New York Dolls
photo: avro · cc by-sa 3.0 nl ↗Glammed up in women's clothes and dime-store makeup, the New York Dolls played sloppy, joyfully trashy rock and roll on the Lower East Side years before punk had a name for itself, David Johansen's strutting frontman charisma and Johnny Thunders's ragged guitar turning chaos into a genuine sound. Commercial success never arrived and the band splintered within a few years, but the two albums they left behind became a founding text for punk on both sides of the Atlantic.
Critics describing the Dolls' original sound have pointed to the 'dirty rock and roll' of the Rolling Stones as one of its clearest source elements, present in the band's loose, swaggering guitar interplay.
listen forPlay the Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash, then the Dolls' Looking for a Kiss — both ride a filthy, insistent riff under a vocal that sounds like it's sneering through a grin.
The same critical assessment credits the 'anarchic noise' of the Stooges as another core ingredient in the Dolls' sound, a wilder, more chaotic energy than the Stones alone would explain.
listen forCue the Stooges' I Wanna Be Your Dog, then the Dolls' Jet Boy — both bury a simple riff under a thick, careening racket that sounds like it could fall apart at any second.
That same assessment names Bowie's glam rock as a third source for the Dolls' sound and image, and the band's makeup-and-heels theatrics arrived right alongside Bowie's own early-1970s glam breakthrough.
listen forPlay Bowie's Suffragette City, then the Dolls' Trash — both dress up a basic rock and roll chassis in glitter and provocation, daring you to take the theatrics as seriously as the songs.