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Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis.

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Speaker 2: The stories about the New York Dolls are insane. They

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Speaker 2: came to life when their hometown of New York City

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Speaker 2: was coming apart the seams, in the midst of rising murder, rape,

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Speaker 2: and burglary rates. The Dolls dressed like women, fucked with men,

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Speaker 2: and made the antics of the Rolling Stones look like

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Speaker 2: innocent schoolboys Shenanigans. Their drummer drowned, their bassis was nearly murdered,

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Speaker 2: their guitar players despised their singer, and the only thing

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Speaker 2: that their singer loved more than Archie Bell was himself. This,

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Speaker 2: of course was all part of the act and the

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Speaker 2: self destruction, the violence that intra band squabbling, But it

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Speaker 2: was of course also a part of the band's reality,

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Speaker 2: a reality that an early seventies New York in that

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Speaker 2: weird moment between downtown avant garde music and the coming

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Speaker 2: part explosion between the Velvets and the Ramones, a transitional

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Speaker 2: New York City reality that the New York Dolls embodied.

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Speaker 2: They were a band that, at the time, just like

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Speaker 2: the city they were from, seemed born to lose. There

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Speaker 2: were also a band that made great music. Unlike that

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Speaker 2: music I played for you at the top of the show,

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Speaker 2: and that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop

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Speaker 2: from my mellotron called Kansas City Flapjack MK two. I

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Speaker 2: played you that loop because I can't afford the rights

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Speaker 2: to Family Affair by Sly and the Family Stone. And

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Speaker 2: why would I play.

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Speaker 1: You that specific slice of Thicker than the Mud funk?

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Speaker 1: Could I afford it?

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Speaker 2: Because that was the number one song in America on

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Speaker 2: Christmas Eve nineteen seventy one, and that was the day

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Speaker 2: the New York Dolls played their first show and forever

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Speaker 2: changed the.

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Speaker 1: Trajectory of rock and roll.

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Speaker 2: On this episode, Lipstick Killers a city in transition in

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Speaker 2: the New York Dolls, I'm Jake Brennan, and this disgraced

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Speaker 2: the Bandido lived a life that was envied, separate and

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Speaker 2: apart from the daily life of his fellow Colombians, who

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Speaker 2: struggled under the constant threat of violence from political unrest

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Speaker 2: or alternately, under the thumb of political oppression via the

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Speaker 2: National Front. The Bandido was immune to such social stressors.

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Speaker 2: He took what he wanted when he wanted, and if

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Speaker 2: you couldn't get with that, then he wouldn't.

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Speaker 1: Live to see the next Bogata sunset.

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Speaker 2: This particular outlaw, with his skin tight American jeans, cowboy boots,

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Speaker 2: two tight cowboy shirt snug around his bulging belly, a

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Speaker 2: belly that everyone knew was just bound to send those

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Speaker 2: mother of pearl snaps bursting open one day, had a

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Speaker 2: particular type of confidence, a no good type of confidence

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Speaker 2: that was plain as the black on his stetson. His

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Speaker 2: confidence sprung from the fierceness he knew and everyone else

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Speaker 2: knew he was capable of the violence He'd demonstrated time

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Speaker 2: and time again when faced with any conflict. When it

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Speaker 2: came to his trade, smuggling tax free goods from America

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Speaker 2: into Colombia and increasingly marijuana from the Sierra Nevada de

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Speaker 2: Santa Monte Mountains to America, the bandido was savage in

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Speaker 2: protecting his livelihood and reputation. Across him once and you'd

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Speaker 2: be lucky to get a warning. Twice, and he'd deploy

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Speaker 2: his favorite form of justice, the Colombian necktie, a neat

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Speaker 2: little trick where he'd slit you ear to ear under

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Speaker 2: your jaw with his switchblade and then yank your tongue

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Speaker 2: through the fresh hole in you, and if you really

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Speaker 2: upset them before killing you, he detail all the horrible

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Speaker 2: ways he was going to rape and murder your surviving

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Speaker 2: family members. Savage bandito in Colombia, even in the late

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Speaker 2: fifties early sixties, it was widely known that the bandido

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Speaker 2: as a loose group of smugglers, were not to be crossed,

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Speaker 2: especially in Bogata, where the drug trade was just beginning

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Speaker 2: to take shape and centralize power. If you found yourself

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Speaker 2: in opposition to the banditos, it meant one thing, certain

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Speaker 2: violent death. It didn't matter if you were a fellow smuggler,

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Speaker 2: a government official, a member of a parliamentary group, some

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Speaker 2: high ranking rival crime syndicate associator, even a lowly ice

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Speaker 2: skating rink owner like mister Mercia, crossed the bandidos, and you, my.

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Speaker 1: Friend, were dead.

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Speaker 2: As Disco, except Disco hadn't happened yet yet, not by

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Speaker 2: the time mister Mercia and his family arrived in Queens,

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Speaker 2: New York from Bogata to start their new life free

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Speaker 2: of antito hostility. Disco would come much later, but its

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Speaker 2: celebration of blended gender identity and hedonism would be made

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Speaker 2: possible in part by one of the youngest merciasts, Billy,

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Speaker 2: who didn't know it then upon arriving as an immigrant

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Speaker 2: in Jamaica, queens that he would one day go on

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Speaker 2: to massively influence American culture with his future band, the

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Speaker 2: New York Dolls. Nineteen seventy New York City crime grime, unrest.

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Speaker 2: The city was fast becoming a startling example of urban decay.

