French Kiss '74/Actress: Birth of the New York Dolls

New York Dolls

(CD - Cleopatra #2646)

Review by James Christopher Monger

This New York Dolls' two-fer from Cleopatra bundles a pair of ancillary offerings from the proto-punk legends. The first, a 2013 release of their legendary (and exhaustively covered) 1974 French radio broadcast French Kiss '74, captures the band at the peak of their powers, while the second LP, 2000's Actress: Birth of the New York Dolls offers up a collection of rehearsal recordings from the band's pre-NYD incarnation "Actress," whom bass player Arthur Kane refers to in the liner note as the "Pioneer Dolls."

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