Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is a Greatest Record Ever Made! spotlight on "Personality Crisis" by the New York Dolls.
This piece was one of many prepared for (but ultimately omitted from) my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). The book was simply too long, and I needed to cut out a number of chapters. While an infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made (as long as they take turns), page counts are finite. If GREM! (Volume 1) ever really happens, I remain hopeful that it will lead to a Volume 2.
My current draft of the GREM! book is now down to a little over 114,000 words, celebrating a total of 135 tracks. I don't think it's going to shrink much more; in its present state, it's a manageable length and it flows well. It's still roughly three times the length of my first book, but that book was always intended to be short. 38K+ is the right word count for that book, and 114K+ feels right for GREM!
While the New York Dolls aren't represented in GREM! (Volume 1), they do remain among the greatest ever. You can read an account of my first David Johansen show here, and here's a little something I wrote in 2021 about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's ongoing failure to induct the New York Dolls:
"A basic rule of this blog: when I complain about The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, don't bother telling me that the RnRHOF doesn't matter; I already know it doesn't matter. But rock 'n' roll should honor is own, and I will continue to rant on behalf of deserving acts that are snubbed by that overblown Hard Rock Cafe on the banks of Lake Erie.
"The Monkees remain the Hall's most egregious snub to date. With this year's inductees, long-standing snubs of Tina Turner, Carole King, the Go-Go's, and Todd Rundgren have finally been set right. The New York Dolls were also nominated this round, but they didn't get the damned votes. Oy. The Dolls were among the most influential rock 'n' roll acts of the '70s, and failing to recognize their sheer and ongoing impact is willful lunacy."
Induct the New York Dolls! And a recognition of their great track "Personality Crisis" serves as the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
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