New York Dolls - 1974

Two clips of the New York Dolls playing at Club 82 in the East Village on April 17, 1974.

From Trash: The Complete New York Dolls, by Kris Needs and Dick Porter:

This had been one of Manhattan's most glamorous drag venues between the 1940s and late sixties, playing host to a bevy of transvestites and female impersonators. Latterly, 82 had lost some of its sparkle once such establishments could operate openly, but still employed a team of lesbians to man the door and bar. In keeping with the spirit of their surroundings, the Dolls dragged up more thoroughly than usual ... [Guitarist Sylvain Sylvain:] "It was run by this lesbian woman who was gorgeous, called Tommy, and ran it like a brick shithouse. It looked all tropical. The Copacabana goes gay, if you will. The center of it was the actual stage, like a square. Completely around the stage was the bar. We would hang down there. The prostitutes were on Tenth Street and after their work hours they would go down to Club 82 and drink down there. They would have like drag shows and performances ... Tommy never used to want [rock & roll bands] ... But business was bad for them. They needed new fun and excitement again. That's where the New York Dolls came in. ... It came at a time when the Dolls had been on their way up and then on their way down and this was sort of the valley of their career."

Pills



Chatterbox



Looking for a Kiss, Old Grey Whistle Test (UK), November 1973
(this is how you chew gum with style)



Personalty Crisis



The Dolls split up in 1975, but reformed in 2004; they are still getting it done.