1. New York DollsNew York Dolls
I was first aware of the New York Dolls when they were on the Old Grey Whistle Test and I watched it and I thought it was great. At the time I was still really young and listening to the likes of Slade. What I remember about that performance was that it felt like somebody had snuck in and like they were about to get kicked out at any moment. I never watched the Whistle Test that much because every time I watched it, it just seemed like, ‘Oh my God, why are these guys playing this non-song for 25 minutes?’ And then occasionally you’d watch it, just to check that it was as shite as you remember, but on this occasion, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is like one of the bands I like.’
But I had forgotten all about them until punk rock. Every interview you read it was mentioning the New York Dolls, so it was like going back to troll through that. I remember when I first heard the Sex Pistols and it was like where did this music come from? I’ve never heard anything like it. And then when I heard the New York Dolls, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s where it came from.’ They are typical of everything we as the Mary Chain are into, it just seems like they’re the real deal. And then you get all these fucking idiots that come along that seem to get all the record sales. All the success seems to go to the wrong people, like Aerosmith and Kiss, when it should have gone to the fucking Dolls. They should have been playing stadiums, not these twats that wear this stupid fucking face makeup for Christ’s sake.
