NY Dolls Question

"sammy fuckin' yaffa of hanoi rocks on bass! dude is actually better than arthur kane."

Sami is a great great great bass player. I have mad undying love for Hanoi and learned as many of his bass lines as I could when I was getting started playing. Probably my biggest single influence as a bass player.

And I had no clue he was playing with the Dolls.

I am very sad now that I missed that show.

i had a feeling the Pharmacist might have this reaction ;)

My coffee cup is filed with tears of regret.

I am listening to Sami play on a song called "Village Girl"

Sob…..

..you look like a village girl to me…..

Sniffle…..

forgive me i didn't get enough sleep last night so stuff is coming in bits and bobs….

with regarding the shredding comment, how sweet is a little dual les paul geetair action

That was a pretty amazing concert. I will say that when I got there (maybe 7:40 or so?), I think that there were about 15 other people inside. I was just a little surprised.

I also really liked their cover of Piece of My Heart. Since I actually only own their self-titled CD, I was very happy with their song selection. I did miss Showdown and Stranded in the Jungle, though :( .

But yeah…a very good concert.

the good news is they are recording a new album which will hopefully lead to more tour dates in the future…

Proto-Punk Flashback: New York Dolls Return

Friday, August 12, 2005; C08
The Washington Post

It is now officially permitted for defunct cult-rock bands to reunite, provided that they meet a few requirements: They must have split before artistic fatigue set in, they must return at the behest of an esteemed peer or fan, and they must be able to muster a quorum of original members.

The New York Dolls narrowly met those requirements when Morrissey summoned them to play London's Meltdown festival last year, but no longer do: Original bassist Arthur Kane has died, following guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummers Jerry Nolan and Billy Murcia. That left just singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain to lead the band now billed as the New York Dolls into the 9:30 club, where they performed with surprising authority Wednesday night.

Purists may well object, but this edition of the Dolls was more than a simulation of the early-'70s original. Indeed, some of the current lineup – notably bassist Sam Yaffa, late of Hanoi Rocks, and guitarist Steve Conti – were more reliable than their antecedents. Johansen pranced almost as lustily as he did 30 years ago, the backing vocals were endearingly sloppy, and the guitars (and unnecessary keyboards) melded to create a thicket of overtones that was a proto-punk flashback all by itself.

The set list largely followed the "Live From Royal Festival Hall, 2004" album, emphasizing songs from the group's first album and including an elegiac verse of Thunders's post-Dolls "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory." The Dolls had to play "Personality Crisis" and "Trash," but they also demonstrated their flair for diverse covers. There was a Shangri-Las tune, of course, as well as a full-throated version of "Piece of My Heart," originally recorded by Erma Franklin but widely associated with Janis Joplin. The Dolls may not look quite so androgynous as they once did, but Johansen once again proved himself glitter rock's top almost-female belter.


– Mark Jenkins

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Anyone here actually see Johnny Thunders? A buddy saw him in Detroit at point in the 80s and he was already in pretty bad shape.

I've seen him a couple times.

Good enough show but not the best and not Glammed out like the Dolls. Closer to what the Punks and other NY trend-setters were into at the time.

But your buddy was right.