- although I had seen a lot of that footage at the Bob Gruen hosted screening as part of 2004's Meltdown festival). But still, my reading Trash: The Complete New York Dolls was long overdue and now seemed a good a time as any.
It seems odd that one of the Amazon reviews tries to write off the book as a 'an attempt to cash in on the reunion last year', while directing potential customers to Nina Antonia's Too Much Too Soon
(which admittedly Needs & Porter used as one of their reference documents). Kris Needs had seen the band at Biba and later built up a relationship with Johnny Thunders through his career as a journalist (and at one point, a fellow heroin user), so this seems a touch unfair. That said, the detail on the band post-1975 does follow Thunders' career far more than anyone else; whereas the troubled guitarist provides perhaps the most rcok & roll story he certainly was not the most commercially successful (step forward Mr Johannsen, albeit in the guise of Buster Poindexter).On balance Trash is a superior and more substantial read than Too Much Too Soon
, and the circumstantial background to the band's formation (such as the state of New York in the early 70s) gives their story a welcome setting. Aside from the pre-occupation with Thunders' post-Dolls career there is no significant bias towards any one member, or any suggestion that any one Doll was more responsible for the band's formation than any other - indeed that process comes across as a very organic one.Currently reading: Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall
by Luke HainesOlder posts:
I, Doll: Life & Death With The New York Dolls
New York Dolls - Royal Festival Hall 18/06/04
Nina Antonia - The New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon
Johnny Thunders - So Alone
The New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So
Motorcycle Boy - Popsicle
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