JOHNNY THUNDERS & THE HEARTBREAKERS "CHINESE ROCKS" UK 1982 LIVE W/PS EX-/NM OOP

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TWO YEARS AGO I LOST ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS TO CANCER, HE WAS A COOL MUSICIAN A DRUMMER BY TRADE, ORIGINALLY FROM SEATTLE, BUT RELOCATED TO L.A. IN 1985, HE AMASSED A VERY LARGE MUSIC COLLECTION, AND HAD KILLER TASTE FOR ROCK & ROLL, SADLY I AM SELLING OFF A LOT OF HIS COLLECTION ON BEHALF OF HIS WIDOW TO HELP PAY OFF DEBTS INCLUDING HOSPITAL BILLS, TAXES AND STORAGE UNIT FEES. I AM NOT TAKING ANYTHING FOR THIS SERVICE, DOING IT FOR MY FRIEND (MISS YOU DAVE!). THIS ITEM IS FROM HIS COLLECTION.

THE PHOTO'S MAY BE A LITTLE BLURRY, HAVE A LITTLE GLARE, SOME REFLECTIONS OR IN SOME CASES YOU MAY SEE SPECKS OF DUST. BUT THE PHOTO'S ARE OF THE ACTUAL ITEM YOU ARE BIDDING ON. I DO COMBINE SHIPPING.

THESE ARE VISUALLY & PLAY GRADED. I WILL BE LISTING A LOT OF HIS 45's OVER THE COMING FEW WEEKS.

ARTISTS: JOHNNY THUNDERS & THE HEARTBREAKERS

SIDE “A” “CHINESE ROCKS”

SIDE “B” “ALL BY MYSELF”

NO TIMES LISTED

Notes

LABEL: JUNGLE RECORDS UK

CAT.#: JUNG 1

YEAR: 1982

RECORD CONDITION: THE RECORD (VISUALLY & PLAY GRADED). IS IN EX- CONDITION (UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED). NO LINES, SCRATCHES, SMEARS, SMUDGES ETC. THE VINYL HAS A NICE SHINEY BLACK LUSTER. BOTH LABELS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. SONGS SOUND GREAT. THERE IS SOME VERY LIGHT SURFACE NOISE ON THE LEAD IN GROOVES. MAINLY ON THE "B" SIDE.

SLEEVE CONDITION: THE SLEEVE IS IN NM CONDITION. CLEAN SHARP EDGES, NO RIPS, TEARS, SEAM SPLITS OR WRITING. THE SLEEVE IS HEAVY CARBOARD STOCK,

OTHER INFO: THIS RECORD IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT. WITH ORIGINAL PICTURE SLEEVE. RECORDED LIVE AT THE SPEAKEASY 15.3.77

ARTIST & RELEASE INFO: The Heartbreakers, also known as Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers to distinguish them from Tom Petty's band, were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in May, 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock.

History[edit]

In May 1975, Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jerry Nolan (drums) quit the New York Dolls, the same week that Richard Hell (vocals/bass) left Television. Thunders and Nolan invited Hell to join their new band, and Hell quickly agreed. Their first gig was on May 31 of that year, at the Coventry, a rock club in Queens. The trio soon added Walter Lure (guitar/vocals) to the lineup. Lure had previously played with a glam-punk band called the Demons.

In early 1976 Thunders walked out on the lineup, due to Hell's attempts to impose his will on the band and on their performances, and Lure and Nolan followed, so in effect the band left Hell. Richard Hell was replaced by Billy Rath. Rath's first gig with the band was on July 23, 1976 at Max's Kansas City. Hell then went on to form his own band, with his name prominent in the band name: Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

The Sex Pistols invited the band to open for them on the ill-fated Anarchy Tour (the Sex Pistols at this time were managed by Malcolm McLaren, who had previously managed The New York Dolls). Arriving for the tour just as the UK punk scene was building momentum, the Heartbreakers developed a following in and around London. The band's members and image were widely associated with drug use, specifically heroin. The Heartbreakers briefly signed with Track Records. Their debut, and only studio album, L.A.M.F. was poorly received (the title represents a phrase from New York street-slang and graffiti, "Like A Mother-Fucker"). The release of the album created conflict within the band, due to the poor quality of the recording and difficulty in the mastering process, the blame for which rests with producer Speedy Keen. Jerry Nolan left the band in the fall of 1978 because he didn't like the mix of the album (Nolan had had a go at re-mixing the album himself, but wasn't satisfied with the results). The band reformed in 1979 for a few farewell shows at Max's Kansas City with drummer Ty Styx sitting in for Nolan. These shows recorded and released under the title Live at Max's Kansas City '79. The Heartbreakers' 1977 song, "London Boys", is a swipe at the Sex Pistols, in response to the Pistols' "New York", a put-down of the New York Dolls

After their initial break up, the band reformed occasionally to play at New York clubs. Live shows often consisted of songs performed with the New York Dolls or taken from Thunders' solo career. Billy Rath left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Tony Coiro.

Johnny Thunders died in 1991. His body was found in a hotel room in New Orleans. While Thunders' death may have been drug-related, there is some controversy surrounding the facts of his death as the level of methodone in Thunders' body may not have constituted a fatal dose.

The last time the Heartbreakers played was at the Johnny Thunders Memorial Concert, with Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan, Tony Coiro and Joey Pinter, the latter playing in place of Thunders. This line up, together with Jeff West, released Rent Party in 1994, as The Waldos.

