''L.A.M.F.'' (abbreviation of ''Like a Motherfucker'') is the only studio album by the American punk rock band

The Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers, sometimes referred to as Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jerry N ...

, which included

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with ...

Jerry Nolan Gerard "Jerry" Nolan (May 7, 1946 – January 14, 1992) was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers. Career A native of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Nolan joined the New York Dolls in the aut ...

Walter Lure Walter Lure (born Walter C. Luhr Jr., April 22, 1949 – August 21, 2020) was an American rock guitarist and singer. He was a member of the rock group The Heartbreakers. Biography Lure was born in Queens and raised in Floral Park, Long Island. H ...

and Billy Rath. It was released on October 3, 1977 by the British independent record label

Track Records Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most succe ...

, and the music of the album is a mixture of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. In a 1977 interview in the UK monthly magazine ''

ZigZag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

'', Thunders said the album title originated from New York gang graffiti. Thunders claimed the gangs would add the LAMF tag after writing their gang name. However, if they were on another gang's territory they would write "D.T.K.L.A.M.F" (Down to Kill Like a Mother Fucker). The original, vinyl release of the album has been criticised for having a lackluster sound despite several attempts to

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

it.

Background

The Heartbreakers had been trying to get a record contract in the United States since their formation in 1975. In the autumn of 1976,

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provoc ...

, who had informally managed the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

in their waning days, invited the band to come to England and participate in the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

tour, along with

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

and The Damned, who were replaced by

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

shortly after the tour commenced. The band accepted the offer, arriving in London on December 1, the same day that the Pistols swore at Bill Grundy on live, prime-time television, which precipitated the cancellation of most of the tour. Stranded in England with little money after the Anarchy tour came to a halt, the band contemplated a retreat to New York, but their manager,

Leee Black Childers Leee Black Childers (July 24, 1945 – April 6, 2014) was an American photographer, writer and rock music manager, who "recorded the legacy of a theatrical cross over between rock music and gay culture". Born Lee Black Childers in Jefferson Count ...

, convinced them to stay in England, believing that they would be more successful there. After several gigs in London,

offered the Heartbreakers a recording contract. Track asked the band to sign to the company as "The Chris Stamp Band Ltd." a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

owned by Track, with the proviso that if that holding company went out of business, the rights to any recordings the band made would revert to the band's own business partnership. The band agreed and signed on to Track.

Recording session order

The band prepared for the album with a three-day demo session at Essex Studios in late February 1977, followed by two live shows at London's

Speakeasy Club The Speakeasy Club, also known as The Speak, was a club situated at 48 Margaret Street, London, England, and served as a late-night meeting place for the music industry from 1966 to June 1978. The club took its name and theme from the speakeasie ...

, which were recorded by Track Records for future release. Six songs: "All By Myself", "Let Go", "Get Off The Phone", "I Wanna Be Loved", "Can't Keep My Eyes On You", and "I Love You" were recorded at Essex with Track staff producer

Speedy Keen John David Percy "Speedy" Keen (29 March 1945 – 12 March 2002)''The Gua ...

. The band then switched to

Ramport Studios Ramport Studios was a recording studio on Thessaly Road, Battersea, south London, owned by the Who. The studio was built in an old church hall. Several major albums were recorded at Ramport, including 1974's ''Crime of the Century'' by Supertram ...

(owned by

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

) to record eight more songs. During a break in the recording, the Who's

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

invited the Heartbreakers to appear as extras in the movie version of ''

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song " A Quick One, While ...

''.

Post-production

Mixing the recording was problematic. The band went to different studios, each member trying their own mixes. Each mix would be considered and rejected, after which band members returned to the studio to try to remix it. The band was later alleged to have used taxicabs to commute between London and Birmingham, billed to Track Records, to replenish their drug supply. The mixing sessions lasted through the summer of 1977, as they continued playing live.

