Episode #76 | 3.16.21
The New York Dolls: Born to Lose, Lipstick Killers, and R&B in four-inch heels
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In this episode
The New York Dolls were one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. They came to life when their hometown of New York City was coming apart at the seams in the midst of rising murder, rape, and burglary rates. Their drummer drowned. Their bassist was nearly murdered. Their guitar players despised their singer and the only thing their singer loved more than Archie Bell was himself. This of course was all part of the act. The self-destruction, the violence, the intra-band squabbling, but it was of course also part of the band’s reality. They were too pure to last. They were born to lose.
Sources
Please Kill Me, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
New York Post: A look back at the history of hits on NYC mob bosses
Village Voice: Valley of the New York Dolls
The Guardian: ‘Before us, there was nothing’
NACLA: Violence in Colombia, a timeline
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Score by Jake Brennan.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak