For those of us who were fans of the New York Dolls back in the seventies, their recent (triumphant) return to touring and recording feels like vindication. We were right all along! The Dolls of the seventies were about much more than music. They were crucial parts of the pipeline that kept American music important and dangerous: from Robert Johnson to Elvis and Little Richard to Dylan to the Velvets. From the MC5 to The Dolls to the Ramones. (Something like that, anyway.) The Dolls rough, energetic take on rock, R&B and pop was (and still is) amazing. Led by the volatile guitar prodigy Johnny Thunders (perhaps the most influential punk guitarist) and the charismatic, powerfully-voiced David Johansen, the Dolls took a big-picture outlook on music and life. Their rawness as a band became part of the message: the point of music is to participate. Of course, one can extrapolate that to life, and they did. The band lived almost entirely for the moment, and like all great rockers came down squarely in favour of human freedom, whatever the cost.
You can read up on their history elsewhere. Here, I want to begin discussing the astonishing fact that the band has accomplished the unthinkable feat of releasing two brilliant, ragged, influential albums in the early seventies, and then returning after over thirty (!) years to release two more. At the heart of their recent success is the fact that these albums contain some of the most poignant, wise, funny and thought-provoking lyrics ever written. Tune in tomorrow for my attempt to convince you of that.