The 60-Second Rock Tour: Spots That Inspired Songs in NYC

New York Dolls — New York Doll Hospital This decades-old doll repair shop is often credited as spot that inspirated Arthur “Killer” Kane to name his ‘70s glitter-rock band the New York Dolls. Dolls singer David Johansen disputes this account, explaining that guitarist Syl Silvain came up with the name the Dolls, then Johansen added “New York” to it. “I was thinking how there was New York, and then the rest of the country was like Gommorah,” says Johansen. “The city was so different than now — it was burnt out, full of boarded-up buildings and had this post-apocalyptic vibe. It was like love among the ruins — that’s the kind of name I was going for.” Nonetheless, people all over the world still send their dolls to get repaired at the Doll Hospital. “I never lost a patient,” boasts proprietor Irving Chase. One recent customer was Bruce Springsteen, who had his favorite childhood teddy bear repaired so he could give it to his son. The Ramones — “53rd & 3rd” On the Ramones first album, Dee Dee sings about hustling on this street corner, an infamous gay prostitute zone in the early 1970s. Joey Ramone’s brother, Mickey Leigh, recalled seeing him there in punk oral history Please Kill Me: “He had a black leather motorcycle jacket on, the one he would later wear on the first album cover … I was kinda shocked to see someone I knew standing there, like, “Holy shit. That’s Doug standing there. He’s really doing it.” Dee Dee also claims the song is about him, and not a Green Beret as is often said. “The song ‘53rd & 3rd’ speaks for itself,” he once said. “Everything I write is autobiographical and very real. I can’t write any other way.” The corner now houses the Lipstick Building, named for obvious reasons. Velvet Underground — Lexington and 125th Street This is the infamous street corner Lou Reed sang about scoring heroin on the 1967 Velvet Underground classic “I’m
	Published: 2007-07-11 Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, The Sixty-Second Rock and Roll Tour