New York Dolls "New York Dolls" [1973]

Back when New York City was a vermin-infested shithole -- yes, even worse than it is now -- New York Dolls only made things worse by putting lipstick and high heels on a few of the junkies and handing them guitars. In what amounts to a Stones-in-drag photo shoot transformed into an airborne virus, "New York Dolls" was released into the marketplace in the early 70s, only to be kept off the airwaves by relative musical powerhouses the Eagles and the Steve Miller Band. That the Dolls inspired not only the punk rock movement but later "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and still later Poison and Warrant illustrates how dangerous this band's half-life truly was, and thankfully they stopped after two albums or we might still all be wearing big hair and spandex and listening to Cinderella today. The Dolls originally played NYC clubs where, based on location alone, everyone in attendance had an obvious death wish, but even by the time of this debut album, the presence of big-label schmuck Todd Rundgren in the producer's chair showed that these guys would have sold out their own grandmas for a chance to become Aerosmith. Proves yet again all one need do is look into the soul of those with "rock 'n roll integrity" and find little else but a swarm of cockroaches.