BY EVERYNIGHT CHARLEY CRESPO | Johnny Thunders, born John Genzale in Queens, became a local music cult hero when he co-founded the New York Dolls in 1972. Though the band’s two albums never achieved mainstream commercial success, the New York Dolls was among the bands that changed the face of rock and roll in the post-Woodstock days. As the band gained popularity, it launched an entirely new club scene, in which patrons dressed in flashy clothing came to be seen, as much as to see the bands perform.
Thunders left the Dolls in 1975 and formed a series of bands, including the Heartbreakers, Gang War with Wayne Kramer of the MC5, and the Oddballs. Always an underground New York legend, Thunders never sold a lot of records and his bands never became international stars, but the history of New York City rock music would be incomplete without mentioning his contributions.
On April 23, 1991, Thunders was found dead of drug-related causes at the Inn on St. Peter in New Orleans. Mystery shrouded his death, and the investigation was inconclusive. More than 30 years after his passing, Johnny Thunders remains a New York rock and roll legend.
Local rock impresario Steve Krebs is a Johnny Thunders fan. In 2009 he financed a three-CD box set called “Born to Lose: A Tribute to Johnny Thunders,” which featured local New York bands performing Thunders’s songs. That same year, Krebs began organizing an annual Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash around Thunders’s July 15 birthday. This year, the performers included Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith band, NP Presley & Friends, Lulu Lewis with Bob Bert of Sonic Youth, the Pin Ups, the Hasbros, How Tragic, Diane & the Gentle Men, the Hipp Pipps, the Black Angels NYC, and DensityBlackCat.
DensityBlackCat — Setlist
I Love You (The Heartbreakers cover)
Gone (DonBlackcat song)
Blame It on Mom (Johnny Thunders cover)
The Black Angels NYC — Setlist
(There’s Gonna Be a) Showdown (Archie Bell & the Drells cover)
Hurt Me (Johnny Thunders cover)
So Alone (Johnny Thunders cover)
The Hipp Pipps — Setlist
Great Big Kiss (The Shangri‐Las cover)
Subway Train (New York Dolls cover)
I Wanna Be Loved (The Heartbreakers cover)
Diane & the Gentle Men — Setlist
Sad Vacation (Johnny Thunders cover)
Johnny Thunder (The Kinks cover)
Johnny’s Gonna Die (The Replacements cover)
How Tragic Setlist
Baby Talk (The Heartbreakers cover)
Goin’ Steady (The Heartbreakers cover)
London Boys (Johnny Thunders cover)
The Hasbros Setlist
Let Go (The Heartbreakers cover)
It’s Not Enough (The Heartbreakers cover)
Jet Boy (New York Dolls cover)
Lulu Lewis Setlist
Chinese Rocks (The Heartbreakers cover)
In Cold Blood (Johnny Thunders cover)
Born to Lose (The Heartbreakers cover)
NP Presley & Friends Setlist
Bad Girl (New York Dolls cover)
Dead or Alive (Johnny Thunders cover)
Personality Crisis (New York Dolls cover)
Pin Ups Setlist
Babylon (New York Dolls cover)
Daddy Rollin’ Stone (Otis Blackwell cover)
Private World (New York Dolls cover)
Lenny Kaye — Setlist
I’ve Got a Right
All Tomorrow’s Parties (The Velvet Underground cover, with Diane Gentile)
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover, with Diane Gentile and Dina Regine)
Gloria (Them cover, with Diane Gentile, Dina Regine, and Steven Krebs at the final chorus)
Krebs & the Maynard G’s — Setlist
One Track Mind (The Heartbreakers cover)
M.I.A. (Johnny Thunders cover)
Chatterbox (New York Dolls cover)
Who Are the Mystery Girls? (New York Dolls cover)
Too Much Junkie Business (Johnny Thunders cover, with a snippet of Bo Diddley’s of “Pills”)
For more of Everynight Charley Crespo’s coverage of the NYC music scene, check out his blog, TheManhattanBeat.
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