The great Sylvain Sylvain Mizrahi passed away on January 13, 2021 after battling cancer for two and 1/2 years. He was a founding member and heart of the awesome ground breaking New York Dolls. I go by Wally Bangs in tribute to Lester Bangs since this is filled with my writing, but when I performed musically I went by Wally Thunders in tribute to the Dolls's Johnny Thunders whose anarchic guitar style I loved. It way Sylvain that taught Johnny guitar. I didn't really discover the Dolls music until after I graduated high school in 1985 even though I had heard of them due to their connection to the Mercer Art Center which I knew about because I was a huge Kiss fan in elementary school. I had seen photos of the band in rock magazines and while their glam look was intriguing their music wasn't played on mainstream radio when I was really young nor was their old catalog getting any airplay on the local hard rock station. Interesting to me that Sylvain moved to Nashville in 2015.
The first album of theirs I bought was the Night of the Living Dolls compilation in the fall of 1985 and that hooked for me good. The first verse and chorus of "Personality Crisis" made me a fan for life. It was like some amped up chaos version of the Stones. I found the debut and Too Much Too Soon in used record stores and still play them often. I wrote my own tune called "Born To Lose" in honor of Johnny years after he died. Crazy to think David Johansen is the only one left now. Time passes on. Sylvain Sylvain left an incredible musical legacy with the Dolls and with his own stellar and criminally underrated solo work. Time can't erase that. The thing I've thought of even more after learning of his passing is just what a great person Sylvain was during his life. I, somehow, happen to know a few people that actually knew the man. These people didn't happen to talk to after a show or bump into him on the street. They really knew the guy and they are grieving not just as fans, but as his friends. He was such a positive presence in their lives and that makes me happy. Godspeed Sylvain Sylvain. One of those people I know that knew him has this awesome blog post from 2017 with an interview she had done with him in 1993. It is essential reading if you want to learn more about this visionary rock and roll icon.
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