Monday, 25 July 2016

Steven Morrissey New York Dolls

Manchester. Babylon Books. February 1981. First Edition. Small 4to. 48pp. Printed wraps as issued. Numerous Black and White plates. Text in English. In superb condition with a little toning and rubbing to covers. 

The young Morrissey's ode and love letter to the New York Dolls. Some excellent images and sharp and astute text by Morrissey. The Dolls were a huge influence on Morrissey- he was president of their UK fan club. "Some bands grab you and they never let you go and, no matter what they do, they can never let you down ... the Dolls were that for me." Fandom aside, Morrissey has produced a brilliant book on what is a quite important chapter in the history of popular culture, the Dolls not only signified the end of the 60s, but crossed boundaries in taste, dress and sexuality. Very scarce, the book was written and published before Morrissey then became famous with the Smiths. An important and informative piece of cultural ephemera.