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Speaker 2: A decade prior of social upheaval, cuts and law enforcement

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Speaker 2: disappearing blue collar job opportunities had led to a new

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Speaker 2: wave of rampant crime. One hundred percent increase in arrests,

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Speaker 2: a tripling of the rape and burglary rates, and a

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Speaker 2: murder rate that was quickly skyrocketing from six hundred and

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Speaker 2: eighty one a year in nineteen sixty nine to one thousand,

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Speaker 2: six hundred and ninety murders by nineteen seventy four. That's

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Speaker 2: more than one thousand more murders per year. Middle class

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Speaker 2: residents fled to the suburbs, landlords torched their apartment buildings

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Speaker 2: for insurance dollars, and the desperate did what they had

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Speaker 2: to do to survive. And the criminal mind had thrived.

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Speaker 2: The New York City Subway became known as the Muggers Express.

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Speaker 2: Times Square, once the crown jewel of Manhattan, with its

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Speaker 2: Landmark theaters and Golden cinemas, became overrun by peep show joints, pimps,

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Speaker 2: street walkers, prostitution parlors, and skin flick movie houses, a

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Speaker 2: seedy symbol of the city's decline. Downtown, the Bowery was

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Speaker 2: overrun with homeless. The West Side Piers served as the

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Speaker 2: city's unofficial gay hookup spot, a darkened bachnal filled with

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Speaker 2: not only men desperate to connect in a thoroughly repressed society,

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Speaker 2: but also with gay back uhs, wallet snatchers, and rough

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Speaker 2: trade slashers. He approached the peers in the seventies with

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Speaker 2: the thrill of your life in your chest, but also

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Speaker 2: by taking your life in your hands. These and many

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Speaker 2: other factors all combined to give nineteen seventies New York

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Speaker 2: City a new moniker fear city. It was in this

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Speaker 2: city the Colombian export Billy Mercia and his Egyptian immigrant

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Speaker 2: power from Jamaica, Queen SYLVAMZRAII, fed their twin obsessions, fashion and.

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Speaker 1: Rock and roll.

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Speaker 2: They played drums and guitar, respectively, and started their own

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Speaker 2: fashion label, Truth and Soul, and they applied their immigrant

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Speaker 2: grit and sense of entrepreneurship to create their own opportunity

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Speaker 2: in a city that was fast approaching at ten percent

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Speaker 2: on employment rate. Billy's mom, Mercedes, imported a master loomer

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Speaker 2: from Columbia, and the clothes they created garnered to write

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Speaker 2: up in the influential Women's Wear Daily, and Truth in

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Speaker 2: Soul quickly sold their inspired designs to a bigger company,

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Speaker 2: the results of which were a windfall of cash for

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Speaker 2: young Billy Mercia and his friend Sylvain, and they quickly

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Speaker 2: get the fuck out of Heerce City headed to Europe,

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Speaker 2: and they went their separate ways party, drank, chased, euro

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Speaker 2: skirt sniffed, glue brawl, took in some new fashion ideas,

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Speaker 2: and eventually linked back up in London to fill their

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Speaker 2: travel chests with Ludwig drums, Marshall amplifiers, and dozens of

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Speaker 2: hard to find Mickey Mouse ringer teas.

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Speaker 1: They shipped it all.

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Speaker 2: Home, along with the new Jaguar they'd purchased, and when

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Speaker 2: they themselves finally made their way back to Manhattan, they

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Speaker 2: discovered their future roaming the streets of New York City

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Speaker 2: right under their glue sniffing noses, right alongside the pimps

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Speaker 2: and the pros, the hustlers cruising Christopher Street, and the

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Speaker 2: bums and the Bowery. He was only five foot seven,

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Speaker 2: but still he cut an impressive figure. You'd think it

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Speaker 2: was the four inch platform shoes he was wearing a

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Speaker 2: La Ti rex Is Mark Bolan, or the impressive Italian

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Speaker 2: tailored suits he was rocking while still just a teenager.

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Speaker 2: But it was so much more than that. It was

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Speaker 2: the way he carried himself like a motherfucker, with the

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Speaker 2: rock star's confidence and outlaws, confidence even at such a

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Speaker 2: tender age. He learned from getting up close and personal

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Speaker 2: with rock and roll's most infamous bandido at the time,

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Speaker 2: Keith Richards. He'd heard about this bar on Fifth around

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Speaker 2: Thirteenth Street. Supposedly John Lennon hung out there members of

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Speaker 2: the MC five too, so of course he began frequenting

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Speaker 2: the bar, and sure enough, one night he found Keith

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Speaker 2: Richards sitting by his lonesome just drinking and smoking. He

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Speaker 2: and his friends joined Keith, who was more than happy

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Speaker 2: to share his smokes with these fast talking American street kids.

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Speaker 2: He couldn't believe it he was in love with the Stones.

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Speaker 2: He made sure he was right up front near the

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Speaker 2: stage when they played Madison Square Garden in sixty nine,

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Speaker 2: and there he was sure enough and the Maser Brothers

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Speaker 2: gimme shelter. Documentary on the Rolling Stones. He can be

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Speaker 2: seen four or five rows back opposite Mick Jack, looking

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Speaker 2: so cool in the audience that you wonder why he's

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Speaker 2: not on stage with the band, John Gonzale the Queens,

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Speaker 2: New York.

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Speaker 1: He'd later give himself the rock and roll name Johnny Thunders.

