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NEW YORK DOLLS
Lipstick Killers - The Mercer
Street Sessions 1972 (ROIR)
Reviewed by Melanie Campbell
Were you one of those people who thought the New York Dolls were a great gimmick, but put out unlistenable records because they really couldn't play their instruments all that well? That they were just all pretty-boy style, but they didn't know jack about rock-n-roll? Well, ROIR has a little attitude adjustment for you, dear readers.
This little schlice of aluminum goes a long way in dispelling that myth. The New York Dolls not only influenced a few punk bands back in the day, they also show here that they were very respectful of their own influences. Surprisingly, these sessions, recorded in NYC (where else?) show the band well-entrenched in roots rock and urban blues, despite their glammy, "fag-rock" image.
Contained for your listening pleasure here is probably the best stuff the Dolls ever laid down on tape, not long after they formed. The name Mercer Street Sessions pays homage to the first gigs the band ever played, the now-legendary Mercer Street Arts Center. And they played respectably well for a bunch of guys who "didn't know how to play", covering classics like the Parker/Floyd/Cropper tune, "Don't Mess With Cupid" (popularized by Otis Redding), and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talking". You can just feel the intensity of David Johansen's snarlings as if you had been right there (how did that guy ever end up as Buster Poindexter, covering crap like "Hot Hot Hot", fer chrissakes? That still boggles the imagination...). You can hear the late, great Johnny Thunders' sloppy-yet-endearing axe work, in-your-face, in all it's chord- crunching glory. Oh, the memories.
As less-than-polished as they were, you can tell that the rock-n-roll attitude was alive and well, even in the band's original compositions, notably in songs like "Jet Boy", "Pills", and the immortal "Personality Crisis". It's a damn shame what happened to drummer Billy Murcia on that fateful trip to England (Murcia either od'd or drowned in a bathtub on the band's very first trip abroad, depending on whose version you listen to), not long after the Dolls were really starting to get noticed. Perhaps things would have been much different if he'd survived, because you can really hear the potential that they had here in these sessions. Perhaps the rest of the guys wouldn't have descended into their drug-hell until much later, after they'd a chance to really polish up their musical skills. Ahhh, we could go on with the "what-ifs" for days; it doesn't bring this great band back from the musical grave, does it? But if you're looking for the most listenable of New York Dolls output, you can quit looking now, 'cause it's just arrived. Hey, better late than never.
Track List:
Bad Girl * Looking For A Kiss * Don't Start Me Talking * Don't Mess With Cupid * Human Being * Personality Crisis * Pills * Jet Boy * Frankenstein
© 2001 - Melanie Campbell