Jerry Nolan pt1 interview 1991: New York Dolls early days

[@felineth56]

Superb interview! Love this guy! I've been a New York Dolls fan for very very long time, like he said: everything was against us!

[@machoninny2960]

He was a Great Drummer.

[@morganfisherart]

Thanks for this. Jerry was a thoughtful, articulate man. Wish I'd had more chance to chat with him when we toured together back in '73. Gone way too soon. RIP.

[@twistedspanner]

Morgan. Did Mott play a few gigs with the Dolls?

[@randybackgammon890]

For some reason I can remember the names of all of M.O.T. I wasn't a big fan(good band,just not my thing)I wonder how many can

[@DCB728]

​@twistedspanner Yes, in the fall of 1973. One of the bills was Mott the Hoople, NY Dolls and Aerosmith third on the bill! Rochester NY Auditorium Theatre-October 1973.

[@nurknanker6105]

Rock On Mr.Morgan.

[@randybackgammon890]

Very intelligent answers.Think it even took the interviewer by surprise

[@rickyhiemstra9993]

THANK'S FOR THIS POST! BIG FAN. I've READ. STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE!! Very INFORMATIVE, JERRY WAS ONE SMOOTH DUDE😎💯💔R.I.P. JOHNNY -JERRY-BILLY-❤🎸🎸🎸 WALTER -STIV 😇😇😇🗽🗽🎶🎶🥁🥁💉💊😢

[@tutts999]

Great interview, Jerry comes across as level headed and intelligent. So sad hes no longer with us. RIP.

[@NDWoj]

Comments on the "music business" are so insightful. Great interview.

[@phyllisdstein]

Thanks for finally getting the entire interview up here on youtube.

[@courtneykatona996]

Finally found this whole interview. He was a wise and well spoken man.

[@jillianwolfenden8792]

This is totally brilliant. Thankyou KZbin

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

Don't thank youtube thank the person who uploaded it. They did a great job.

[@sconni666]

The man know how to sum things up.

[@lizc2023]

Thank you so much for uploading! JN is absolutely the coolest

[@torgnyfornstedt1804]

A great interview. Wonderful.

[@Rexy-sy9wt]

Killer interview thanks .

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

Jerry was the second drummer after Billy passed but he was the original drummer who recorded all the albums as a newyork doll he was a very very good drummer. He had that style newyork throughout

[@leahflower9924]

Yes haha the NY dolls and heartbreakers represented every new York borough except maybe Manhattan 🗽

[@krisscanlon4051]

Jerry helluva of damn good well trained drummer by Krupa no less...great asset...he was dead on about the democracy of the band...miss him on air

[@PhyllisMauro-he5hd]

agreed

[@jenkinses8121]

Best rock’n’roll drummer ever

[@leahflower9924]

So much style in everything he did that's why we love him! ❤️

[@ellimick5958]

So grateful that you found and posted these videos. Great context. Thank you 🙏

[@danielpothier2695]

this guy is awesome!... i could listen to him all nite

[@matthewwilliams7735]

Great drummer great guy, love that Queens accent.

[@twistedspanner]

Jerry should have been in the Goodfellas.

[@johnkelley4332]

I always thought he was really similair to harvey keitel in taxi driver. after reading the bio he seems even more like him lol

[@twistedspanner]

@@johnkelley4332 yeah he would have been great in a Martin Scorsese movie instead of farting about not doing anything musical. A lot of people like Keith Moon tried to get in the movies and failed. When it was time for him to get back to his job drumming he'd forgotten how to play. But Jerry is a natural. I remember when Arena showed this program about punk I was amazed to actually see Jerry Nolan in it and I was fascinated with how cool he was in telling his story about the Anarchy tour etc. The following day one of mates remarked about Jerry. " I don't know about him he seemed to me to be a bit of a Godfella😆👍I was the only guy who knew about them. But this footage is priceless cos you always see people John Lydon every day waffling on about him self taking rubbish just loving the sound of his own voice. Three big mistakes the Heartbreakers did was sign to track when they were offered a single deal with emi if they sold enough units they got to do an album. Second mistake of all they are the only band on that Anarchy tour who didn't do a single video. That would have immortalised them. And the third is they took drugs 😆😆😆

[@jonyscrewzo]

Thanks for this 😎🤙💔

[@h.markhorton8188]

After hearing this I gotta listen to the Dolls’ “A Night’s Hard Day” album real loud! Great interview!