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Speaker 2: It was part DC comic hero reference, part homage to

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Speaker 2: the Kinks, and part Harbinger of Doom, a nod to

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Speaker 2: the born to lose attitude he would bring to his

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Speaker 2: band that was destined to do just that. But before

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Speaker 2: burning out, he needed to get his start, and that

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Speaker 2: start happened with Billy Mercia and Sylvain Mazrahi, who is

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Speaker 2: now calling himself Sylvain and Sylvain. They joined forces and

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Speaker 2: were now in need of a bass player and another

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Speaker 2: guitar player for the new band they were putting together,

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Speaker 2: and Johnny kept his head on his swivel, not knowing

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Speaker 2: where in New York you might find opportunity. It came

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Speaker 2: to a one night on Bleaker Street. While holding up

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Speaker 2: a lamppost with the lean of his effortless cool Johnny

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Speaker 2: nonchalantly took in the action, which at the moment meant

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Speaker 2: two dudes, one short, one massively tall, t to steal

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Speaker 2: a motorcycle. They'd secured it and were now comically trying

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Speaker 2: to lift the massive bike into the back of their van.

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Speaker 1: Johnny watched, and they noticed. They did not look happy.

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Speaker 2: They abandoned their new bike mid theft and walked straight

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Speaker 2: toward Johnny. Johnny saw them coming, but was helpless. Running

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Speaker 2: away in forage platform boots wasn't an option. He resigned

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Speaker 2: to look tough get into it on his terms if

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Speaker 2: he had to it all there or at the lamppost.

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Speaker 2: When the two got up on him, he noticed their

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Speaker 2: threads inspired rock and roll, not as bespoke as his,

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Speaker 2: but cool nonetheless, and their faces betrayed their intentions not

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Speaker 2: to whoop his ass, but to instead gather intel. The

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Speaker 2: tall one fucking long haired rock and roll Frankenstein that

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Speaker 2: he was spoke up. Aren't you the guy who plays

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Speaker 2: guitar or something from that Stones movie? Johnny nodded, and

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Speaker 2: they played too. Their names were Arthur Killer Kane and

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Speaker 2: Rick Rivets rock and roll as Fuck. A jam session

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Speaker 2: was planned with Billions sil Van as well.

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Speaker 1: At All jibed.

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Speaker 2: Now they only needed a singer. Billy knew about this guy,

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Speaker 2: who dated a chick from the Warhol scene. She was

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Speaker 2: much older than a model, so that was cool. Supposedly

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Speaker 2: he was some sort of poet who vibed on Cuban music,

200
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Speaker 2: could shout like Otis Redding, tightened up like Archie Bell,

201
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Speaker 2: and looked like a more masculine version of Mick Jagger,

202
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Speaker 2: and that all sounded great to Billy and the rest

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Speaker 2: of the band.

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Speaker 1: Like Billy Mercy.

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Speaker 2: This guy's given name was so cool that he didn't

206
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Speaker 2: need a stage name to join as their singer. David

207
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Speaker 2: Johanson hooked on after one rehearsal, and the.

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Speaker 1: New York Dolls were born.

209
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Speaker 2: Their first show was a beggars banquet for welfare recipients

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Speaker 2: at Manhattan's Endicott Hotel, a rat trap on eighty first Street,

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Speaker 2: where four women were mysteriously slain in the early seventies.

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Speaker 1: And they were billed as a dance band. No one danced.

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Speaker 2: One of their next shows was in Brooklyn at Man's Country,

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Speaker 2: a gay bathhouse that advertised with the following, just a

215
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Speaker 2: fifteen minute ride on the Iron Horse puts you in

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Speaker 2: our corral.

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Speaker 1: No one cared about the band.

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Speaker 2: Those who were there were more interested in the sex

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Speaker 2: being had in the bathhouse, changing cubicles.

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Speaker 1: But the indifference didn't matter. It was now.

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Speaker 2: Nineteen seventy two, Lou Reed had long split, the velvet underground,

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Speaker 2: and the torch of downtown cool was about to be

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Speaker 2: formerly passed to the New York Dolls. The New York

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Speaker 2: Dolls were officially a thing in New York City. The

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Speaker 2: grimy crimester in city that spawned them. You'd best believe

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Speaker 2: was in love luv. There's no way the band could

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00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,000
Speaker 2: have just been called the Dolls. They were one hundred

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Speaker 2: percent New York all the way through to someone from

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Speaker 2: anywhere else. Conceptually, they made little sense. The New York

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Speaker 2: Dolls played sacred R and B music spawned from the

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Speaker 2: South and Midwest, jumped up blues and soul written by

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Speaker 2: Black American master traditionalists like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley,

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Speaker 2: men and artists who were larger than life. But the

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Speaker 2: New York Dolls were five skinny white kids from the

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Speaker 2: outer boroughs like the city they came from. They were

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Speaker 2: a meld of diverse ethnic backgrounds, Colombian and Egyptian immigrants,

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Speaker 2: the second generation Italian American, a Norwegian Irish kid from

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Speaker 2: Staten Island, and an Irish American kid from the Bronx.

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Speaker 1: It all came together in a way.

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Speaker 2: That was distinctly American in America that generations of immigrants

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Speaker 2: from New York Celus Island put their stamp on. Their

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00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,400
Speaker 2: attitude on and off stage exuded a pronounced outer Borrow

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Speaker 2: masculinity of what you're talking to me toughness, Yet their

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Speaker 2: fashion sense was the total opposite.

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Speaker 1: Straight up.

