20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the New York Dolls

Performer: New York Dolls
Engineer: Dennis Drake; Dixon Van Winkle; Ed Sprigg; Jack Douglas
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: New York Dolls: David Johansen (vocals, harmonica, gong); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, piano, background vocals); Johnny Thunders (guitar, background vocals); Arthur Harold Kane (bass); Jerry Nolan (drums, percussion). Producers: Todd Rundgren, Shadow Morton, Paul Nelson. Compilation producer: Bill Levenson. Includes liner notes by Dave Thompson. This is part of Universal's "20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection" series. Personnel: Sylvain Sylvain (vocals, guitar, piano); Johnny Thunders (vocals, guitar); David Johansen (vocals, harmonica, gong); Jerry Nolan (drums, percussion). Audio Mixer: Joseph M. Palmaccio. Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY (04/1973-02/1974); Record Plant Studios, NY (04/1973-02/1974). Photographer: Bob Gruen. Arranger: New York Dolls. This volume of the 20th Century Masters series attempts to be a good, low-priced introduction to the New York Dolls. The collection culls five songs from each of the Dolls' two studio albums and adds the non-LP track "Lone Star Queen." The selections are solid: From the first album, "Personality Crisis," "Looking for a Kiss," "Trash," "Pills," and "Jet Boy" were chosen. One could argue that it would have been nice to include "Lonely Planet Boy," one of the great punk ballads, to show off the bruised romantic heart of the band, but it isn't a criminal omission. The picks from Too Much Too Soon are "Babylon," "Stranded in the Jungle," "Puss 'N' Boots," "Don't Start Me Talkin'," and "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" -- great songs, one and all. The inclusion of "Lone Star Queen" is questionable; it isn't a very good song and the compilers were probably throwing in a "rarity" just for rarity's sake. It would have been better to include another song from the albums. Heck, you should probably just spend the money and buy the two albums instead of this sampler. Once you hear the New York Dolls' raucous brand of rock, you'll want all you can get. ~ Tim Sendra

With inspiration from British glam and US proto-punks like the Stooges, the New York Dolls were the originators of the NYC trash aesthetic that inspired subsequent generations of punk bands. Churning out garage riffs that tipped their hat to 1960s R&B, they were the Stones of the first punk generation. Their outrageous image and brash sound gained them attention, but failed to make them stars, and David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, and Syl Sylvain all went on to solo careers after just two Dolls albums. In 2004, the Dolls reunited, with surviving members Sylvain, Johansen, and Arthur Kane making a triumphant festival appearance. Sadly, Kane died shortly after, but Johansen and Sylvain played another show dedicated to the memory of all the deceased dolls (Kane, Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Billy Murcia). In 2006, the remaining band members recorded their third official studio album to almost universal acclaim.

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