NEW YORK DOLLS
A Hard Night's Day (Norton)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

---

Billy Murcia's untimely death (never try to revive someone on a bender with an ice bath and pouring hot coffee down their throats) in the middle of an inaugural English trip to consider drooling record company offers may have seemed like the end of the New York Dolls before it ever began. But there they were, a couple of months later with new drummer Jerry Nolan in tow, thrashing out their punk glam rock live in the studio as a demo for Mercury records. The blistering set sealed it, and the Dolls managed to stretch their meteoric career for a couple of albums before their destined demise finally took hold. The Mercury records stand up alright, but to get to the real meat of the band, there's nothing like those original demos. It is Thunders and Johansen going toe to toe on their classic material, shaping the songs that would later become legend. The insatiable craving for bootleg material from the band, due mainly to the inability of the major label records to capture the band in full glory, may finally be satisfied.

© 2001 - John Sekerka