To Hell and Back: My Life in Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, in the Words of the Last Man Standing

by Walter Lure, Dave Thompson (With)

Overview

There have been many books written about Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, but only by people who weren’t there. Walter Lure was—from the band's chaotic beginnings on New York's Lower East Side, through a now-legendary UK tour with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, and on to a yearlong stay in London—eyewitness and midwife to the birth of UK punk. Now, he tells his story in To Hell and Back, a thrilling ride through the clubs and dives of two continents, in the company of one of the most notorious junkies in rock 'n' roll history. Drawing from his own contemporary journals, Lure paints a vivid portrait of life in both cities, during perhaps the most crucial musical uprising of the past forty years…the music, the characters, the clothes, the fights, the drugs, the orgies, the lot. Lure lays bare his own battle with drugs, and reflects upon his life after the band's split—rising to become a Wall Street fixture yet still finding time to make music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493059881
Publisher:	Backbeat
Publication date:	05/14/2021
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	190,093
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Walter Lure Walter Lure's latest album, Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Loom Bam Boo, received great reviews across the media spectrum, and his most recent (spring 2019) tour sold out venues throughout the US. He was also heavily involved with Jungle Records’ regular reexaminations of the Heartbreakers’ recorded legacy.  Dave Thompson Dave Thompson is the author of over 150 books, including co-written memoirs with New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain, Motown legends Brian and Eddie Holland (forthcoming), Hawkwind’s Nik Turner, the Yardbirds' Jim McCarty, Fairport Convention’s Judy Dyble, and more. He is a columnist for Goldmine magazine, and his work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Spin, Alternative Press, Mojo, Record Collector, and many other major publications. He has contributed to music documentaries produced by VH-1, A&E, the BBC, and others. Born in the UK, Thompson is now a US resident living in Delaware.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 From Floral Park to the Fillmore 5

2 That Kid 19

3 Watching the Dolls 29

4 Heartbroken 39

5 Rookie of the Year 49

6 Cash In, Dope Out 57

7 I'm Not the New Kid Anymore 71

8 Farewell to Manhattan 79

9 And Hello to London 89

10 Anarchy on Tour (or Not) 99

11 Christmas 107

12 Drugs 119

13 Track Marks 129

14 Oh Carol 141

15 Bands 151

16 Chinese Rocks 161

17 Deportees 175

18 Back to London 185

19 Over the Rainbow 195

20 Hearts Breaking 203

21 Clean-Up Time 211

Epilogue 227

Appendix 1 Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers Discography 237

Appendix 2 Walter Lure Discography 245

Index 249

Editorial Reviews

04/27/2020

Guitarist turned Wall Street businessman Lure offers a wildly entertaining firsthand account of the life and death of legendary rock band the Heartbreakers (not to be confused with Tom Petty’s band), formed in 1975 by guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan after they left the glam-rock pioneers the New York Dolls. Lure is an entertaining writer who focuses on how the band initially combined the image of “street-fighting tough guys from the Lower East Side” created by its bass player, ex-Television founder Richard Hell, with the sound of Thunders and his Keith Richards–inspired “intuitive understanding of rhythm and sound and pace.” Lure details how after he joined the band he learned to deal with Thunders’s heroin addiction, a habit that “would make it very hard to plan for the future.” After a number of gigs, the band was chosen to tour the U.K. with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, where they were uniformly praised in the music press as being “more New York Dolls than the New York Dolls.” After the tour, the band stayed on in London for a year, where they recorded their only album, L.A.M.F. While the other members spent most of their downtime scoring drugs, Lure additionally explored London and saw such productions as The Mousetrap in the West End. After arguments about who was to blame for what they felt was poor sound quality on the LP after it was released, the members decided to go their separate ways, with Thunders starting a successful solo career. This is perfect for fans of punk and post-punk music. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

03/13/2020

Despite producing only one poorly recorded studio album, Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers were one of the most legendary American bands of the 1970s. Guitarist and vocalist Lure is the sole surviving member of the recorded band, and his memoir, cowritten by music journalist Thompson (Come and Get These Memories: The Story of Holland-Dozier-Hollan, cowritten with Brian Holland et al.), serves as an insider's guide to the New York punk scene from 1974 to 1978. Over the years, the Heartbreakers have become more known for their copious drug use than their music; Lure's detailed memories of the period might be called into question. In the 1980s, he turned music into a side career and built a successful life in finance, eventually getting clean by the end of the decade. Stories of Johnny, Richard Hell, the Sex Pistols, and other noteworthy musicians fill every page, making this a required read for devoted fans. But for the uninitiated, it's more of a cautionary tale. VERDICT A readable backstage pass to the early days of the punk rock movement, when the sex and drugs overwhelmed the rock and roll.—Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

Library Journal