Most recently before rejoining Michael Monroe in his current band, bassist Sami Yaffa was standing in for the late Arthur “Killer” Kane in the reconstituted New York Dolls. The musical crossover could not be more fitting, much of the Dolls catalogue clearly having a direct influence on Hanoi Rocks and the song featured below lending its name to Sami’ s first big post-Hanoi gig, Jetboy.
Some folks try to dismiss the New York Dolls as a novelty act. For evidence to the contrary (and a generally great read) I would recommend ‘Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk’. For a more human look at the era and even more so life after it the DVD ‘New York Doll’ (an Arthur Kane biopic) is also strongly recommended. As documented in the movie, Kane made the initial Dolls reunion show. He died 22 days later of leukemia, but Yaffa is a fitting musical and cosmic stand-in.
The observant will notice Steve Conte (also part of Monroe’s new band) as the non-Syl Sylvain guitarist.
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