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Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy two, just three years after Stonewall, five

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Speaker 2: years before Harvey Milk, forty three years before the Supreme

248
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Speaker 2: Court made marriage equality the law of the land, and

249
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Speaker 2: a fucking eternity before mainstream America even began to consider

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00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,480
Speaker 2: equality for trans, non binary and gender fluid sexuality, the

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Speaker 2: five dudes in the New York Dolls dressed on stage

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Speaker 2: in all seriousness as chicks. In no way does this

253
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Speaker 2: sound today as revolutionary as it was in nineteen seventy two,

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Speaker 2: but it was completely groundbreaking at the time. The key

255
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Speaker 2: was that what the dolls were doing was in drag.

256
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Speaker 1: They wore a.

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Speaker 2: Platform heels, skin tight pants, and tutus, heavy eye makeup

258
00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,720
Speaker 2: and lipstick, but the overall effect was not to transform

259
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,800
Speaker 2: them into quote unquote fags, as they were often referred

260
00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,880
Speaker 2: to by jealous, less enlightened Seasters. New York Dolls were

261
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:07,160
Speaker 2: far from it. They dressed as women, but they played hard,

262
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 2: crunched up power chord shrieking solos and fetamine jungle beats,

263
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,360
Speaker 2: driving rhythms, scorched overtly sexual vocals in a higher than

264
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,000
Speaker 2: the Empire state building too fucked up to care type energy.

265
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,600
Speaker 2: When the New York Dolls applied this approach to three

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Speaker 2: minute R and B songs, they were inadvertently building the

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Speaker 2: foundation for punk rock, years before Johnny Ramone or Johnny

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Speaker 2: Rotten wouldever even enter a recording studio. It was utterly confounding,

269
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Speaker 2: and to make things more confusing, despite the way they

270
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:42,119
Speaker 2: dressed like women, or perhaps because of it, women hot.

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Speaker 1: Women wanted to fuck them.

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Speaker 2: Men were afraid of them, of course, but that all

273
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Speaker 2: went out the window as soon as beautiful girls started

274
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,000
Speaker 2: flocking to see the dolls, Because wherever hot women go

275
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,400
Speaker 2: men follow. The band was gorgeous and fun and totally

276
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Speaker 2: unique and of course.

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Speaker 1: A little bit dangerous. Actually, scratch, they were a lot dangerous.

278
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,400
Speaker 2: They continued their pension for playing shows wherever the hell

279
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Speaker 2: they could and set up shop at a decaying Mercer

280
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Speaker 2: Arts Center at six seventy three Broadway, and there was

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00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,879
Speaker 2: no real stage. The band played basically in the middle

282
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,520
Speaker 2: of the audience and thrashed around in their makeup and

283
00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:22,960
Speaker 2: four inch heels. The crowd was wild models, rock kids, artists,

284
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,919
Speaker 2: drag queens, bikers, thugs, horrors, stars in the making who

285
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,879
Speaker 2: would steal and refine the Dolls Act. Gene Simmons and

286
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,000
Speaker 2: Paul Stanley of Kiss, and even bona fide rock stars

287
00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,200
Speaker 2: like Elton John and David Bowie.

288
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,280
Speaker 1: Came through to see what was up.

289
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 2: Attendees didn't know if they were going to get maimed

290
00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,720
Speaker 2: by a guitar, head stabbed in the bathroom, were cast

291
00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,960
Speaker 2: in Andy's new film, or impregnated by the band. Early

292
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,760
Speaker 2: New York Dollars shows had the down home danger and

293
00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,040
Speaker 2: violence of the Chitlin circuit and the high arc glamour

294
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 2: and sex appeal of the Warhol Factory. Their Mercer Center

295
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,720
Speaker 2: shows are legendary. Nearly every quote I can find from

296
00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,359
Speaker 2: anyone who is there is roughly some version of the

297
00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,240
Speaker 2: same thing, put best by rock photographer Bob Groon, who

298
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,600
Speaker 2: said that seeing the New York Dolls at the Mercer

299
00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 2: Center was quote just the most exciting thing I had ever.

300
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,879
Speaker 1: Seen in my life. En Groon wasn't the only one

301
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:15,720
Speaker 1: who thought this way.

302
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,639
Speaker 2: The band quickly became the toast of the town, rubbing

303
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,760
Speaker 2: elbows with Bette Midler and Mick Jagger and attending parties

304
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,160
Speaker 2: uptown with the likes of Gloria Vanderbilt. It was low

305
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:31,120
Speaker 2: arm meets high society. After conquering their hometown, London, beckoned

306
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,440
Speaker 2: and in London it was more of the same. Paul

307
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,960
Speaker 2: McCartney came snooping around one of their early shows. Members

308
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,600
Speaker 2: of The Who, as well with their managers Kit Lambert

309
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,040
Speaker 2: and Chris Stamp, the lead dogs in the race to

310
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:46,120
Speaker 2: sign the New York Dolls to a record deal.

311
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:47,720
Speaker 1: Mick Jagger came.

312
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:49,919
Speaker 2: Round again to see them plan his home turf, but

313
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,879
Speaker 2: officially passed on signing the band to the newly formed

314
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,879
Speaker 2: Rolling Stones Records, and Stone's guitarist Mick Taylor quipped to

315
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,560
Speaker 2: the press that the Dolls were the worst high school

316
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:00,639
Speaker 2: band I ever saw.

