| The
Warhol-Morrissey "school" dominated the New York scene in the early '70s.
Their deliberately backward films such as 'My Hustler', 'Trash' and 'Flesh'
spawned such beautiful and reactionary tragediennes as Holly Woodlawn,
Jackie Curtis and the late Candy Darling. But such bohemian cavortings
had their roots embedded in the Sixties and the self-celebratory I-Suffer-Therefore-I-Am
Greenwich Village beautiful losers. The Dolls obliterated the very
idea of such visionaries as those previously mentioned, and Lou Reed (who
suddenly looked thirty). Something new developed, New groups,
new songs, new ideas, new rock writers, new clubs, new rules (which were
'No Rules') and the Dolls set the place. Everything which pre-dated
the Dolls at The Oscar Wilde Room became irrelevant. How strange
- a group which actually spke for 'now', and even stranger still, their
youth! The Stones hobbled under the weight of 'Goat's Head Soup'
and looked geriatric; Mott the Hoople, for one hysterical split-second
were considered (by American audiences at least) a semi-drag ensemble,
and they confessed, "don't wanna be hip/but thanks for the great trip".
You see, beneath the pancake we have simple sons of the soil. Enter
the New York Dolls.
Their beginning was unspectacular.
David Johansen met Arthur Kane at a screening of 'Beyond The Valley of
the Dolls". Arthur and compatriot Johnny Thunders were attempting
to complete a group which Arthur himself had christened 'New York Dolls'.
The two had recruited Sylvain Sylvain and Billy Murcia from another group,
and were on the look-out for a vocalist. There were smatterings of
fleeting characters but David's arrival legitimised the birth of the Dolls.
Johansen's much celebrated
participation in off-off-Broadway beef movies were brief. Of such
endearing classics as 'Studs On Main Street' the failed goddess claims:
"I was manipulated!" From then he performed half-heartedly
in a few naive underground plays as well as becoming a dancer for an expanding
theatre group 'Fast Eddie & The Electric Japs'.
The Dolls, being quintessentially
the definitive 'pop/rock' group, the type of which beating hearts and soiled
undergarments are encouraged, could have no other possible introductory
file other than that of which "fan" memorabilia mentality dotes upon.
DAVID JOHANSEN
| real name |
David Johansen |
| birthplace |
West Brighton,Staten
Island, NY. |
| birthdate |
January 9th, 1954 |
| function |
Vocals, harmonica, gongs |
| background |
Middle-class Catholic
with two brothers and three sisters. His father an insurance salesman,
mother a Dan Berrigan fan. |
| previous groups |
The Vagabond Missionaries,
Fast Eddie & The Electric Japs |
| personal points |
Youthful Simone Signoret,
'savoir faire', self-elected Dolls spokesman. |
| observation |
"The boys hate us but
the girls love us. We make the boys...umm,...insecure..." |
JOHNNY THUNDERS
| real name |
John Gonzales |
| birthplace |
Queens, New York |
| birthdate |
July 15th, 1954 |
| function |
Guitar |
| background |
None |
| previous groups |
Johnny & The Jaywalkers |
| personal points |
Unabashed Italian with
the largest supply of hair in rock history. Natural flair for perpetual
collapsibility. |
| observation |
"From the beginning we
all had this idea that we were gonna make it. We were right." |
|
SYLVAIN SYLVAIN
| real name |
Sil Hizrahi |
| birthplace |
Cairo, Egypt |
| birthdate |
Febuary 14th, 1953 |
| function |
Guitar, piano |
| background |
Spouts of degeneracy |
| previous group |
Actress |
| personal points |
Chimpy impishness, 'cutesy'
Harpo Marx curls |
| observation |
"We dig anyone who has
enough guts to do something different." |
ARTHUR KANE
| real name |
Arthur Harold Kane Jnr. |
| birthplace |
The Bronx, New York |
| birthdate |
Febuary 3rd, 1951 |
| function |
Bass guitar |
| background |
Suprisingly scholarly |
| previous groups |
Various popular rehabilitation
centres |
| personal points |
"Arthur is the only living
statue in rock 'n' roll." - Johansen |
| observation |
"I just play evah comes
innah mah head." |
JERRY NOLAN
| real name |
Jerry Nolan |
| birthplace |
Brooklyn, New York |
| birthdate |
May 7th, 1951 |
| function |
The drums |
| background |
Oklahoman |
| previous groups |
Wayne County's Queen
Elizabeth, Suzi Quatro Group |
| personal points |
Of Irish parentage. His
mother would send him good luck telegrammes before each important Dolls
show; his father an ex-career army man, wouldn't. |
| observation |
"We don't give concerts,
we throw parties." |
|
