Cuppy's Music Curios S2 E14: Killer Kane

When the New York Dolls imploded during their tour of Florida in April of 1975, the remnants of the band continued to play the last three shows that Malcolm McLaren booked before temporarily ending the group. One of the emergency recruits Blackie, a teenage guitarist and bassist Arthur Kane headed out west to seek out their fame and fortune in Los Angeles. The two along with another New York Doll temp, drummer Jimmy Image and lead guitarist formed the rock band "Killer Kane." They would play and tour for over a year before breaking up when Arthur Kane decided to return back to the Big Apple after his band failed to secure a record contract after releasing a three track indy EP.

Arthur Kane would never find success in the music industry again while Blackie would add Lawless to his name and sell millions of records with his band WASP. For the next decade Kane would play in a few bands and reunite with his former New York Dolls bandmates Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan on several occasions before trying out a new line of work as a movie extra. After hitting rock bottom, Kane would find a new lease on life as an LDS librarian and convert. In 2004 he would join David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain in a reunion of the surviving New Yorks Dolls and die shortly after from cancer at the age of 55.

Listen to Cuppy talk about the band "Killer Kane."