317
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,280
Speaker 1: David Johansson quickly shot back, no, We're the best high

318
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,640
Speaker 1: school band you ever saw, Buddy, the kids will love us,

319
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:12,000
Speaker 1: so awesome, so New York. But the rejection didn't matter.

320
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,159
Speaker 2: The Dolls were a sensation in London, and, as was

321
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,240
Speaker 2: the custom of most young male rockers throughout the history

322
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,720
Speaker 2: of time, they party their faces off. Boos, sex, drugs,

323
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,800
Speaker 2: more boos, more sex, and more drugs were everywhere for them,

324
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,720
Speaker 2: and on November sixth, nineteen seventy two, it proved dark

325
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:37,200
Speaker 2: for the young band with the bright future. Billy Mercia

326
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,679
Speaker 2: was the life of the party. The Cromwell Road flat

327
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,280
Speaker 2: was stacked with second generation Chelsea set actors, fashion designers

328
00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,080
Speaker 2: and international call girls, a scene if there ever was one,

329
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,560
Speaker 2: and all of them in the throes of the American

330
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,960
Speaker 2: rock and roller, keeping them entertained with his undeniable New

331
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,480
Speaker 2: York miss sharp, funny, handsome Billy Mercia lived up to

332
00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,480
Speaker 2: his band his height, A band who had recently blown

333
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,320
Speaker 2: the locals away with their opening set at Webley Pool

334
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:10,280
Speaker 2: in support of Rod Stewart. Billy knew no one really, Indeed,

335
00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,320
Speaker 2: he ended up there by mistake, but it didn't matter.

336
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 2: A good time is a good time. So champagne was

337
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,640
Speaker 2: guzzled and coludes were ingested, and sooner or later someone noticed,

338
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,000
Speaker 2: possibly fashion designer Malcolm Rains, that Billy Mercia wasn't moving.

339
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:31,879
Speaker 2: He was passed out, unresponsive. One of the more experienced

340
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:37,439
Speaker 2: revelers called it immediately o d Most everyone split, and

341
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,720
Speaker 2: the few who didn't, rather than call an ambulance and

342
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,399
Speaker 2: risk getting busted by authorities, put what limited experience they

343
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,880
Speaker 2: had towards solving the problem. They called out his name,

344
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 2: he didn't respond. They slapped his face, he didn't respond.

345
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,040
Speaker 2: They ran a cold bath, dumped dice in it, and

346
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,600
Speaker 2: then dumped Billy's prone body into it, and he didn't

347
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,399
Speaker 2: respond to that either. They pulled his head up and

348
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,080
Speaker 2: poured hot black coffee down his throat, and this likely

349
00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 2: did more harm than good. And they slapped him some

350
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 2: more and nothing. They pressed ice cubes to his cold flesh.

351
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,200
Speaker 2: Again nothing. And they drug him out of the tub

352
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 2: and tried walking him around the flat, his wet shoes

353
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 2: dragging all over the plush carpet.

354
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:14,359
Speaker 1: No response.

355
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 2: Eventually, they put him back in the tub, where he drowned.

356
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,679
Speaker 2: By the time authorities are on the scene, there was

357
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,639
Speaker 2: nothing they could do. The coroner, who just two years

358
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,880
Speaker 2: earlier had overseen the inquest into the death of Jimmie Hendricks,

359
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,240
Speaker 2: said that by far the best thing to have done

360
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,399
Speaker 2: would have been to get an ambulance straight away, and

361
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,720
Speaker 2: certainly not put a person in a bath of water.

362
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,960
Speaker 2: Billy Mercia, drummer of the New York Dolls, was dead

363
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,359
Speaker 2: at the age of twenty one, and his band was

364
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,720
Speaker 2: on the fast track to self destruction, the only track

365
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,440
Speaker 2: available to a true rock and roll band.

366
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,440
Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word word word. After

367
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 1: Billy Mercy's death, the band returned to the States to regroup,

368
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,400
Speaker 1: unsure of their future. Eventually, the band was brought back

369
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: to life by Billy's replacement on drums, Jerry Nolan. Again intact,

370
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:11,920
Speaker 1: there was only one thing for the band to do,

371
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,160
Speaker 1: hit the road. The New York Dolls first US tour

372
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,119
Speaker 1: was a waiting whirlwind that almost never started. Disaster struck

373
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: before the band even.

374
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 2: Left New York, and it came in the form of Connie.

375
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,320
Speaker 2: Connie all six foot ten inches on her or whatever

376
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,919
Speaker 2: her actual height was, she was huge In Amazon like

377
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,879
Speaker 2: most of the women who got with New York Dolls

378
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,800
Speaker 2: bass player Arthur Kane, she had a body straight out

379
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 2: in our curm comic. Arthur himself stood over six feet

380
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,920
Speaker 2: tall and liked his women big. Where exactly he found them,

381
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,200
Speaker 2: his bandmates didn't really know, but they.

382
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 1: Were pretty sure.

383
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 2: He found Connie wandering Times Square at night, either looking

384
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 2: for a john or dodging or pimp with her blade

385
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,000
Speaker 2: in her boot for protection. Arthur was a sucker from

386
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,560
Speaker 2: the first time he laid eyes on her. He was hot,

387
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: but hot temper too, and on this night her mercury

388
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:05,120
Speaker 2: was way up the two.

389
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 1: Connie was furious that Arthur was.

390
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 2: Going to La without her to begin the Dolls tour

391
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,960
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles. There was nothing he could do about it,

392
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 2: he explained. The band was broke, true, and girlfriends therefore

393
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 2: weren't able to accompany them on the road because there simply.

