New York Dolls

The New York Dolls' first album fused glam, sleaze, metal and punk, and in 1973 was way ahead of its time.  The Dolls gussied up in make-up, sleazy women's clothing and big high heels to bring us catchy tales of drugs, sex and the urban life in Lower Manhattan.  The album is stuffed with songwriting gems, lifted by ferocious energy, and serving as an audible link between 60s garage rockers like the MC5 and the Velvet Underground, glam rock, and first-generation punk bands like the Sex Pistols (who were called into being by Malcolm McLaren, who'd managed the Dolls during their 1975 collapse).

While the album has in retrospect has been called "Proto-Punk", fans of late 70s punk will find it bizarre, with its Chuck Berry-based rhythm guitars on "Looking For A Kiss" and Buddy Holly-like falsetto backing vocals on "Trash" point to an unabashed 50s rock 'n' roll influence. David Johansen's vocals are gravelly, breathy, menacing, and entirely individualistic, his sci-fi and urban lowlife lyrical imagery on "Frankenstein" come straight out of Lou Reed.  On "Looking For A Kiss", The New York Dolls' infectious sense of humor is on full display. There's also a pretty wild cover of Bo Diddley's "Pills".

It all adds up to an arresting innovative sound - the Stooges' ear-busting Raw Power is much louder and less self-conscious, and although the Dolls are sometimes close to blues-based heavy metal, they're much less predictable.  This album has so many wacked-out classics like "Looking For A Kiss," "Frankenstein," "Trash," the head-banging "Jet Boy," and the raving "Personality Crisis" that make it a fun listen.

After this, the band cut just one follow-up album, 'Too Much Too Soon' before Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan quit and formed the Heartbreakers with Richard Hell, while Johansen (backed by Sylvain) began a solo career, and later adopted the alter ego of Buster Poindexter.

David Johansen on lead vocals and harmonica.
Johnny Thunders on lead guitar and backing vocals
Sylvain Sylvain on piano, rhythm guitar and backing vocals
Arthur "Killer" Kane on bass guitar
Jerry Nolan on drums

For the freeload (a nice sounding Japanese remaster), tell us who your favorite androgynous rock musician or band is.

Rolling Stones - 'Live At The Wiltern'

'Live At The Wiltern' is a 2024 release of a concert that The Stones played in Los Angeles on November 4, 2002.  It was part of the almost 120-show “Licks World Tour” that the Rolling Stones played to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band.  The show at the small Wiltern Theatre in front of around 2000 people marked the end of a short L.A. trilogy.  An indoor concert at the Staples Center on October 31st was followed by the Los Angeles Angels baseball stadium on November 2nd and finally the intimate club show at the Wiltern.

The Stones also adapted their setlist for the occasion.  While some of the hits were also played, this evening at the Wiltern was all about the rarely played classics, including “Stray Cat Blues”, “No Expectations” and a cover version of “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”. R&B legend Solomon Burke, who had previously opened the concert and wrote the original version of the song, returned to the stage for this song.

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, guitars, and harmonica
Keith Richards – guitar, and backing vocals
Ronnie Wood – guitar, and backing vocals
Charlie Watts – drums

Darryl Jones – bass
Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals;
Bobby Keys – saxophone
Tim Ries – saxophone
Michael Davis – trombone;
Kent Smith – trumpet
Lisa Fischer – backing vocals,
Bernard Fowler – backing vocals
Blondie Chaplin – backing vocals, guitar

The Eddie Cochran Box Set: A Complete History In Words And Music

 

The first song I can remember, that I knew all the lyrics to, and wasn’t a children’s song, was Eddie Cochran’s ‘Twenty Flight Rock’.  It was 1957, I was ten years old, and my older brother had the 45 single.  He’d play it for me on the record player in his room, where I’d stand on his bed and sing along, and when the refrain of "One flight, two flight, three flight, four/five, six, seven flight, eight flight, more" started, I’d run in place, like I was running up flights of stairs, my brother would cheer me on saying, “Go Babs, go!” and for my grand finale, I’d do a backflip, with my feet landing on the mattress.

One fateful day, I did the backflip a little too hard, and my feet came down on the side of the bed, causing me to fall backwards, I put my hand out to break my fall, and ended up with a sprained wrist and a dislocated pinky.  A few minutes, and a lot of tears later, I ended up at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in downtown Brooklyn.  At the hospital after my hand was x-rayed, the Doctor said to me, “Your Father told us you were roughhousing with your older brother, is that right?” I shook my head no, and the Doctor asked me, “What really happened, it’s OK, you can tell me. Don’t be afraid.”  I told him about singing ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, running in place and the backflip. The Doctor smiled and said, “I don’t know that song, would you sing it for me?”  So I sang it for him; he and the nurse who was assisting him started laughing, with the nurse clapping along.  When I finished the song, the doctor who was holding my hand, without warning, quickly and unceremoniously popped my pinky back into place. When the nurse took me to the waiting room, she told my parents, "You have the next Connie Francis, here."

Eddie Cochran was one of the first great stars of Rock n' Roll and an artist whose influence would far outstrip his brief career, which was cut short when he died in an auto accident in 1960.  Cochran would often be cited as one of the pioneers of rockabilly, but his style was more muscular and less twangy than those of his peers, adding a bluesy accent to the music that meshed comfortably with his country-influenced melodies.  There is also evidence that Cochran had wanted to explore the American folk tradition - listen to tracks like "The Boll Weevil" and "Cut Across Shorty".

Eddie was also an impressive guitar player and a songwriter young enough to understand the teenage mindset and its fascination with cars, girls, and good times, but he was also talented enough to bring his stories to life and marry them to energetic, catchy melodies.  Songs like "Summertime Blues," "C'mon Everybody," "Somethin' Else," "Nervous Breakdown," and "Weekend" would live on in covers decades after Eddie died, and his influence would be felt in artists as diverse as Bobby Fuller and the Sex Pistols.  Eddie was also one of the first American rockers to tour the United Kingdom, where he would prove especially influential; when Paul McCartney first met John Lennon, John was impressed that Paul could not only play Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock," and just like me, knew the lyrics by heart.

'The Eddie Cochran Box Set: A Complete History In Words And Music' is a 4 CD set from the legendary Rock n' Roll singer, songwriter and guitarist.  This release is a comprehensive introduction to the all too short, yet influential, music career of Eddie Cochran, containing 134 tracks including all his major hits.

CD1 "I'm Ready" chronicles his early work 1955-56 when he performed as a duo with Hank Cochran (no-relation) as 'The Cochran Brothers'.

CD2 "Summertime Blues" focuses on his solo work and includes the hits 'Twenty Flight Rock', 'Sittin' in the Balcony', 'Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie', and 'Summertime Blues'.

CD3 "'Somethin' Else" continues his solo years, alongside instrumental works, and includes 'C'mon Everybody', 'Teenage Heaven' and 'Somethin' Else'.

CD4 "Three Steps To Heaven" is a collection of live versions, stereo recordings, instrumentals, outtakes and rarities.

Audio wise, the digital remastering is really a pleasure.  This becomes evident at the earliest numbers, many Cochran compilations have been somewhat uneven, sonically speaking, this is not the case on this release.  There's also a detailed booklet (included in the freeload) that includes pictures, interesting text, and detailed recording date information.

To get the freeload, tell us what some of your favorite 1950s Rock n' Roll songs are.