Critical reception

''L.A.M.F.'' would be released by Track Records on October 3, 1977. Critic

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991. ...

wrote in ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' magazine, "The sounds (mostly) are great, the playing assured ... so what's the problem? The mixing. The fantasy that they are includes an element of self-destruction, and here's where it operates — they can't seem to get it quite right ... Whichever way, some of the songs ... sound muddy — irritating 'cause you know how good they be." Jerry Nolan told the rest of the band that if the album was released "without a proper mix", he would see no reason to remain in the band. Nolan quit during a UK tour, during which time Sex Pistols drummer

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

filled in, until Nolan was asked to return as a hired hand. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

named the album one of the few import-only records from the 1970s he loved yet omitted from '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981).

Resurrection

After

went out of business, manager Leee Black Childers acquired The Heartbreakers' tapes; the Essex demos, the Speakeasy live recordings and the masters from the ''L.A.M.F.'' sessions, including thirty-five reels full of various mixes, from the Track Records offices, due in part to the contract provision the band signed early in 1977. In 1982, the rights to The Heartbreakers' tapes were acquired from Childers, acting on behalf of the band partnership, by

Jungle Records Jungle Records is a British independent record label formed in 1982, specialising in punk rock, post punk, gothic and alternative releases. From 1982 to 1986 they were also active as a record distributor and were associate members of the C ...

, an independent English label. Jungle convinced Thunders and former

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

bassist Tony James (then with

Sigue Sigue Sputnik Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including "Love Missile F1-11" and " 21st Century Boy". The band's music, image and insp ...

) to remix ''L.A.M.F.''. Johnny Thunders died in 1991 and Jerry Nolan died in 1992. In 1994, Jungle Records executive Alan Hauser had The Heartbreakers' tapes reviewed, and had the best available mixes preserved on Digital Audio Tape. It was soon discovered by Hauser that many of the original mixes left behind by The Heartbreakers were best suited to the band's protopunk sound, while others had a sound similar to sixties pop hits. It was realized that the problem with the sound on the original Track Records release of ''L.A.M.F.'' was due to the manufacturing of the vinyl records. A rare cassette edition, released by Track at the same time, was said to " oundas if it had a shower, shave, coffee and a cigarette" (liner notes of 2002 reissue by

Nina Antonia Nina Antonia (born Nina Antonia Benjamin in 1960) is an English author who has chronicled the lives and misadventures of Johnny Thunders, the New York Dolls, Peter Perrett, and the elusive Brett Smiley. Antonia's later work has explored decade ...

, p. 10). The 300-plus available mixes were narrowed down to a shortlist of 50 tracks, and London-area friends and colleagues of Johnny Thunders, including sometime Thunders collaborator

Patti Palladin Patti Palladin is an American singer and musician of the punk rock and post-punk / new wave genres. She is primarily known for her work with Snatch (with Judy Nylon), Johnny Thunders, and the Flying Lizards. Career Palladin was a member o ...

and journalist Nina Antonia, were asked for their input. The first edition of what is sometimes referred to as ''L.A.M.F.: The Lost '77 Mixes'' was released by Jungle in 1994. Eight years later, a remastered edition, appended with an

MPEG The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is an alliance of working groups established jointly by International Organization for Standardization, ISO and International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC that sets standards for media coding, includ ...

video of "Chinese Rocks", was released. In 2012 Jungle released ''L.A.M.F.: Definitive Edition''. In 2021, Jungle located a copy master of the 1977 sessions that belonged to the co-producer, Daniel Secunda. It was released as ''L.A.M.F. the found '77 masters'', firstly as a Record Store Day vinyl LP and then on CD together with a second disc of demo recordings. It was reported to not suffer from the original album's sound problems.

Track listing

Original Track Records release

# "Born to Lose" (as spelled on label)/"Born Too Loose" (as spelled on sleeve) # "Baby Talk" # "All by Myself" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Wanna Be Loved" # "It's Not Enough" # "

Chinese Rocks "Chinese Rocks" or "Chinese Rock" is a song written in 1975 by New York punk rock musician Dee Dee Ramone with contributions from Richard Hell. Inspired by Lou Reed's " Heroin", the song openly details the day-to-day ravages of opiate addicti ...

" (

Dee Dee Ramone Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he w ...

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and T ...