394
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,160
Speaker 1: Wasn't enough money. Kind of true.

395
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 2: Connie waited until Arthur fell asleep in their apartment. He

396
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,920
Speaker 2: was exhausted. The Dolls had just finished a ten show

397
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 2: run in Max's Kansas City, and he was crashing trying

398
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 2: to grab some rest before departing for the West.

399
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 1: Coast in two days.

400
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,359
Speaker 2: He slept face down on his stomach and awoke to

401
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:43,239
Speaker 2: Waite bearing on her. Connie, with her massive body naked, straddling.

402
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: And holding him down.

403
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 2: Was she trying to kill him? Worse, she was trying

404
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 2: to saw his fingers off with the knife so he

405
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 2: could no longer play bass. Can't bring me to LA

406
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,600
Speaker 2: with your fucking band, you fucking dickhead. Fuck the fuck

407
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,440
Speaker 2: you try playing bass without a thumb. Arthur threw her off,

408
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 2: and in the process she got his hands good with

409
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 2: the knife.

410
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:02,120
Speaker 1: Blood gushed.

411
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 2: Arthur stood Connie, naked mad for the window in order

412
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 2: to hit the fire escape.

413
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 1: Arthur tried going after, but quickly fell on his face.

414
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,720
Speaker 2: Connie had tied his shoes together, and now she was gone,

415
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,560
Speaker 2: with no clothes on into the New York City night.

416
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 2: Arthur's wound was bad enough that bass playing was out

417
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 2: of the question for at least two months. He was

418
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 2: so depressed the band ended up taking him on tour

419
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 2: anyway to ensure that he didn't commit suicide. While they

420
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,160
Speaker 2: were gone, They enlisted their friend Peter Jordan to fill in.

421
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,280
Speaker 2: When they hit La, La flipped out. It was groopy

422
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 2: Mania and Johnny lasted all of five minutes before infamous

423
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,119
Speaker 2: kid Groupy Sable Star scooped him up. She was fifteen,

424
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,320
Speaker 2: and Johnny was smitten. Immediately he was calling home telling

425
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 2: his family he was going to marry this girl. Her age,

426
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 2: it seemed didn't matter, nothing mattered. It was gross, as

427
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,959
Speaker 2: was the behavior of most rock stars who made their

428
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,479
Speaker 2: way through the LA groupie scene in the seventies, but

429
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 2: it didn't start a lot of them, and it didn't

430
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 2: stop Johnny Thunders and the New York Dolls, who were

431
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 2: in constant motion play Shock, Fuck, Repeat. They slayed during

432
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 2: their five show run at the Whiskey a Go Go.

433
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 2: By the time they left LA, fourteen year old boys

434
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 2: were walking down sunset strip and lipstick.

435
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,119
Speaker 1: Which was exactly what authorities feared.

436
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,840
Speaker 2: The tour rolled on to Memphis, home of the King

437
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 2: of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, who by nineteen seventy

438
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 2: three was starting to look more like a Kung Fu

439
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 2: Liberachi with his Vegas rhinestones and hip hockers and his

440
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,719
Speaker 2: former heteronormative rock and roll avatar sell The fact that

441
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,359
Speaker 2: Elvis may have somehow owed some of his newfound glam

442
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 2: fashion to a movement the Dolls at birth was lost

443
00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 2: in the King's hometown, police, who were chomping at the

444
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 2: bit to bust the Dolls Memphis Biness, got their chance

445
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:54,040
Speaker 2: on September twenty first, nineteen seventy three, when the band

446
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 2: hit the stage at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee. Prior

447
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 2: to their show, words spread of the band's cross dressing,

448
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 2: debauchery and general challenges to authority. Local papers covered the

449
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,880
Speaker 2: out of town exploits of the band in great detail

450
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:09,120
Speaker 2: prior to their arrival.

451
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,480
Speaker 1: As a result, tickets to their show sold out in

452
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:13,440
Speaker 1: a matter of minutes.

453
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,320
Speaker 2: With the big crowd came a heavy, good old boy

454
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 2: police presence to keep everybody, especially the New York Dolls,

455
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 2: in line. Iggy Pop opened up. No one cared, but

456
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 2: when the infamous New York Dolls took the stage and

457
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 2: kids started to bop around to get into it, that

458
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,240
Speaker 2: was all the cops needed for an excuse. Out came

459
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 2: the billy clubs. The pigs swung them mercilessly. One kid

460
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,360
Speaker 2: busted through the crowd and after he left up onto

461
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 2: the stage, charged singer David Johansson and planted a big, fat,

462
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,879
Speaker 2: wet kiss on his lips. That's when the cops really

463
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 2: lost it. The beating commenced, a.

464
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:48,920
Speaker 1: Full scale riot was in effect.

465
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 2: The band kept playing, David cracked wise into the mic, hey,

466
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 2: how do you know he's not the mayor's son? You're

467
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 2: beaten on and the melee continued until one cop grabbed

468
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 2: David and pulled him off stage, and they quickly cuffed it,

469
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:01,919
Speaker 2: yanked him out of the venue and stuck him in

470
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,199
Speaker 2: the back of the cruiser, and they arrested him for

471
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 2: lude behavior because he dressed in women's clothing, and for

472
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 2: inciting a riot because well, he kind of did, but

473
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:18,640
Speaker 2: not before the cops kicked it off. David Johansson spent

474
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,199
Speaker 2: the night in an open cell with three other prisoners

475
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 2: in norma kamellly pants and women shoes. He made bail

476
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: in the morning and remarkably made it out of jail

477
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:31,120
Speaker 2: without further notice. But violence and destruction when it came

478
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 2: to the New York Dolls was just a kiss away.