Jerry Nolan died in 1992 following a stroke he suffered in hospital, whilst being treated for meningitis and pneumonia.

Richard Hell rarely plays music live, concentrating instead on writing and spoken-word performances.

Walter Lure works as a stock broker on Wall Street but still performs in NYC with his current Waldos lineup. He also travels around the globe playing when his day job allows the time for it. In 2007 Walter Lure teamed up with Belgian punk rocker Dee Jaywalker and went on a short European tour which resulted in a live album, released on Nicotine Records. Lure played three UK concerts in August 2013.

Billy Rath disappeared from the music scene after leaving the Heartbreakers in the mid-1980s, and he undertook a period of rehabilitation to recover from the effects of sustained abuse of drugs and alcohol. Rath then went on to study for a degree in psychology and a postgraduate qualification in theology. He has also embraced religion and has worked as a counsellor for people with drug and alcohol problems. After being persuaded to attend the Max's Kansas City reunion gig in September 2010, Rath went on to form a band, The Street Pirates, with Joey Kelly on lead vocals (Buddy Love / Joey Kelly Allstars / Magic Tramps), Johnny Rao on guitar (David Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain & Helen Schneider), Joy Ryder on background vocals (Avis Davis) and Bill Tello on drums (Hudson Dusters). Drummer Sesu Coleman (The Magic Tramps / Alan Vega) was Rath's first choice for the Street Pirates however Frankie Dell (Dead Cowboys / Trash Mavericks) was called in last minute to quickly replace Bill Tello on drums. After a few gigs in the New York City area with the current line up, Rath then moved up north to Massachusetts and formed a totally different band. He died on 16 August 2014, aged 66.

"Chinese Rocks" or "Chinese Rock" is a song written in 1975 by New York City punk rock musicians Richard Hell and Dee Dee Ramone, mostly composed by the latter.

Openly discussing heroin addiction based on real-life experiences, "Chinese Rock" was first recorded by Hell's former band The Heartbreakers, and later by Dee Dee's band the Ramones.

Origin[edit]

Hell and Dee Dee were in agreement that the song was mainly written by Dee Dee. "The reason I wrote that song was out of spite for Richard Hell, because he told me he was going to write a song better than Lou Reed's "Heroin", so I went home and wrote 'Chinese Rocks'," Dee Dee is quoted in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. "I wrote it by myself, in Debbie Harry's apartment on First Avenue and First Street." 

According to Dee Dee, the song was "about Jerry Nolan of The Heartbreakers calling me up to come over and go cop" heroin, a form of which was known in those days as Chinese Rocks. "The line 'My girlfriend's crying in the shower stall' was about Connie, and the shower was at Arturo Vega's loft," where Dee Dee, his girlfriend Connie and Joey Ramone all lived at one point. 

Dee Dee wanted to record the song with the Ramones, but bandmate Johnny Ramone vetoed it, claiming that the song was too obviously drug-related.[1] Dee Dee then took it to Richard Hell, also with The Heartbreakers at the time. "Dee Dee called me one day and said, 'I wrote a song that the Ramones won't do,'" Hell recalled. "He said, 'It's not finished. How about I come over and show it to you and we can finish it if you like it?'"[3]

According to Hell, "What happened is really clear, and the songwriting credits can all be checked at BMI. The song is by me and Dee Dee, but Dee Dee did 75 percent of it. I mean, all I did was write two verses out of three. Dee Dee wrote the music, the concept was his. He's basically responsible for it. But he brought me the song; he didn't even know Johnny and Jerry, but we were friends and he thought the band was great. And when the Ramones didn't want to do the song he said, 'Look, I've written one verse of this song with the chorus and it's about heroin, how about you write the rest of it and it's yours?'"[4] And that's what he did." Dee Dee similarly recalled, "Richard Hell put that line in, so I gave him some credit." 

The Heartbreakers[edit]

There were differing recollections about how the song became part of The Heartbreakers' repertoire. Richard Hell said, "I brought it to the next rehearsal, exactly as it was done by the Heartbreakers for all those years. I would sing it because it was a song I brought in."[Dee Dee, on the other hand, wrote in his memoir, "When Jerry was over at my place one day, we did some dope and then I played him my song, and he took it with him to a Heartbreakers' rehearsal."[5]

In either case, the song became one of the band's most popular songs. As Hell states, "After I left the Heartbreakers, they kept playing 'Chinese Rocks' and then ended up recording it" for the band's 1977 debut album, L.A.M.F.. "And they put all of their names on it, though nothing had changed about the song—they just added their names to it. Johnny Thunders... had nothing to do with 'Chinese Rocks' at all." 

All vinyl pressings L.A.M.F. including the 1984 L.A.M.F. Revisited album continued to credit the song writers as, Thunders, Heartbreakers' drummer Jerry Nolan as well as Ramone and Hell. It was only after the deaths of Thunders and Nolan that the credit was changed. However, both the 1994 and 2002 CD reissues of L.A.M.F. now name the three Ramones as the writers Joey, Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee—but not Hell.

"The credits are false," Dee Dee wrote in 1997. "Johnny Thunders ranked on me for fourteen years, trying to make out like he wrote the song. What a low-life maneuver by those guys!" The online databases for both ASCAP and BMI, however, credit the song to just Dee Dee Ramone and Hell.

In the Heartbreakers' live performances of the song, Thunders would often change the lyrics to more explicit ones.

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