) (*see below) # "Get Off the Phone" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Pirate Love" # "One Track Mind" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Love You" # "Goin' Steady" # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan)

''L.A.M.F. Revisited''

# "One Track Mind" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Wanna Be Loved" # "Pirate Love" # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan) # " Do You Love Me?" (

Berry Gordy, Jr. Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

) # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Get Off the Phone" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "All by Myself" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Chinese Rocks" (

) (*see below) # "Baby Talk" # "Goin' Steady" # "It's Not Enough" # "I Love You" # "Born Too Loose" (aka "Born to Lose")

''L.A.M.F.: The Lost '77 Mixes''

Disc one

:Disc one is the version of ''L.A.M.F.'' compiled by Jungle Records in 1994. # "Born to Lose" # "Baby Talk" # "All by Myself" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Wanna Be Loved" # "It's Not Enough" # "Chinese Rocks" (Dee Dee Ramone, Richard Hell) (*see below) # "Get Off the Phone" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Pirate Love" # "One Track Mind" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Love You" # "Goin' Steady" # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan) # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Do You Love Me?" (Berry Gordy, Jr.)

Disc two

:Disc two is a collection of demos, outtakes, and alternate mixes. # "Born Too Loose" # "Chinese Rocks" # "Let Go" #* Tracks 1–3 are from the Essex Studios demo sessions, February 20–22, 1977. # "Goin' Steady" (backing track) # "Baby Talk" (backing track) # "Pirate Love" (backing track) # "Born to Lose" (backing track) # "Chinese Rocks" (backing track) # "Do You Love Me?" #* Tracks 4–9 are outtakes from the Ramport Studio sessions, with studio chatter and false starts indexed as countdown time on the CD. # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" #* Track 10 is a single B-side, recorded live at London's Speakeasy in early 1977. # "Get Off the Phone" (alternate mix) #* Mixed at Olympic Studio, May 16, 1977 # "All by Myself" (alternate mix) #* Mixed at Ramport Studio, date unknown, 1977 # "It's Not Enough" (alternate mix) #* Mixed at Ramport Studio, June 1, 1977 # "One Track Mind" (alternate mix) #* Mixed at Ramport Studio, June 27, 1977 # "Too Much Junkie Business" (Walter Lure, Johnny Thunders) # "London Boys" (Johnny Thunders, Walter Lure, Billy Rath) #* Tracks 15–16 are demos done for EMI Records at Riverside Studio, London, December 13, 1977. These two tracks were produced by

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a ta ...

:''All tracks on both discs written by Johnny Thunders except where noted.'' (*)Note: The original Track Records version of ''L.A.M.F.'' credited Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and Richard Hell with the writing of "Chinese Rocks". Jungle Records corrected this error for their 1994 and subsequent editions of the album, providing the credit attributing the song's authorship to

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

and Dee Dee Ramone. The 2021 release of ''L.A.M.F.: The Found '77 Masters'' restored the proper songwriting credit to Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell, as indicated on the online databases for both BMI and ASCAP.

''L.A.M.F.: Definitive Edition''

:In 2012 Jungle Records released a new version, consisting of 4 CDs.

Disc one: The Lost '77 Mixes

:Disc one is the same as released in 1994. # "Born Too Loose" (aka "Born to Lose") # "Baby Talk" # "All by Myself" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Wanna Be Loved" # "It's Not Enough" # "

" (

) (*see above) # "Get Off the Phone" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Pirate Love" # "One Track Mind" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Love You" # "Goin' Steady" # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan) # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Do You Love Me?" (

)

Disc two: The Track LP restored

:Disc two is a restored version of the original album. # "Born Too Loose" (aka "Born to Lose") # "Baby Talk" # "All by Myself" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Wanna Be Loved" # "It's Not Enough" # "

" (

) (*see above) # "Get Off the Phone" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Pirate Love" # "One Track Mind" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "I Love You" # "Goin' Steady" # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan)

Disc three: The demo session

:Disc three contains 13 demos, recorded in three different studios from 1976 to 1977. Tracks 1–4 were recorded at ''SBS Studios'' in January 1976 with

still in the band. Tracks 5–10 were recorded at ''Jay Nap Studios'' in late 1976. Tracks 11–13 were recorded in February 1977 at ''Essex Studios''. # "I Wanna Be Loved" (Mix 2) # "Pirate Love" # "Going Steady" # "Flight" (Walter Lure) # "Born to Lose" # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "It's Not Enough" # "I Love You" # "Take a Chance" (Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan) # "Do You Love Me?" (

