New York Dolls- Demos (1972-1973)

The profoundly influential New York Dolls Formed in 1971. Their brand of raw glam rock laid the foundations for the New York scene of the mid seventies and consequently the evolution of punk. (Aside: I’ve got my music on random, as ever, and as I’m writing this The Sex Pistols came on! Did you no wrong…). The Dolls are the closest we have to an archetype of the seventies rock band. Uber fan Morrissey (an author of a book on the band) described seeing their appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test as the first emotional experience of my life. Host Bob Harries dismissed them smugly as ‘mock rock’, but this was exactly what the music scene needed at the time, a foil to the turgid, earnest fare that was the staple of the day.
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on New York Dolls, but I understand that these demos from 1972-73 have been recycled in various forms over the years, both as bootlegs and official releases.
What we have here:
The 1st demos, The Mercer Street Sessions- (1972, released as Lipstick Killers in 1981).
The 2nd demo recorded in October of 1972 at Escape Studios in Kent, England.
The 3rd demo Planet Studios 1973- (19 of these tracks were released as Seven Day Weekend in 1992: here there are an additional 3 songs- I think from the same session, but welcome corrections from readers).

Line up:
David Johansen - vocals
Johnny Thunders - guitar
Sylvain Sylvain - guitar
Arthur "Killer" Kane - bass
Billy Murcia - drums

This post is dedicated to my very good friends, Mr. James ‘Big Jim’ Baker and his charming wife Terri, who is celebrating her birthday today.