[@johnjones3714]

Wow 💕 this

[@nurknanker6105]

JerryjustbeinJerry.. street smart, talented & style incarnate..

[@lamper2]

Did the mastering studio that fucked up L.A.M.F ever get sued? what was the name of that place? I need a name! Jerry is SO intelligent and able to articulate SO MUCH history I'M ENJOYING THIS A LOT!

[@junglerecords]

Nah. Because no-one really knew what happened. Deanny Secunda and Speedy Keen turned up at the Track offices trying to find out what the hell went wrong; their name was on it as producers. But Track were more concerned with fending off bailiffs and lawyers from The Who. The mastering guy was George Peckham ex- of The Fourmost, then of Porky's Prime Cuts aka Portland Place Studios. He actually had a good repulation for indie mastering, though also a habit going to the pub at lunchtime...

[@baronsaturday2103]

I just read an article about Track Records' Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. They were using lots of drugs by that time, specially Lambert, and they took a lot of petty cash from the TR office every single day, and I think by the time The Heartbreakers came along they just wanted to stay in business and keep fighting off the lawyers and didn't give a toss about the band really. Maybe I never got the whole story or I get it all wrong, but I don't understand why Secunda kept the master tapes at his home while everybody was looking for them? What was that all about, everybody could've made some serious money if they took this band for what they really where. A great band!

[@krisscanlon4051]

Wow great deep dive on LAMF!

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Post more of these fab videos please!

[@junglerecords]

Thanks! Parts 2 and 3 are up, and that's the whole interview with Jerry. But we're always scouring our archives to see what else we can find!

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

@@junglerecords I met Jerry and Johnny in London when I was young whippersnapper a few times, wish I had video or pix of those times.

[@philliplandry4139]

He's so right about the music and the business in America. Down here, we created the most interesting stuff whether it's music, style, and art. But the problem is, the business doesn't even recognize what's in front of them until it's too late. People in the UK or the other countries noticed that and picked up and created a better profit than down here in America.

[@AprilEwell]

Thanks xoxo

[@jaredkrause2300]

Consider the fact that he was dying.. still attached to the music... Great job Jerry

[@thomasminarchickjr.7355]

He wasn’t “dying” here, just strung out. “After years of heroin addiction Jerry would die of Bacterial Meningitis coupled with a stroke, in 1992, only 2 months after his buddy Johnny’s death in New Orleans. He is buried at Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Flushing NY.”

[@zazalunacy2685]

​@@thomasminarchickjr.7355he died in an aids ward so he probably did have aids. Makes sense, a lot of iv users were contracting it around that time and dying.

[@DCB728]

​@@thomasminarchickjr.7355It wasn't 2 months-Johnny died in April, 1991 and Jerry died in January, 1992.

[@danieleyre8913]

@@thomasminarchickjr.7355_”…bacterial meningitis coupled with a stroke…”_ Don’t you,realise that that was AIDS related?

[@ThePlaySpace-CurtainCall]

Damn, that dude was strung out. If I had been that wasted, I couldn't have made my way to the fridge, much less have been that coherent. Such a shame we lost, pretty much, all of them. They were brilliant.

[@danieleyre8913]

He was dying of AIDS.

[@deranged_nubreed]

When’s jungle gonsn make a Jerry Nolan documentary?

[@twistedspanner]

Cos the book was great

[@phyllisdstein]

@@twistedspanner Are you talking about that "Stranded Book" by Curt Weiss? If Jerry were alive that book would never have seen the light of day. No one interviewed would have dared to say what they did. BTW, Jerry was NOT a racist nor was he a woman beater. I should know.

[@baronsaturday2103]

@@phyllisdsteinYou were Jerry's girlfriend at the time, I saw you in Thunders and NY Dolls docus, but what I want to ask you, is the rest of the book accurate? Maybe the interviewed had a point but wouldn't have told it when he would been alive? I never read the book, but when I listened to the author talking about it here on YT, it seemed like a well done book, and it really got my interest. But if half of the book is based on pure lies, I'm not sure if I want to read it.