) # "Let Go" (Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan) # "

" (

) (*see above) # "Born to Lose"

Disc four: The alternative mixes

:Disc four is a selection of alternative mixes from different studios and different days in 1977, chosen from a 'short-list' of 54 mixes. # "Born to Lose" #* Essex Studio, February 20 # "Born to Lose" #* Ramport Studio, March 22 # "Baby Talk" #* Ramport Studio, June 5 # "Baby Talk" #* Advision Studio, September 15 # "All by Myself" #* Olympic Studio, May 16 # "All by Myself" #* Ramport Studio, date unknown # "It's Not Enough" #* Ramport Studio, June 1 # "It's Not Enough" #* Ramport Studio, June 27 # "Chinese Rocks" #* Ramport Studio, March 22 # "Get Off the Phone" #* Olympic Studio, May 16 # "Pirate Love" #* Ramport Studio, June 7 # "Pirate Love" #* Ramport Studio, July 2 # "One Track Mind" #* Ramport Studio, June 22 # "One Track Mind" #* Advision Studio, September 10 # "I Love You" #* Ramport Studio, June 11 # "Goin' Steady" #* Olympic Studio, May 19 # "Goin' Steady" #* Ramport Studio, July 22 # "Let Go" #* Ramport Studio, June 10 # "Let Go" #* Ramport Studio, July 2 # "Can't Keep My Eyes on You" #* Ramport Studio, April 22 # "Do You Love Me" #* Ramport Studio, July 22

''L.A.M.F: The Found '77 Masters''

Disc One

''Disc One's track listing replicates the ''Lost '77 Mixes'' track listing, including "Can't Keep My Eyes Off You" and "Do You Love Me", however using the mixes from Danny Secunda's copy of the original master tape rather than the outtake remixes used on the 1994 CD.''

Disc Two: The Demo Sessions, Plus

''Disc Two is an entirely new sequence of demos and outtakes from the period.'' #"Born to Lose" (Chris Stamp single mix) #"Chinese Rocks" (Chris Stamp single mix) #"Born Too Loose" (Essex Studio demo, Feb. '77) #"Chinese Rocks" (Essex Studio demo, Feb. '77) #"Let Go" (Essex Studio demo, Feb. '77) #"I Love You" (Jay Nap Studio demo, 1976) #"It's Not Enough" (Jay Nap Studio demo, 1976) #"Do You Love Me" (Jay Nap Studio demo, 1976) #"Take a Chance" (Jay Nap Studio demo, 1976) #"Born to Lose" (Jay Nap Studio demo, 1976) #"I Wanna Be Loved" (SBS Studio demo, Jan. '76) #"Going Steady" (SBS Studio demo, Jan. '76) #"Flight" (SBS Studio demo, Jan. '76) #"Pirate Love" (SBS Studio demo, Jan. '76) #"Give Her a Great Big Kiss" (Riverside Studio demo, Dec. 1977) #"Too Much Junkie Business" (Riverside Studio demo, Dec. 1977) #"London Boys" (Riverside Studio demo, Dec. 1977) #"Can't Keep My Eyes On You" (live) (single B-side, 1977j

Personnel

;The Heartbreakers *

- Lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar *

- Backing and lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar *

Billy Rath The Heartbreakers, sometimes referred to as Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jerry ...

- bass *

- drums, backing vocals ;Technical *

Roberta Bayley Roberta Bayley is a photographer, best known for her photographs of the New York punk scene of the 70s. Life Bayley was born in Pasadena, California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended San Francisco State University for thre ...

- cover photography

References

Sources

* liner notes of Jungle Records 2002 edition of ''L.A.M.F.'', by Nina Antonia with comments by Walter Lure. * ''Johnny Thunders - In Cold Blood'', Nina Antonia, Cherry Red Books (2000) . * ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide To Underground Rock'', George Gimarc, Backbeat Press (2005) * Trouser Press Record Guid
online entry on Heartbreakers

Johnny Thunders Cyber Lounge

Johnny Thunders chronological info