When New York Dolls and the Modern Lovers nearly brought down the house on New Year’s Eve
1972 was a strange time for music. The Beatles’ legacy was slowly being tarnished by the solo efforts of each of their former members, dreary singer-songwriters were all the rage, and prog-rock was boring everyone to death. Compounding the disdain that many listeners felt was that the dream of the counterculture had failed. The concept was now a contorted and strung version of what was once so pure, thanks partly to the Manson Family and the rising prevalence of heroin. However, saviours would emerge that year under the glam-rock umbrella, led by David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Lou Reed, with a helping hand from The Rolling Stones, who were enjoying a platform-booted resurgence thanks to that year’s Exile On Main St.
However, two other outfits caught everyone’s attention that year. The first was the hedonistic proto-punks, the New York Dolls, who fused Stooges-esque energy with the swagger of the Rolling Stones and the taboo-busting sexuality of glam. The other was the Modern Lovers, led by Jonathan Richman, a cocky set of hipsters who went against the grain with everything they did, from aesthetics to song titles.
It seems as if those who came across the two brilliant – but very different – groups in 1972 knew that they were destined for greatness. In a 2011 nostalgia piece written by Jim Rader for Perfect Sound Forever, he recalled watching both acts with his friends at a show at New York’s Mercer Arts Center in SoHo on New Year’s Eve, 1972. The performance impacted them so much that they knew both bands were destined for “cult status” upon leaving. Rader explained that the night was billed as “The Endless Party”, and it’s not hard to see why. The evening was full of music, alcohol and drugs, and reading his account, it’s impossible not to feel what a monumental moment it was.
Rader explained that The Dolls’ original drummer, Billy Murcia, had overdosed in Britain that November, increasing the band’s notoriety greatly. All the hippest people in the New York scene would then be at “The Endless Party”, including a certain Alice Cooper. The night was held in the venue’s theatre, which seated roughly 200 people. For it, the New York Dolls were supported by the Modern Lovers, Queen Elizabeth, Eric Emerson and Ruby and The Rednecks for the show.
After a selection of the support bands had performed, the clock passed midnight, and at one point, Rader spotted The Dolls’ lead axeman, Johnny Thunders, near the stage. Another support band were setting up, as a short-haired fellow, “incongruously” wearing chinos and loafers, tuned Thunders’ now-iconic plexiglass six-string. Allegedly, Thunders nodded in thanks to the loafer-wearer and who handed him the guitar back. Then, a person on stage announced that the Modern Lovers were about to play.
The man who had tuned the guitar then took to the centre of the stage. He was Jonathan Richman, and this would become one of the defining moments in his and the Modern Lovers’ career. Backed by keyboardist Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads fame), bassist Ernie Brooks, guitarist John Felice and drummer Dave Robinson, they polarised the crowd. Most of the glitter-covered Dolls fans at the front watched but didn’t clap, but by the end of the set, at least some had changed their tune, noting that their nostalgic look and songs were great — at the very least, they were something entirely different form the musical landscape. Rader and his friends also loved the band.
The New York Dolls didn’t come onstage for another hour, as they were apparently getting high backstage. When they did, they played so loud that it was impossible to hear the lyrics of their biggest hit, ‘Personality Crisis’. Despite the volume, the crowd were wild from the outset, getting up on stage, clapping their hands and stomping their heels on the old wooden stage. At one point, frontman David Johansen introduced their rendition of the Bo Diddley classic ‘Pills’. Their followers knew all the words, and as Johnny Thunders stormed through his amped-up solo, the stage started to shake, with Rader fearing its collapse.
Johansen, who had seemed discontented from the outset, was also aware of the impending disaster and said down the mic: “Listen, everybody, there’s too many people on stage, and the vibes are too fucked up. We’re just gonna stop for a while, and we’ll be back in a few minutes.” The band left the stage and didn’t return for 20 minutes when they stormed through a second set.
The band then played their last set at 4am, aimed at the late crowd, and as Rader and his friends left through the middle of it, they knew that this was only the beginning for the Modern Lovers and New York Dolls.
They were right, and 1973 was fruitful for both bands. Interestingly though, when speaking to Marc Maron on his WTF Podcast in 2022, Jerry Harrison would explain that the poor old stage “collapsed about six months” after the historic show.