[@phyllisdstein]

@@baronsaturday2103 I agree. None of those interviewed would have dared to speak of him in any ugly way. And none of their BS was true. I haven't read the book either. I refuse but from what I heard they said he was a racist and beat up woman. WHO? Jerry's best friend (besides Johnny) was black and he never lifted a finger to me. The author was looking for his 15 seonds of fame and I guess he got it. F**k him.

[@twistedspanner]

Can anyone here please give me a named playlist of all the stuff Jerry recorded with without Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. I know did a single Take a chance. And something with the tenariffa cowboys but a post Heartbreakers discography would be nice. Cheers merry Christmas mf'rs 👍

[@johnkelley4332]

it's all in the discography of the stranded in the jungle bio , near the back

[@junglerecords]

Includes The Idols, London Cowboys, Sid Vicious (on Sid Lives). There's a fuller list on Wikipedia. He had a band in 1989 with Sylvain, The Ugly Americans (not the '90's band), with no releases but there are videos on KZbin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Nolan

[@twistedspanner]

@@junglerecords Of Course I've got the book Stranded in the Jungle. I should have checked there.Shame he never got a solo album out. But my personal opinion always has been Jerry's voice was too soft for the Heartbreakers. I much prefer Waldo or Johnny's singing on Can't keep my eyes on you..

[@junglerecords]

@@twistedspanner other tracks he sang lead on were Take a Chance (demo) that he wrote, of course, and also there are live versions of 'Money' out there.

[@twistedspanner]

@@junglerecords best version and sung by Sid Vicious on the Sid Sings album.. Maybe Waldo shouldn't have turned down the offer to start a band with Sid. They would have been more famous and probably a single would have come out of it. Unlike the Sid Sings album. What bastards Virgin records or Malcolm McClaren not to put the musicians names on the cover. Jerry Nolan on drums. Arthur killer Kane. ( The New York Dolls rhythm section) I'm sure if Johnny Thunders had played on that album they'd have left his name off too. And it was their songs that they were playing on the album. If they would have put their names down things would have been easier for them and they would have been famous enough without having to struggle for a living. McClaren wanted Sid to be the star . Now there's a good band name for you. The Dead Stars

[@khkartc]

Jerry Nolan and Nickey Barclay looked like identical twins.

[@AprilEwell]

Where do you find this shit nowadays? So awesome xoxo

[@junglerecords]

Last year during lockdown we looked through boxes of old VHS tapes. The BBC producers must've given it to us at the time, we have no recollection. The tape just said 'Jerry Nolan'.

[@AprilEwell]

@@junglerecords xoxoxo keep um coming xoxox

[@rockrecordreport7136]

@@junglerecords The cv-19 pandemic made many of us get around to doing things we might not have gotten to for many more years. Good to see this unearthed.

[@TomthatiscalledTom]

Bits of it appear in a BBC 2 documentary on punk for their 'Arena' program.

[@warshipsatin8764]

a 10 minute song with a 15 minute guitar solo

[@Leh73-m6r]

Greedy! When will the rest of this insightful brilliance be posted?

[@E.C.2]

Only a few bands were able to transition to the 1980's. They stayed stuck in NYC 1978 time warp. Hip Hop,which I hate,smashed everything in the 90's. These guys unfortunately became relics by 1986.

[@drummer78]

Not sure what you mean. The Dolls & Thunders pretty much influenced the NYC decades after they finished. Jesse Malin and D Generation were clearly influenced by the Dolls/Heartbreakers. A case could be made The Strokes even had some of that influence too. I went to a lot of NYC clubs in the 90’s and there would always be always sort of Thunders clone playing. Hip Hop certainly made a major worldwide impact but it The Dolls/Heartbreakers are very much quintessential to NYC’s music/art scene.

[@E.C.2]

@@drummer78 Not disagreeing with you,read my comment again.

[@drea4195]

The thumbnail looks exactly like Glen Matlock LOL

[@USAwelsh]

I always said the Stones copied the Dolls

[@MrShaunsk]

You guys suddenly finding all this "lost" Heartbreakers stuff, when all who might have issue with it are dead does not sit well with me.Having read both the Nolan and Lure bios, and hearing them say how much the failure of LAMF affected their already chaotic careers, I'm finding this formally lost stuff kind of a bitter pill. Let's hope their family's make some money out of all of this.

