The American
Sylvain Sylvain The rock and roll survivor tells The American about still creating music forty years after The New York Dolls– and being carded when he wants to buy beer
Above: The New York Dolls in their pomp (Sylvain, second right)
36 July 2013
Below: Sylvain is still with us, still writing great music, and now rocking stages in the UK PHOTO: PUNKASSPHOTOS.COM
T
he myth says The New York Dolls flamed white-hot for a short time then burned up... they’re probably all dead by now... Well, no. Sylvain Sylvain, guitarist, songwriter and chief image-instigator for the notorious Dolls is still very much alive, and touring Britain in July. The Dolls’ unique blend of ’60s girl-group songs, scuzzy rock and roll, and trash fashion had an effect out of proportion to their record sales, ticket sales and longevity. Does he still see their influence around today? “Oh yeah. It was only two albums,” says Sylvain, “and we were around from ’71 to ’75, but if you look at the people we influenced, they started bands like Blondie and all the others from New York. The New York Dolls were like gods in England, because we were on the BBC! Bono says U2 were influenced by The Ramones. Well, there wouldn’t have been a Ramones if there wasn’t a New York Dolls,” he laughs. “The public and the business give us names because they have to package it. They can call me anything they want, as long as they call me. I really think it’s rock and roll. It’s not raaawk, and it’s not just roll. And I hope it’s based on the blues. It’s not a rock and roll song if it doesn’t have any blues in it. And you gotta have fun. I believe in reincarnation, but just in case it doesn’t happen I’m gonna have a damn good time here while I’m around this Earth.” For a quintessential New Yorker, it might surprise people that Sylvain is a first-generation American. “My family are Jews, our family name is Mizrahi, and we lived in Egypt. French was my first language – in the Middle East you spoke English or French. My dad worked for the British government during World War II. Finally, the Egyptians threw us out in the ’50s.