Too Much Too Soon: The New York Dolls

by Nina Antonia

Book Overview

The Dolls, peddling trans-gender posturing and incendiary rock 'n' roll, were dumped by the record business after making just two albums. But their influence lived on when Malcolm McLaren injected the last of The Dolls' life blood into the Sex Pistols and changed pop forever. From punk to grunge, practically every new sensation in contemporary rock has been a delayed reaction to The New York Dolls.

Too Much Too Soon celebrates all...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844499847
• ISBN13: 9781844499847
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Omnibus Press
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

New York Dolls: uncovered and uncensored!

Too Much, Too Soon is an excellent read about one of the most influential bands of the early seventies. The band only released two albums but they made a deep mark in the pre-punk era and started the first New York punk movement. The band had many tragedies (the death of Billy Murcia, the orignal drummer) and has been snake bitten repeatedly. Drugs (Alcohol, Pills, Speed and Heroin) and malaise doomed this band. Only the front man and lead singer David Johansen has managed to remain unscathed whilst heartbreak has taken Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and most recentally Arthur Kane. All this and more can be found in this brilliant bio (and one of my sources for information). Highly recommended.

excellent read

The New York Dolls were pioneers of the punk movement stemming in the early 70's and this book comprehensively chronicles their provocative, inebriated stent as a band. Nina Antonia is very detailed in the roots of the band, from the members' childhood and influences, up to their split after a turbulent tour of Florida. I found the book very interesting and attention-grabbing, and I learned a lot of stuff I did not know before. This edition also includes some nice classic photos of the Dolls. A reccomended read for any fan of the band.

Exposes the tragedy of the endless party that was the Dolls

This is a both an important rock & roll cultural document and a passionately written piece of adulating prose. Nina Antonia uncovers the blacklisting of the New York Dolls, captures the fireball intensity of their decadent ascent and equally tragic demise, and properly positions them in their rightful place as one of the most influential innovators of modern rock & roll.Unfortunately "Too Much Too Soon" is a posthumous work as three of the band's most important members were devoured by its own tragic spectacle.The book is written in the same sensibility@of uncompromising passion and fun as the group's excessively rock'n'roll attitude. It is also as chock full of the hard facts, never before seen photos, as it is of the regret and loss the Doll's members had to deal with. It is high time that the history of rock by revised to included this essential band in its legend. And this is just the book to do it.

Girl who Knows Her Dolls

Nina Antonia knows her stuff. Carefully researched, written with a real feel for the music - and the clothes - this is the book for anyone who wants to know the truth behind the Dolls story. With 3 of the principals dead - 2 of them chaps that our authoress knew well - it's unlikely that anyone will write a better Dolls retrospective than this.Nina gets close to the core of this strange, doomed band and examines what it was about them that so intimidated the straight musicbiz. Not that they needed any outside assistance in wrecking their career. This book pulls no punches when it comes to the dirt... Ultimately, one concludes that if Johnny Thunders wasn't a great guitarist, he was certainly a Great Poster.

An unbiased look at one of rock's most misunderstood bands

Finally, the whole story on proto-punk, glam-rockers, The New York Dolls. Author Antonia (biographer of ex-Doll Johnny Thunders and The Only One's Peter Perrett), paints a picture of a band on the edge of everything: sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and fleeting fame. The Dolls' tale is a sad one. Too early for punk, too unruly for the music business and like the title says, too much, too soon. Antonia sheds light on the members' lives after the Dolls and the ending is not a particularly happy one. A must-read for Dolls fans.