[@junglerecords]

We're sorry you don't fully appreciate these finds. This interview was found in boxes of many VHS tapes given to us over the years. Lockdown last year gave a chance to explore them. This one just said 'Jerry Nolan'; we had no recollection of it at all - we assume a BBC producer must have sent it back in 1991. The tapes - it's tragic that Track went bust; that Jerry left the band well before that; etc. Danny Secunda left Track before the mastering, and (wrongly) assumed they'd used Jerry's mixes instead. He and Speedy Keen got slaughtered for the album; he relates that they both angrily visited Track to try to get answers. We tried to reach out to Danny when researching the 'Definitive' edition, without luck - he was a very private man. We've always tried to present the best possible recordings - if it wasn't for Leee there would have only been silence or a muddy needle-drop since then. The Heartbreakers would surely all be chuffed, not have 'issues' about these finds. And yes, all of their families do benefit from the recordings. (Not from this video; that's uploaded for free.)

[@thunderzone8595]

You wouldn’t sit down and knowingly give a recorded interview if u didn’t want people to see it

[@MrShaunsk]

@@junglerecords Thanks for the swift reply, I hear you. Leee was a fucking genius, and a really nice person,so props for even mentioning him. You deserve respect for getting this stuff heard, no doubt about that. This LAMF sounds fucking awesome, we used to call it the smack mix back in the day, and this is way better than the Tony James reboot. You sound like you guys still have some integrity, keep it up. I await the lost Shadow Morton masters of Too Much Too Soon.

[@MrShaunsk]

@@thunderzone8595 You cannot be serious?! he was buzzing on smack, it's showbiz, listen to what he actually says, he knows the score.

[@twistedspanner]

@@MrShaunsk I quite like the 84' Tony James remix. It was Waldo's favourite mix too. But I'd love to hear a remix of both Dolls albums. Todd R. Couldn't produce a good drum sound to save his life. What's that fill on Vietnamese Baby? And the drum sound he got on Steve Hillage's ' L' album was awful. CTC had problems with him too as a producer. Too much too soon could do with s total remix and bring everything to the fore. It's sounds so distant.

[@teleamor]

He's seems so unhealthy, weak, and unhappy. Hate seeing that. RIP Jerry.

[@baronsaturday2103]

He seems fine to me, but he is one of those characters who burn their candle a bit harder than others, maybe that shines through..

[@smkxodnwbwkdns8369]

dolls never paid dues lol they were almost immediately dead successful and set for a record deal

[@junglerecords]

Eh? The New York Dolls were never 'dead successful', even after they got a record deal, which was some two years after they'd formed and started gigging everywhere they could.

[@twistedspanner]

By 1975 they had enough songs for a third album but better dead than red.

[@smkxodnwbwkdns8369]

@@junglerecords success is relative. they were the biggest band in new york, on a major label, and were (briefly) touring arenas as a headline act. were they the rolling stones? of course not. but they had more success than most rock bands. and they are one of the few bands still remembered and talked about. many bands that sold more records are utterly forgotten and disappeared from the face of the earth. to the end they could sell out theaters and large clubs.

[@junglerecords]

@@smkxodnwbwkdns8369 agreed with that, but it took them a couple of years to get that record deal so it wasn't immediately, and they did pay their dues.

[@dragonflysutra3232]

Good interview and he was a good drummer and quite articulate but I can’t get past his racism. I find it hard to comprehend how he could be so intelligent yet hold such backwards views about race.

[@junglerecords]

Hmm; really not sure he did. Jerry’s best friend in childhood, which he maintained in adult life, was Buddy Bowser. His early bands were racially mixed. He pushed for Barry Jones to join his and Johnny Thunders’ band with Glen Matlock. Reports of Jerry using language and dissing minorities maybe reflect his working-class background and the culture of growing up sixty years ago, rather than how he actually lived his life.

[@danieleyre8913]

Poor dude was dying of AIDS-related illnesses. He seems like some Irish-American mobster or something hahahaha.

[@THEBANDIT7979]

From Williamsburg Brooklyn. That kind of nyc cool and vibe is not there anymore. He talks like a gangster. 😂. Rip.

[@danieleyre8913]

Yeah I also thought that his mannerisms and attire come across like some Irish-American mobster hahahaha…