The New York Dolls were a club legend from the East Coast that inspired many bands that would follow despite the fact that they never were hugely popular. Besides having a huge impact on what would become glam metal and bands like Kiss and Twisted Sister, they were also precursors to punk. In fact, Malcolm McLaren managed the The Dolls for a spell before he moved back to England to create The Sex Pistols. Their sound was a mixture of proto--punk and glam rock, almost as if someone had put The Stooges into a blender with T. Rex and a bit of Rolling Stones swagger and Chuck Berry groove. Of course the music wouldn't have been all that important if it weren't for that bizarre image and attitude behind the music. Five guys dressed in drag and playing hard rock weren't exactly the norm in the early 70's. The Dolls also had a reputations of being troublemakers and for barely being conscious most of the time. All of this added to the overall vibe of this record. Yet, despite their trashy looks and obnoxious antics, the lyrics on this album addresses controversial issues like the Vietnam War, mental health and other social issues of the time. Their cover of Bo Diddley's "Pills" is almost unrecognizable from the original. "Trash" has long been a favorite of mine. It was actually the song that attracted me to the Dolls in the 70's as a kid. However, the swagger of "Jet Boy", "Frankenstein" and "Personality Crisis" are equally attractive.