Notes

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David Johansen-Vocals, Harp
Johnny Thunders- Guitar, Vocals
Sylvain Sylvain- Guitar
Arthur "Killer" Kane- Bass
Billy Murcia- Drums

Originally released by ROIR as a cassette-only release November 1981. Produced by Marty Thau; CD remastering & Editing by Pomeroy Audio; Liner Notes by Roy Trakin; Photography by Bob Gruen; Dolls made by Virginia Mason; Dolls lettering by Scott Kempner.

They gromp into "Personality Crisis", one of their primo big hits, and it's hotter n' spicier(??) snatch in Guadalajara."- Lester Bangs

All material on this CD was recorded in the studio in 1972 during the time the Dolls were first building their Legend with their historic performances at the Mercer Street Arts Center in what was to become SOHO in NYC.

The New York Dolls "Lipstick Killers" is historically and commercially one of ROIR's most important rock n' roll releases in our 21-year history. The NY Dolls had been together only four and a half months when they encountered a small studio in NYC and made these demos, produced by Marty Thau. This is the original band, straight from playing a tumultuous weekly residency at the avant-garde art Mecca, The Mercer Arts Center. It included drummer Billy Murcia who soon after died from an overdose during the Dolls first gigs in the U.K.

"Lipstick Killers" is how the band truly sounded, raw and live, before they were put into the studio by Mercury records where their special unique energy was doctored by Todd Rundgren & Shandro Morton for their two major label releases.

This archive tape re-writes history. The Dolls, with original drummer Billy Murcia, were only four and a half months old when these nine tracks were cut in a Manhattan studio one night during the summer of 1972. They were doing one night a week at the city's underground art Mecca The Mercer Arts Centre and really sowing their 'young' wild oats. "Lipstick Killers" captures the nascent Dolls at a fascinating and yet vulnerable juncture. Sylvain Sylvain and Johnny Thunders' guitars perform a six-string demolition derby and big mouth David Johansen barks like an angry wounded dog. "Killer" Kane and Murcia beat the songs into a bloody pulp." David Fricke - Melody Maker U.K. Dec. 12, 1981

Here's What The Critics Had To Say About The New York Dolls & the ROIR Cassette-only "Lipstick Killers" Release

"Lipstick Killers takes you back to the dawn of an era, to one enchanted evening in 1972, (28 years ago), when five kids form the outer borough (of NYC) dreamt they could change the world. Three months after this set was recorded Marty Thau took the band to England, where they opened for Rod Stewart and The Faces before 13,000 at Wembley Stadium, after never having played to more than 350 in The Mercer Arts Center." Roy Trakin- Liner Notes

"One of the most influential rock bands of the last 30 years, The New York Dolls pre-dated the punk and sleaze metal movements which followed long after their own demise. They were a first rate rock n' roll band." Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music

"The New York dolls were the bridge between The Rolling Stones, The MC5 and The Sex Pistols and the punk rock movement of the late 70's." All Music Guide To Rock

"The Dolls single-handedly started the NY scene that later spawned the Ramones, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads, and others. The Dolls were much more than a band. Their signing to a major label set an example of commercial feasibility." Trouser Press

"These early demo tapes with the original line up captures the Dolls at their crudest and best minus the various techniques producers Rundgren & Morton used in the Mercury releases in an attempt to tone the Dolls down. Cuts their Mercury Lp's to shred." James Marshall- East Village Eye

"It actually pre-dates the ban's Mercury material although the tracks are studio tracks rather than live performances." Barry Lazell- Sounds U.K.

"This years significant releases include ROIR's New York Dolls' 'Lipstick Killers'." Robert Palmer- New York Times

"The Dolls epitomized trash. They were tart, amoral, stupid, crass and vulgar. This is about as good a Dolls collection as you can get. For most of the time they were the oldest most excitable pretenders to the Rolling Stones ever." Chris Bohn - NME U.K.

"Lipstick Killers is a must for any New York Dolls fan because it presents the beginning of there all to short recording existence. Features versions like you never heard before! The sound is raw and cruel definitely ahead of its time, but it is also surprisingly clear and clean for such an early recording. Lucky Clark

"The cassette shows what great songwriters the Dolls were." BillBoard - Top Album Pick

"A previously unreleased 1972 blitzkrieg studio session that totally eclipses their Mercury LP's. This is their very first studio session. Thunders leaves you with your mouth open." Cassette International U.K.

"The New York Dolls, their rise and tragic fall, typified a decade of false starts, failures and deceit. Their potential was overwhelming, but never satisfied. 'Lipstick Killers' stands on its own musically, but is of even greater importance as a lasting look at this band at their earliest most ambitious period. Immediately obvious is the fine drumming of Billy Murcia. He wasn't on either of the Mercury albums and judging from his drumming, solid sound the band would have benefited if he would have lived long enough to play on them." John Koening- Goldmine

"When the group was a mere eighteen weeks into existence and still making their fabled weekly showings at the Mercer Arts Center, they gathered in a small studio and recorded the contents of this cassette in a solitary night. Well in evidence, even in these infant days are the exhilaratingly exaggerated Big Apple accents of David Johansen's vocals and the full blooded Thunders lead lines." Mick Sinclair- Sounds U.K.