| So Alone | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 6, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | January–June 1978 | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 46:32 | |||
| Label | Real Records (UK) Sire Records (US) | |||
| Producer | Johnny Thunders Steve Lillywhite with special thanks to Steve Jones and Peter Perrett Joe McEwen, Ira Robbins (CD reissue) | |||
| Johnny Thunders chronology | ||||
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So Alone is the debut solo studio album by Johnny Thunders, then leader of the Heartbreakers and formerly lead guitarist for New York Dolls.
After recording L.A.M.F. with the Heartbreakers, Thunders returned to the studio and recorded his first true solo album, So Alone. The album featured Heartbreakers Walter Lure and Billy Rath, as well as several well-known guest musicians, including Phil Lynott, Steve Marriott, Chrissie Hynde, Peter Perrett, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Patti Palladin with whom Johnny would later record an album of duets. The album contained a mix of originals, standards from Heartbreakers live shows, and covers, including the Chantays' surf classic "Pipeline," the Shangri-Las' "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (done with Thunders on the opening verse, Phil Lynott on the 2nd and Steve Marriott on verse 3), and New York Dolls' "Subway Train."
The track "London Boys" was an answer song/diss track from Thunders aimed at the Sex Pistols who had recorded a song called "New York" on their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols a year earlier, in which they anachronistically attacked Thunders's band New York Dolls for being rip-offs. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Classic Rock | [3] |
| Mojo |  [4] |
| Q | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
| Select | 5/5 [7] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [8] |
| Uncut | [9] |
Trouser Press called So Alone "Thunders at his best." [10] Music critic Robert Christgau named the album one of the few import-only records from the 1970s he loved yet omitted from Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). [11]
All tracks written by Johnny Thunders, except where indicated.
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".
The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.
New York Dolls is the debut album by the American glam 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.
John Anthony Genzale, known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of New York Dolls. He later played with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist.
Stephen Philip Jones is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the punk band Sex Pistols. Following the split of the Sex Pistols, he formed the Professionals with former bandmate Paul Cook. He has released two solo albums, and worked with Johnny Thunders, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick, Bob Dylan and Thin Lizzy. In 1995, he formed the short-lived supergroup Neurotic Outsiders with members of Guns N' Roses and Duran Duran. Jones was ranked #97 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
The Heartbreakers, sometimes referred to as Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock.
Gerard Nolan was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers.
L.A.M.F. is the only studio album by the American punk rock band The Heartbreakers, which included Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure and Billy Rath. It was released on October 3, 1977 by the British independent record label Track Records, and the music of the album is a mixture of punk and rock and roll.
Too Much Too Soon is the second album by the American glam 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.
Too Much Junkie Business is a compilation of studio demos and live recordings, recorded in late 1982 by protopunk guitarist and singer Johnny Thunders. It is one of the original releases by Neil Cooper's then cassette-only label ROIR. It was reissued in 1999 on compact disc as The New Too Much Junkie Business.
Live at Max's Kansas City is a live album by The Heartbreakers. Recorded at a "reunion"/"farewell" show on September 16, 1978 at the famous Max's Kansas City nightclub, the album's performance — loud, sloppy, and laden with bawdy introductions and/or lyric changes to many of the familiar songs from their only studio album, L.A.M.F. — further cemented the band's live reputation. A classic of early punk rock, the album has been called "probably the best official document of any New York band of the era."
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.
Michael Alexander Kellie was an English musician, composer and record producer.
Stations of the Cross is a Johnny Thunders album recorded over two sets at The Mudd Club in New York on September 30, 1982. Film director Lech Kowalski had originally planned to record a live Johnny Thunders performance for his movie, Stations of the Cross. The spoken dialogue was recorded at the Carlton Arms Hotel, New York City, in Room 29, on August 25, 1982.
Walter Lure was an American rock guitarist and singer. He was a member of the rock group The Heartbreakers.
Copy Cats is an album by the American musicians Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin. It is a set of rock and roll oldies, originally recorded from 1954 to 1969. It was named after being a set of cover versions and as the title of a Gary U.S. Bonds song, "Copycat", which was recorded for the album but not released. Thunders was inspired by John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll.
Que Sera Sera is a 1985 album by Johnny Thunders.
"Too Much Junkie Business" is a song written by Walter Lure of the New York punk band the Heartbreakers. Johnny Thunders sometimes introduced it as "written by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Waldo (Lure)." The lyrics are a black-humored takeoff on Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" (1956), about the complications of everyday life. Its melody is the New York Dolls' version of "Pills" by Bo Diddley. Thunders performed it often in his post-Heartbreakers career. Lure has said that he let Thunders take co-writing credit because "he liked it so much and he wished he’d wrote it".
Patti Palladin is an American singer and musician of the punk rock and post-punk / new wave genres. She is primarily known for her work with Snatch, Johnny Thunders, and the Flying Lizards.
So Alone is a narcotic Neverland, starring ex-New York Doll Thunders at his most defiantly derelict.
