Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash at the Bowery Electric

Johnny Thunders was a New York music legend. From his days playing guitar with the New York Dolls in the early 1970s and the Heartbreakers in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, he was the ultimate rock star in musicianship and style. Nevertheless, his popularity remained largely underground and the best he could muster was an international cult following. On April 23, 1991, Thunders died of drug-related causes at the Inn on St. Peter in New Orleans, Louisiana; mystery shrouded his death, and the investigation was never conclusive.

Local music promoter Steve Krebs hosts a Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash every July at the Bowery Electric, whereby several of Thunders' proteges, former alliances and fans remember him by performing his songs. Walter Lure, who played alongside Thunders in the Heartbreakers, always headlines the "birthday bash" with his band, the Waldos. This year, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, the Carvels NYC, the Gotham Rockets, Lulu Lewis, the Ritualists, the Skelekasters, the Skullers, Krebs & the Maynard G’s, the Threads and other local artists performed as well.

Setlists:

1. The Beauty School Dropouts

I Like to Play Games (Johnny Thunders cover)

Just Another Girl (Johnny Thunders cover)

Bad Girl (New York Dolls cover)

2. DonBlackCat and Friends

I Love You (The Heartbreakers cover)

Gone

Blame It on Mom (Johnny Thunders cover)

3. Freddie Katz and the Thundertones

Hurt Me (Johnny Thunders cover)

So Alone (Johnny Thunders cover)

Subway Train (New York Dolls cover)

4. Gotham Rockets

Dead or Alive (Johnny Thunders cover, with Dina Regine)

Ask Me No Questions (Johnny Thunders cover, with Dina Regine)

(She's So) Untouchable (Johnny Thunders cover)

Baby Talk (The Heartbreakers cover)

5. Lulu Lewis

In Cold Blood (Johnny Thunders cover)

Chatterbox (New York Dolls cover)

Born to Lose (The Heartbreakers cover)

6. The Skelekasters

Little Bit of Whore (Johnny Thunders cover)

Seven Day Weekend (Gary “U.S.” Bonds cover)

I Can Tell (Bo Diddley cover)

She's So Strange (Johnny Thunders cover)

7. The Skullers

Downtown (Johnny Thunders cover)

Alone in a Crowd (Johnny Thunders cover)

Let Go (The Heartbreakers cover)

8. The Ritualists

Pirate Love (The Heartbreakers cover)

I Only Wrote This Song for You (Johnny Thunders cover)

Chinese Rocks (The Heartbreakers cover)

9. Lenny Kaye

Que será, será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) (Doris Day cover, performed solo)

Endless Party (Johnny Thunders cover)

You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover, with Dina Regine)

Gloria (Them cover, with Dina Regine, Lulu Lewis, Steve Krebs, others)

 

10. Soraia

Trash (New York Dolls cover)

Jet Boy (New York Dolls cover)

Personality Crisis (New York Dolls cover)

11. The Carvels NYC

Sad Vacation (Johnny Thunders cover)

Great Big Kiss (The Shangri‐Las cover, with Marc Rentzer on guitar)

Human Being (New York Dolls cover, with Danny Ray on saxophone)

12. Krebs & the Maynard G's

Vietnamese Baby (New York Dolls cover)

I Wanna Be Loved (The Heartbreakers cover)

M.I.A. (Johnny Thunders cover)

Who Are the Mystery Girls? (New York Dolls cover)

Too Much Junkie Business (Johnny Thunders cover, with a verse of Bo Diddley's "Pills")

13. Walter Lure & the Waldos

One Track Mind (The Heartbreakers song)

All by Myself (The Heartbreakers song)

London Boys (Johnny Thunders song)

Cry Baby

Busted (Harlan Howard cover)

Crazy Kids

Let Go (The Heartbreakers song)

Pirate Love (The Heartbreakers song)

Get Off the Phone (The Heartbreakers song)

Born to Lose (The Heartbreakers song, with Danny Ray on saxophone)

Chinese Rocks (The Heartbreakers song, with Joe Sztabnik on guitar)

Too Much Junkie Business (Johnny Thunders song, with Shige Matsumoto on guitar, Danny Ray on saxophone and Steve Krebs on backing vocals)

Encore:

Do You Love Me? (The Contours cover, with Steve Krebs on backing vocals)