Second best New Year’s Eve gig…
Written by Chris Miller on March 3, 2022
The New York Dolls @ Mercer 12/31/72. Two weeks after The Planets debuted at Mercer with the Dolls.
Every Mercer person was decked out beyond reason.
I know I had thick eyeliner, gunmetal gray satin pants I poured on, a hot rod show airbrushed Planets t-shirt, a white babydoll sweater completely covered in mother-of-pearl sequins, and all ten nails red.
Todd, Hunt, and Tony were cruising the corridors, showing off their wild newly dyed hair. Tony was shocking pink, Hunt was a black and white skunk, and Todd was the rainbow he is on the cover of “Todd”. I was impressed. Within 6 weeks I had a green and red Saturn dyed into the left side of my hair. I was a Planet, see.
Jonathan Richman & Modern Lovers opened. They were tight and fckng rocked. Mr. Richman, bizarre charisma coming off of him in waves, was wearing a white Brooks Bros dress shirt, chinos, penny loafers with white socks. He was BY FAR the weirdest person there.
The Dolls were in really fine form. The imbibing was properly dosed. Slowly, they were virtually swallowed by the crowd. I stayed in my seat with a view almost exactly like this photo.
In June ’74, I had an audience with Pete Townshend in his suite @ The Pierre, basically the fanciest hotel in NYC. It’s a long story … to be (re)told soon.
I asked Pete what he thought of the NY Dolls.
“I haven’t spent any time with them yet.”
I pitched them hard, ending with…
“They are NYC’s Rolling Stones, Pete. Even when they have a bad night, they’re great.”
Pete replied, genuinely disdainfully haughty, “The Rolling Stones never had a bad night, Binky.”
