Free Men in Paris: New York Dolls’ insane tour of Europe
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(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
A lot of people think that punk music started with the Sex Pistols, and while they were one of the first out-and-out punk bands to take to the mainstream, the seeds for the movement had been sown long before Johnny Rotten had even written “I hate” on a Pink Floyd T-shirt. Different artists played their part in bringing about the idea of punk music, including Iggy Pop, the Ramones, and one of the world’s most underappreciated bands, New York Dolls.
There were a number of moments in the New York Dolls’ career that cemented them as a band full of punk legends; however, when it came to establishing the movement in the UK, it was their stint in Europe that really got things going. Many aspiring musicians saw the New York Dolls play live and appear on TV and felt inspired by the band’s chaotic nature.
While their music influenced many, it was the band’s style and blasé attitude that up-and-comers thought was cool. Paul Cook, who ended up becoming the drummer for the Sex Pistols, spoke up about when the New York Dolls came to Europe and made an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Never before had bands been so open to remaining closed, barely answering interview questions or acknowledging they were even on a TV show.
“I saw them on the telly, and I was fucking really knocked out by them. It was mainly their attitude, I think,” Cook commented. “It was this really conventional BBC – you know, The Old Grey Whistle Test. I couldn’t believe it, they was just all falling about all over the place, all their hair down, all knocking into each other. Had these great big platform boots on. Tripping over. They was really funny.”
Cook continued, revelling in their nonchalant attitude, “And they just didn’t give a shit, you know. And Bob Harris, at the end of it, went: ’Tut, tut, tut, mock rock…’ just cast it off in two words. I thought it was great, though.”
Their stop in London reflected the rest of the band’s tour, as partying and chaos followed wherever they went. When they managed to break out of America and begin touring around Europe, it seemed that they started to live the life of a caricatured rockstar, despite the fact they were all still broke, so much so that some of the band members were arrested for shoplifting.
Sylvain Sylvain of the band recounted the incident. “Arthur tried on a black jacket with a leopard collar, which was priced at £40. Now, although we were being treated like royalty, we still didn’t have any money, so Arthur switched the price tag on it for a £12 one,” he said. “He wasn’t shoplifting; switching tags was something Arthur and Billy had always done, but the shop assistant figured it out and called for security. He was arrested, and it made the local news that night.”
This attitude transpired in every city they visited on their European tour, as they stole from shops, took advantage of open tabs by inviting friends to fancy restaurants for after-parties, and trashed hotel rooms everywhere they went. While being treated like royalty, the band took full advantage of this new privilege.
“We had a lot of fun and got to live the fantasy of what a teenager would imagine it would be like to be a young rock star. We lived that, we were that,” Arthur Kane concluded. “We were fans that came of age and had their dream come true, and that’s what, in the end, made it so disastrous for us.”
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