New York Doll: the movie

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just watched this last night, a gift from an in-law. Alternately depressing, funny, and crappily made (they get a lot of milage out of that Old Grey Whistle Test footage) - still pretty good as the story behind the Dolls' "reunion".

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:29 (eighteen years ago)

(also always funny to hear people complain about how "bad" music was in 1973 - especially when its Morrissey)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:30 (eighteen years ago)

they get a lot of milage out of that Old Grey Whistle Test footage

If memory serves, they had a difficult time getting rights to any other footage. Similar situation to what happened with the Runaways documentary.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:45 (eighteen years ago)

All Dolled Up has a lot more footage.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

I figured something like that was the deal. Its kinda obvious when there's been legal barriers to a film like this - a la the other in-law music DVD gift, "From A to Z: The Unauthorized Biography of Led Zeppelin" which contained zero actual music or footage of Led Zeppelin.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:49 (eighteen years ago)

is this the arthur kane documentary made by his church?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:50 (eighteen years ago)

Arthur Kane is the central focus of the film, yes - its produced by One Potato Productions (I think?), dunno if that's his LDS Church or what. There is plenty of LDS in the movie.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

(er, well I should clarify that there's plenty of screen-time given to Kane's LDS employers/friends/associates and their relationship with Arthur, not necessarily LDS propaganda per se)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:52 (eighteen years ago)

Lots of Dolls stuff on youtube last time I looked. For a supposedly obscure and unsuccessful band, they seem to have done a lot of European TV. 'Course, that doesn't mean the rights are actually accessible.

― Soukesian (Soukesian), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:58 (eighteen years ago)

I'm not dying to see more footage or anything, I was just being snarky about a movie that re-uses the same footage over and over in various configurations (slow-mo! super-imposed! etc)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)

the one decent genuinely film-maker-ly shot they get is of Kane complaining about his lack of success in front of a huge Kid Rock poster plastered on a Tower Records store.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:05 (eighteen years ago)

I thought this was utterly great. One of the best "band" documentaries of recent times.

― Harpal (harpal), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

(also always funny to hear people complain about how "bad" music was in 1973 - especially when its Morrissey)

Stevie Wonder > The Smiths
Al Green > The Smiths
The O'Jays > The Smiths
Steely Dan > The Smiths
T. Rex > The Smiths
The Sweet > The Smiths

― f. scott baio (nate_patrin), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:33 (eighteen years ago)

Seriously I see the thread title, I wonder if this is one of those "music sucked in the '70s but here comes (proto-)punk to save us," I click on the link, and lol MORRISSEY

― f. scott baio (nate_patrin), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:34 (eighteen years ago)

er one of those movies with a "music sucked in the '70s etc." narratives

― f. scott baio (nate_patrin), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:34 (eighteen years ago)

David Johansen comes across as a real dick in the movie. I felt bad for Arthur having to put up with Johansen's snide remarks about his religion.

― Jeff K (jeff k), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:35 (eighteen years ago)

oh I loves me some Morrissey, and was glad to see him on camera but uh, they really try to aggressively go after how shitty other music was in the early 70s (even going so far as to ridicule another Old Grey Whistle Test clip of Johnny Winter totally rocking shit on "Frankenstein"), which is so patently ridiculous considering that in '73 glam, funk, reggae, early heavy metal, krautrock, etc. were all at their height.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:38 (eighteen years ago)

Johannsen does seem to go out of his way to be sorta dickish - on the other hand, Mormons...

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:39 (eighteen years ago)

Things that came out in the early seventies:

Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street
The Stooges - "Raw Power"
Black Sabbath - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
Stevie Wonder - "Innervisions"
Chi-Lites - "A Lonely Man"
Spinners - "The Spinners"
Curtis Mayfield -"Superfly"
Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"
Neu - "Neu"
Alice Cooper - "School's Out"
Mott the Hoople - "Mott"
Blue Oyster Cult - "Tyranny and Mutation"

Morrissey should know better.

― Ice Cream Electric (Ice Cream Electric), Thursday, 4 January 2007 23:34 (eighteen years ago)

he should (and probably does) but I would think its hard for him to erase his adolescent impression of the era.

Also you left out Eno's "Here Come the Warm Jets" (rel 1973)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

i liked this movie, mostly because it WASN'T really that much about the usual narrative that people are talking about...more just a small character study of one man's personal saga...i thought kane, as sort of out of it and oblivious as he seemed, was sort of fascinating to watch...

― M@tt He1geson: Sassy and I Don't Care Who Knows It (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 5 January 2007 00:08 (eighteen years ago)

and it was mostly just sad, to me...the way he couldn't seem to move beyond a year-and-a-half period that happened to him when he was 20. although the storybook ending was improbably amazing.

― M@tt He1geson: Sassy and I Don't Care Who Knows It (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 5 January 2007 00:10 (eighteen years ago)

yeah he was kinda fascinating to watch, if only because he reminded me of half the people I ride the bus with.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 5 January 2007 00:12 (eighteen years ago)

The Smiths > Stevie Wonder
The Smiths > Al Green
The Smiths > The O'Jays
The Smiths > Steely Dan
The Smiths > T. Rex
The Smiths > The Sweet

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 5 January 2007 02:12 (eighteen years ago)

boo

― f. scott baio (nate_patrin), Friday, 5 January 2007 03:16 (eighteen years ago)

(I still like abt half those artists though)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 5 January 2007 03:29 (eighteen years ago)

Morrissey should know better.

But this ignores the core point of his (admittedly often muddled) 50s-kitchen-sink-drama meets homoerotic-yet-not-macho aesthetic and how he perceives that vis-a-vis what ended up being the rules of the musical world. Which some of these comparison points address and some don't (and he'd probably be the first one to agree that T. Rex were better than the Smiths, he's a massive Bolan fanatic).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 5 January 2007 03:35 (eighteen years ago)

It was kind of incredible/adorable how, once Kane was (sorry) dolled up in his rock clothes for the show, he simply looked awesome.

― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Friday, 5 January 2007 08:07 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

Just found this thread. I have to agree it was pretty funny listening to people rail on the early 70's bands. I'm not sure how popular or "cool" alot of the stuff mentioned above was, but 30 years later I can find tons of great bands from the era.

― steampig67, Sunday, 2 March 2008 15:56 (seventeen years ago)

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