479
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 2: Real rock and roll bands, real rock stars don't last.

480
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 2: They exist for brief moments of time and either die

481
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,639
Speaker 2: or break up. It is impossible for a rock band,

482
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,080
Speaker 2: a rock star, for real rock stars to make it

483
00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 2: in any long lasting sort of way, because time corrupts,

484
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,159
Speaker 2: either through the natural process of aging rock and roll is,

485
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 2: after all, the young person's game, or through the corruption

486
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 2: of the music industry that demands some sort of mainstream

487
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,960
Speaker 2: compromise in order to survive, or because the pressures and

488
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 2: distractions of stardom cause them to take their eyes at

489
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 2: the creative ball. Whatever the reason, it happens, real rock

490
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 2: stars don't last. This is not an opinion, this is fact.

491
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,280
Speaker 2: How many truly great, long lasting bands or musical artists

492
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 2: have zero bad records. I can think of only one,

493
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 2: the Beatles.

494
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 1: The key phrase here being long lasting.

495
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,520
Speaker 2: Plenty of short lived artists put out only great music

496
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 2: artists who never lasted long enough to misstep creatively. The

497
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,240
Speaker 2: sex Pistols and Nirvana immediately come to mind. But believe me,

498
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 2: after a Utero, given the pressure the band was under,

499
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 2: Nirvana was due for a dud. And there's no way

500
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 2: in hell that the sex Pistols had they survived their

501
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 2: first and normally US tour, We're going to go into

502
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 2: the studio and play nice and focus and create a

503
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 2: great second Sex Pistols record. Maybe I'm wrong, but I

504
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 2: doubt it. Eventually, one way or another, an artist's success

505
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 2: will open the door to some sort of compromise or distraction,

506
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 2: and before you know it, we the fans are given

507
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 2: crap like Dirty Work by the Rolling Stones, or Saint

508
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,640
Speaker 2: Anger by Metallica, or Saved by Bob Dylan. All of

509
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 2: these artists recovered from their many missteps. Most do because

510
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 2: most artists, the good ones anyway, are survivalists, self preservationists.

511
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 2: The New York Dolls were anything. But they were not

512
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 2: merely good. They were great, and they were not survivalists.

513
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:45,239
Speaker 2: They were born to lose, born to lose because they

514
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 2: were one of the purest expressions of rock and roll

515
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,480
Speaker 2: anyone had ever seen. The New York Dolls, like many

516
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 2: bands of the time or at any time, really lived

517
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 2: as excessively off stage as they played on stage, with

518
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 2: wild abandon without caring about anything that was either fun,

519
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 2: the exciting, cool, or some combination of the three. The drugs, coke, speed,

520
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,640
Speaker 2: lsd pills, heroin, the sex with groupies, models, social lites,

521
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 2: and wanted by women and now men alike.

522
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 1: It was textbook rock and roll hedonism, I'm sure.

523
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: But what separated the Dolls from any other artist before

524
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 2: was the subversiveness they brought to the music industry, namely

525
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 2: in the way they presented themselves as women, but not

526
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 2: in the Jack lemon Tony Curtis comic away with fake

527
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 2: breasts and dresses, but instead and tied off silk blouses

528
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 2: that showed off their hairy chest and skin tight spandex

529
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 2: that showed off their cocks. The makeup, the hair, the skin,

530
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 2: glamour from the gutter. It was literally unlike anything that

531
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,120
Speaker 2: had been seen in pop music before, and it was

532
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 2: all on display on the cover of their Todd Rungren

533
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 2: produced debut on Mercury Records. The rumors that all of

534
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,880
Speaker 2: the members of the band were gay were there from

535
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 2: the start, but the album cover only reinforced those rumors,

536
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,719
Speaker 2: something that the band Bomper did, never missing an opportunity

537
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,640
Speaker 2: to play up the rumored homosexuality.

538
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 1: In public for shock value.

539
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 2: David Johansson claimed he was try sexual, explaining that he'd

540
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 2: try anything. It was all silly. It was all a

541
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 2: way to stand out, a way to grab a laugh.

542
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 2: From the band's perspective, the way they dressed or what

543
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 2: they did with their dicks was all secondary, because when

544
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 2: it came down to it, they could bring it on

545
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 2: stage like no one else, and ultimately that's all this

546
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 2: should have mattered. That's not how the game is played.

547
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 2: What should matter has nothing to do with it. What

548
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 2: does matter matters most, And what mattered in terms of

549
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 2: making it in the music business in nineteen seventy three

550
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 2: was what influential radio programmers in promo men thought. These

551
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 2: were the men who held the success of artists in

552
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 2: the palms of their thick, greasy little hands. They decided

553
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,960
Speaker 2: which artist records got spawned on the radio, and thus

554
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 2: which artists sold and advanced their careers.

555
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: And to most of these.

556
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 2: Men, many of whom were from the Midwest or from

557
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,560
Speaker 2: a previous generation with less relaxed views on gender, a

558
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 2: band that looked like this and that openly flaunted cross

559
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,520
Speaker 2: dressing and homosexuality was out of the question, So no

560
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 2: radio play, and so the New York Dolls debut album,

561
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 2: despite being a rave up classic of proto punk post

562
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,360
Speaker 2: rock and roll glory Day greatness, was dead on arrival.

