Johnny Thunders The Tragic & Mysterious Death of the New York Dolls, Heartbreakers Musician

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Today we take a look at the tragic life and death of punk rock legend Johnny Thunders who was a member of the glam group New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers

New York Dolls Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrdyLtmlAz4

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And By the age of 16 Thunders would take up the bass guitar and would start attending shows of the bands like the Who, and Small Faces and even rubbed elbows with the big rockstars at the time including Rod Stewart who he drank beer with backstage at the Newport Folk Festival.
By age 17 Thunders would latch onto the Detroit Music scene and His childhood friend Gail Higgins remembered “We would drive eight hours to see the MC5 or The Stooges,”It was around this time that Thunders quit bass and picked up guitar. “Whenever he was practising, I used to yell into the bedroom: ‘Give up, Johnny’,”
Given the look of the New York Dolls, Thunders never blended into the crowd - he would frequently borrow his girlfriend’s clothes. His former bandmate from the band the Heartbreakers Walker Lure rememberd “He had high-heeled boots, velvet jackets and pants, bowling gear,” “I’d see him at all the shows – mostly the British bands, as opposed to the Grateful Deads and Jefferson Airplanes – so I’d seen him around for years. Then when the Dolls started happening I said: ‘Holy! There’s that guy.’”
The story of the New York Dolls began in the early 70’s in the East Village of New York with the original lineup consisting of vocalist David Johansen , guitarist Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane, drummer Billy Murcia and pianist Sylvain Sylvain. Some of the band members were already familiar with one another prior to the formation of the Dolls as they played with each other in various bands and The band quickly got noticed with their look. They had big hair, wore silk scarfs and dressed like women.In fact sometimes they got mistaken for women.
Fashion aside, The band quickly got noticed and would find themselves playing at Wembley Stadium in London, England supporting the faces a year later, but during that trip Tragedy would strike as drummer Billy Murcia die due to an accidental drowning during a party.
Johnny Thunders friend Gail Higgins would remember: “Johnny was devastated. He was the closest with Billy and it really upset him. Johnny was very sensitive and loving, very needy and very insecure.”

hroughout most of 1977 the Heartbreakers would call London their home and record their lone album L.A.M.F. The record was hampered by mixing issues that lasted months and months and ultimately forced the demise of the band with the band’s manager remembering
“That mix can be completely laid at the door of Jerry Nolan.” “He went into this kind of control freak thing where he had to mix it. But everyone was stoned. Walking into the studio was like walking into a crack house. I should have gotten a gun and shot a couple of them dead.” he’d remember
Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers remembered the record label pressures with the album saying: “We were told we needed to release it in time for Christmas because they needed to make some money. So they just put us in a room and said if it doesn’t get released you’re not gonna have a contract. Johnny, Billy and I said yeah; Jerry said no, he was leaving, and just walked out.”
Nolan would form his own band the Idols which would make a name for themselves back home in New York. The Heartbreakers meanwhile limped along but Thunders was devastated by Nolan’s departure.\\
The Heartbreakers would be done by 1980 but would sporadically reform and perform shows together until 1990. And following the breakup of the band Thunders would remain in London and release a series of solo records featuring a whose who of the UK punk rock scene with his first being So Alone in 1978. He would eventually find his way back to the US and hook up with one of his idol’s MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer to form the shortlived project Gang War with kramer remembering

By 1986 Thunders seemed to turn his life around and repaired some of the fractured relationships in his life and soon enough Thunders was offering words of advice to other musicians stuck in the grip of addiction. By 1987 Thunders would get a second chance at being a father with the birth of Jamie Gazale, but something was wrong. The mother to his new child remembered

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