New York Dolls

New York Dolls was recorded at the Record Plant in April 1973 in eight days on a budget of $17,000, though another chronology has sessions from mid-April to mid-June. Todd Rundgren produced, with Jack Douglas and Ed Sprigg engineering. The band picked songs by live response; Rundgren reportedly told them to get the glitter out of your asses and play, although Douglas says he rarely attended, and it was mixed in under half a day. Johansen sang and played harmonica and gong, Thunders lead guitar, Sylvain guitar and piano, Kane bass and Nolan drums, with Rundgren on additional piano and Moog and Buddy Bowser on saxophone on "Lonely Planet Boy".

It reached 116 on the Billboard 200, 45 on Cash Box and 81 in Canada, sold over 100,000 copies at the time and had singles that did not chart. NME's Nick Kent praised it in 1973 and Ellen Willis called "Trash" and "Personality Crisis" transcendent in the New Yorker. AllMusic gave it five stars and Pitchfork 9.0 in retrospect, and Rolling Stone placed it 213th in 2003. The Cherry Red box set Personality Crisis: Live Recordings and Studio Demos 1972-1975 (2018) holds a Detroit show of December 31, 1973 and 1974 and 1975 live recordings.