New York Dolls
is the debut
studio album
by the
American
Rock band
The New York Dolls
released on
July 27, 1973,
by Mercury Records.
An influential precursor
to the 1970s
punk rock movement,
the eponymous album
has been acclaimed
as one of the best
debut records
in rock music
and one of
the greatest
rock albums ever.
In early 1973,
the two-year-old band
had developed a
local fanbase
by playing regularly
in New York City's
lower Manhattan,
but most music producers
and record companies
were reluctant
to work with them
because of their
vulgarity and onstage
fashion as well as
homophobia
in New York.
Still,
the Dolls signed
a contract with
Mercury and
recorded their
first album
at the Record Plant
in New York
with producer
Todd Rundgren,
who was known for
his sophisticated
pop tastes
and held a
lukewarm opinion
of the band.
Despite stories of
conflicts during
the recording sessions,
lead singer
David Johansen
and guitarist
Sylvain Sylvain
later said
Rundgren captured
how the band
sounded live.
The resulting music
on the album
a mix of carefree
rock and roll,
influences from
Brill Building pop,
and campy sensibilities
explores themes of
urban youth,
teen alienation,
adolescent romance,
and authenticity,
as rendered in
Johansen's colloquial
and ambiguous lyrics.
The album cover
featured the members
in drag for shock value.
New York Dolls
received acclaim
but sold poorly
and polarized listeners.
The band proved
difficult to market
outside their native
New York
and developed a
reputation for
rock-star excesses
while touring
the United States
in support of the album.
Despite its
commercial failure,
New York Dolls
helped shape the
1970s
punk rock movement;
the group's
crude musicianship
and
youthful attitude
challenged the
prevailing trend
of musical sophistication
in popular music,
particularly
progressive rock.
Background
In 1971,
vocalist
formed
the New York Dolls
with guitarists
and
Rick Rivets,
bassist
Arthur Kane,
and
drummer
Billy Murcia;
Rivets was replaced
by Sylvain Sylvain
in 1972.
The band was
meant to be a
temporary project
for the members,
who were
club-going youths
that had gone
to New York City
with different
career pursuits.
As Sylvain recalled,
"We just said 'Hey,
maybe this will
get us some chicks.'
That seemed like a
good enough reason."
He and Murcia
originally planned to
work in the
clothing business
and opened a
boutique on
Lexington Avenue
that was across
the street from a
toy repair shop
called the
New York Doll Hospital,
which gave them
the idea
for their name.
The group
soon began
playing regularly
in lower Manhattan
and earned a
cult following
within a few months
with their
reckless style
of rock music.
Nonetheless,
record companies
were hesitant
to sign them
because of their
onstage
cross-dressing
and
blatant vulgarity
In October 1972,
the group garnered
the interest of
critics when they
opened for
English rock band
The Faces
at the Empire Pool
in Wembley.
However,
on the New York Dolls'
first tour of
England that year,
Murcia died
after consuming
a lethal combination
of alcohol
and methaqualone.
They enlisted
Jerry Nolan
as his replacement,
while managers
Marty Thau,
Steve Leber,
and
David Krebs
still struggled
to find the band
a record deal.
After returning
to New York,
the Dolls played
to capacity crowds
at venues such as
Max's Kansas City
and the
Mercer Arts Center
in what Sylvain
called a
determined effort
to
"fake it until they could make it":
"We had to make ourselves feel
famous before we
could actually
become famous.
We acted like we
were already rock stars.
Arthur even called
his bass
'Excalibur'
after King Arthur.
It was crazy."
Their performance at
the Mercer Arts Center
was attended by
journalist
and
Mercury Records
publicity director
Bud Scoppa,
and
Paul Nelson,
an A&R executive
for the label.
Scoppa initially
viewed them
as an amusing
but inferior
version of
The Rolling Stones:
"I split after the first set.
Paul stuck around
for the second set,
though,
and after the show
he called me and said,
'You should have stayed.
I think they're really special.'
Then, after that,
I fell in love with them anyway."
In March 1973,
the group signed a
two-album deal
with a
US $25,000 advance
from Mercury.
According to Sylvain,
some of the members'
parents had to sign
for them because
they were not
old enough to
sign themselves
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