In Style | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1979 | |||
Studio | The Schoolhouse, Westpoint, Connecticut | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 38:43 | |||
Label | Blue Sky | |||
Producer | Mick Ronson, David Johansen | |||
David Johansen chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [2] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [3] |
The Village Voice | B+ [4] |
In Style is the second solo album by the American musician David Johansen. [2] It was released in 1979 on Blue Sky Records.
Johansen's self-titled solo debut earned favorable reviews but low sales. Consequently, In Style – featuring more pop-style songs such as "Melody" and "Swaheto Woman" – was designed to be more commercial.
"Swaheto Woman", released as a single, provided Johansen's first disco song. "Swaheto Woman" and three other tracks were cowritten by Johansen's friend and fellow New York Doll, Sylvain Sylvain. “She Knew She was Falling in Love” and “Wreckless Crazy” had both been performed by the Dolls after the departures of Thunders, Nolan and Kane.
In Style features Ian Hunter and Dan Hartman.
Of the closing "Flamingo Road", Johnny Depp remarked: "I think it's about his experience of losing his wife to Steven Tyler, and the words are beautifully written, beautifully executed. The whole record's great. Johansen was doing some great shit back then." [5]
Technical
New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial success and their original line-up fell apart quickly, the band's first two albums—New York Dolls (1973) and Too Much Too Soon (1974)—became among the most popular cult records in rock. The line-up at this time consisted of vocalist David Johansen, guitarist Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane, guitarist and pianist Sylvain Sylvain, and drummer Jerry Nolan; the latter two had replaced Rick Rivets and Billy Murcia, respectively, in 1972. On stage, they donned an androgynous wardrobe, wearing high heels, eccentric hats, satin, makeup, spandex, and dresses. Nolan described the group in 1974 as "the Dead End Kids of today".
New York Dolls is the debut album by the American hard rock band New York Dolls. It was released on July 27, 1973, by Mercury Records. In the years leading up to the album, the Dolls had developed a local fanbase by playing regularly in lower Manhattan after forming in 1971. However, most music producers and record companies were reluctant to work with them because of their vulgarity and onstage fashion as well as homophobia in New York; the group later appeared in exaggerated drag on the album cover for shock value.
David Roger Johansen is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter, and for playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged.
Transformer is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lou Reed. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album was released in November 1972 by RCA Records. It is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side", which touched on controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution and drug use. Although Reed's self-titled debut solo album had been unsuccessful, Bowie had been an early fan of Reed's former band The Velvet Underground and used his fame to promote Reed, who had not yet achieved mainstream success.
David Johansen is a 1978 album by the rock musician David Johansen and his first solo album following his tenure as lead singer of the New York Dolls. The album was released on Blue Sky Records, a sub-label of Columbia Records that was associated with Johnny and Edgar Winter. David Johansen also features fellow New York Doll guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, who was a member of the David Johansen Band at that time. Sylvain co-wrote four of the songs with Johansen. The single from the album was Johansen and Sylvain's "Funky But Chic", backed with "The Rope ", which has been included as a bonus track on the CD. David Johansen was voted the tenth best record of 1978 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.
Too Much Too Soon is the second album by the American hard rock band New York Dolls. It was released by Mercury Records on May 10, 1974, and recorded earlier that year at A&R Studios in New York City. Dissatisfied with the recording of their 1973 self-titled debut album, the Dolls' lead singer David Johansen enlisted veteran producer Shadow Morton to produce the sessions. Morton, who had been disenchanted by the music industry, found renewed motivation in the band's energy and undertook the project as a challenge.
In the Flesh is a posthumous live CD by legendary punk rock guitarist/singer/songwriter Johnny Thunders. It consists of the full live set featuring a reunion of Thunders with fellow ex-New York Dolls and Heartbreakers drummer Jerry Nolan, ex-Dolls bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane, and ex-Idols & London Cowboys guitarist Barry Jones, recorded at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, California on January 4, 1987. Given Thunders' notoriety for performing in a smacked-out or alcoholic haze, this more sober and professional Thunders performance led one reviewer to declare the CD to contain "an ample track selection, generally superb performances, and surprisingly good fidelity all in one package -- a Triple Crown rarely achieved in the world of J.T. live recordings."
Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972 is a 1981 album of demos by the New York Dolls. The album's songs were later re-recorded for New York Dolls, except for "Don't Start Me Talking" and "Human Being" which were later re-recorded for Too Much Too Soon and "Don't Mess with Cupid", which was never re-recorded.
Red Patent Leather is a live album by the American rock and roll group New York Dolls, released in 1984. It was recorded in New York a decade earlier, in March 1975, just a month before the group broke up while on tour in Florida.
One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This is the third studio album by the American hard rock band New York Dolls. It was the group's first release of original material since their 1974 album Too Much Too Soon. The album was produced by Jack Douglas and written mostly by band members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain.
Just Like This is a studio album of previously unreleased material recorded in November and December 1976 by Mick Ronson. It was supposed to become Ronson's third solo album after Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1974) and Play Don't Worry (1975), but due to low selling amounts of these albums, record company RCA refused to release this third album in 1977.
Ian Hunter is the first solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Ian Hunter, recorded following his departure from Mott the Hoople. Released in 1975, it is also the first of many solo albums on which he collaborated with Mick Ronson. The bassist, Geoff Appleby, was from Hull like Mick Ronson and they had played together in The Rats in the late 1960s. The track "It Ain't Easy When You Fall/Shades Off" contains the only recorded example of Hunter reading his own poetry.
Seven Day Weekend is a collection of demos by rock band the New York Dolls. The tracks were recorded at Planet Studios in 1973 but the collection was not released until 1992. In addition to early versions of tracks released on New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon, there are five tracks that were not released on the studio albums: "Seven Day Weekend", "Back in the USA", "Endless Party", "Great Big Kiss", and "Hoochie Coochie Man". Guitarist Johnny Thunders performed a version of "Great Big Kiss" on his 1978 album So Alone.
Cause I Sez So is the fourth studio album by the New York Dolls. It was released on May 5, 2009, by Atco Records. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren, who also produced their self-titled debut album. One of the songs, "Trash", is a reggae-style remake of a song that originally appeared on their debut album. The album peaked at number 159 at the Billboard 200.
Here Comes the Night is an album by the American musician David Johansen. Released in 1981, Blondie Chaplin produced the album.
Live It Up, released in 1982, was the first live album released by David Johansen as a solo artist. Johansen did release a limited and promotional live album, The David Johansen Group Live in 1978, but the album was not officially released until 1993. Additionally, by the time Live It Up was released, various bootlegs of Johansen's first band, the New York Dolls, were being heavily traded. The impact of the New York Dolls, as both an influential band and as a live act, was becoming a legend in the late-1970s and early-1980s when Johansen was trying to start his solo career. However, his three previous solo albums were not selling as well as expected, therefore, Johansen turned to touring and selling his stage show.
The David Johansen Group Live was originally a promotional-only LP released by David Johansen to help promote his solo career away from the New York Dolls. The nine tracks from the promotional LP were recorded on July 21, 1978 at the New York's The Bottom Line. In 1993, a CD was released of the full 18 songs from the 1978 concert.
Dancing Backward in High Heels is the fifth and final studio album by the New York Dolls, and the third since their 2004 reunion. Released on March 15, 2011, on 429 Records, it contains covers of the 1946 Leon René standard "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," and "Funky But Chic," originally from David Johansen's 1978 self titled album.
Buz Verno is an American bass guitarist, songwriter and singer. After his father encouraged him to start playing music, Verno began to play guitar at seven years old. He switched to bass guitar at 12 years old.
"Trash" is the debut single by American hard rock band the New York Dolls. It was recorded for their 1973 self-titled album and released as a double A-side with the song "Personality Crisis" in July 1973. "Trash" did not chart upon its release, but has since been hailed by music critics as an anthemic glam rock and proto-punk song. In 2009, the band recorded a reggae-styled remake of the song for their album Cause I Sez So.