10 Best Singles From The Golden Age Of Punk
6. Chinese Rocks - The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers were the primo NYC rock'n'roll band. Not to be confused with Tom Petty's band of the same name, The Heartbreakers were formed from the ashes of seminal prime punk influencers, The New York Dolls. Johnny Thunders was already a legend before forming the band with co-singer and guitarist Walter Lure.
With an in-built advantage over their rivals given the band's pedigree, they wasted no time in showing the UK contingent how things should be done. With a level of musicianship that was a notch above their contemporaries and a set packed full of instant hits, the band should have been huge. Unfortunately, substance abuse and bad luck dogged them and they never came close to fulfilling their promise.
Chinese Rocks was actually written by Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell, who had left the band by the time they reached the UK. Unsurprisingly, for a band who had threatened to call themselves The Junkies at one point, it is about scoring drugs. The curious should check out the debut album, 'LAMF', for a set of songs where 'Rocks' isn't even the best track. All four band members are no longer with us, a sad fate that they share with fellow New Yorkers, The Ramones.