Johnny Thunders

Have Faith (Mutiny)
by Mark Phinney

Trashy, flashy and kitschy, the New York Dolls were the epitome of the gracious glam slam of the early ’70s. After the demise of the “Lipstick Killers,” a lone voice could be heard wailing with just as much junk-rock shiver-shake as the Dolls. That voice belonged to ex-Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders. His name should ring a bell to anyone familiar with the early NYC punk scene of the ’70s.

Before Joey Ramone, and even Johnny Rotten, there was Johnny Thunders. Thunders went on to form the Heartbreakers, and although they only released one studio album, their name was on the tip of every trash-mouthed tongue in the city. Have Faith is slated for release on the fifth anniversary of Thunders’ death (from an accidental overdose on April 23,1991). In the City That Never Sleeps, Thunders lived fast, died young, and left a pretty corpse. This recording captures some of his best live work. The material was taken from a series of shows in Japan and covers gutter classics like “Personality Crisis” and “Too Much Junkie Business,” proof positive that, though Thunders is long-gone, his druggy chord-stranglings still reverberate through the mean streets of rock ‘n’ roll.