Legendary.  Iconic.  And still amazing.  After forming over 30 years ago, the New York Dolls have solidified their stamp on music history.  They were the driving force of the New York scene in the 70’s, they were the inspiration for the glam rock and glitter punk era, and they are cited as the major influence for artists such as Morrissey, Ramones, Kiss, and Motley Crue (just to name a few).  But even after 30 years, you can count literally on one hand the amount of studio albums they’ve released.  The latest CD ‘Cause I Sez So shows the Dolls may be a little older but they are definitely not slowing down.  How, one may ask, can this band survive so long and not release an album every three years?  Easy, they are doing what every band and artist had to do before the advent of MTV, iTunes, and MySpace.  They play live.  Live, live, live.

Unlike the studio-dependent artists and YouTube-based bands of today, the Dolls are true performers, then and now.  That answer was only evident for their performance at the Belly Up on a Wednesday night.  Long gone are the make-up and ratted hair, as well as some of the original band members.  Currently the New York Dolls are Brian Delaney (drums), Sami Yaffa (bass), Steve Conte (guitar), Syl Sylvain (lead guitar/ vocals) and, of course, David Johansen (vocals).  Their act may not be as raucous as it once was, but the music is still incredible.  In no particular order, they played “Looking For a Kiss,” “Frankenstein” and “Pills” (my personal favorite) from their self-titled first release.  Also  “We’re All in Love,” “Dance Like a Monkey,” and “Got Get Away From Tommy” from the other post millenium CD One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This gave the audience more ear candy.  And from their newest release ‘Cause I Sez So, the crowd was treated to “Nobody Got No Bizness,” “My World,” “Muddy Bones” and the title track “’Cause I Sez So.”  For only a handful of studio albums, the band played a full two-hour set—and they could have kept on going.  But as all good things must come to an end, the Dolls ended the show with one encore song that would knowningly tear down the house, “Personality Crisis.” 

There’s a saying that goes, after a nuclear holocaust the only two things left on Earth would be cockroaches and Cher.  If that’s so, then let’s stock her up with all the studio and live albums from the band so that they may continue on into the next lifetime.  Long live the Dolls!