563
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: There was only one thing to do, shoot their way

564
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 1: out of the business.

565
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 2: When mafia families used to go to war in New

566
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,479
Speaker 2: York City, they called it going to the mattresses. Small

567
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 2: crews of mob soldiers while at war, would disrupt their

568
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 2: normal living routines, rent out tiny Manhattan apartments, stuff them

569
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 2: with ten or so mattresses to scatter on the floor

570
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 2: and sleep on in a group for protection, away from

571
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 2: their families, to protect them as well. Should anything happen,

572
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 2: and they'd all be together, they'd all go down together.

573
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: The New York Dolls were going down, but not without

574
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 1: going to war. First.

575
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 2: They were at war with the music business. They didn't

576
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 2: know it, but it was award they could not win.

577
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 2: Valentine's Day nineteen seventy four East Fourteenth Street a holiday massacre,

578
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,720
Speaker 2: not unlike the Halloween hit on Albert Anastasia back in

579
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 2: fifty seven. The Lord High Executioner Murder Incorporated, leader of

580
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 2: one of the deadliest crews of gangland contract killers ever assembled.

581
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 2: But there was now a deadlier crew of assassins on

582
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,480
Speaker 2: the block, and Anastasia saw his end in Share number

583
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 2: four of the Sheridan Hotel Lobby barbershop. Rival mob boss

584
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 2: Feudo Genaviz gave the order. Crazy Joe Gallo organized the hit,

585
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 2: pushed Anastasia's button with ten bullets fired in front of

586
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 2: eleven witnesses. No one saw a thing. Only in New York.

587
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 2: But now nineteen seventy four, another crew of killers, lipstick Killers.

588
00:33:54,760 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 3: Dick chose a loud in Metro Manorhouse the Lay alias

589
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:09,359
Speaker 3: the Dancer known to be a tough custom pretty boy

590
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:19,399
Speaker 3: Moa alias Gofi Giovanni, Jindal alias Johnny Cup, Rocky Joe

591
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 3: Head Buttons, duck Killer, King.

592
00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:35,839
Speaker 1: Alien under Hurld came June. There was no telling who

593
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 1: the Lipstick Killers are going to strike again.

594
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 2: But even when he was on Boss the big man

595
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,479
Speaker 2: with the pinky ring on his stick, greasy little hand.

596
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,040
Speaker 2: The hit was planned for the Academy of Music, Billy

597
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,800
Speaker 2: Fox's old movie Palace. Lipstick Killers sped up their German

598
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,320
Speaker 2: gangster sleds slid into the spot in front of the

599
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,280
Speaker 2: Marquee Trust to kill three piece suits, pinstripes for Doora's

600
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 2: wide not ties, carnations, bat leather shoe, their guns by

601
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 2: their sides, They raced in, blazing down the aisles of

602
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,400
Speaker 2: the theater, firing off rounds from their hardware.

603
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 1: Indiscriminately. Messi ass was their style.

604
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 2: Just looking for one bullet to kiss the Boss, pierce

605
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 2: his greasy skin, shoot him down, but the shots backfired.

606
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,239
Speaker 2: The plan was a bust. The Lipstick Killers had run

607
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 2: out of track. They were now on stage in the theater,

608
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,840
Speaker 2: playing a cool, nonchalant and they picked up the band's instruments,

609
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 2: shed their pinstripes, donned their spandex.

610
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 1: And did what came natural.

611
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,960
Speaker 2: Roped the house in a way that only the New

612
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:41,600
Speaker 2: York Dolls could unbridled, unhinged, impassioned, inspired, rough, real, raw, sexy, chic,

613
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,719
Speaker 2: pure rock and roll, and they kept it up as

614
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,360
Speaker 2: long as they could after the show. Through the promotion

615
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 2: of their glorious second album, Too Much, Too Soon, they

616
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 2: continued to scorch audiences with their unique pre punk brand

617
00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 2: of rock and roll. They drank, fucked, dressed outrageously, challenged

618
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,680
Speaker 2: any and all doubters, killed like the ki as they were,

619
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,440
Speaker 2: until it came time to compromise to grow up to

620
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 2: play nice, and they went the opposite direction. Drank more,

621
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,200
Speaker 2: fucked more drug moore nearly killed themselves in the process

622
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,719
Speaker 2: until breaking up a few years later. They had scars,

623
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,600
Speaker 2: just like the city they spawned from, but the Boss

624
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 2: went unscathed. The Boss always wins, and the New York

625
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,200
Speaker 2: Dolls were always born to.

626
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: Lose a disgrace, you'd be the judge. I'm Jake Brennan

627
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland.

628
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,360
Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in

629
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,759
Speaker 2: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be

630
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 2: found out of the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com.

631
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 2: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank

632
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:07,680
Speaker 2: you for supporting the show.

633
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.

634
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:11,480
Speaker 2: And if not, you can become a member right now

635
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 2: by going to disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. Members can

636
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 2: listen to every episode of disgracelan ad free, Plus you'll

637
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,320
Speaker 2: get one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted

638
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,320
Speaker 2: bonus episodes, special audio collections, and early access to merchandise

639
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:33,320
Speaker 2: and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details,

640
00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,240
Speaker 2: rate and review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok,

641
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Speaker 2: Twitter and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube

642
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:48,000
Speaker 2: dot com slash at disgracelampod Rock a Roller. He then