"Personality Crisis" is the lead track from the New York Dolls' self-titled debut album. It was written by Dolls lead singer

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

ist Johnny Thunders. An early

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

version of it appears on the 1981 collection '' Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972''.

Release

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

originally released "Personality Crisis" in 1973 as a double A-side single with "Trash" to coincide with the album's release. Promo singles of "Personality Crisis" were also distributed to radio stations. Following the band's break-up, it was rereleased by Bellaphon Records as a double A-side with "Looking for a Kiss" in 1978. In 1982, a 12" single of "Personality Crisis" & "Looking For A Kiss" b/w "Subway Train" & "Bad Girl" was released by Kamera Records. The same track listing appeared on the

See For Miles Records See for Miles Records (SFM) was a British record label which was one of the first British re-issue specialists predating the emergence of compact discs. See for Miles reissued most of the records of many labels including Dandelion Records on C ...

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

released in 1990.

Reception

Jack Douglas, who engineered '' New York Dolls'', named "Personality Crisis" as his favorite song on the album. Music journalist Tony Fletcher called it an "instant glitter rock anthem", while writer and historian David Szatmary called it an anthemic and dynamic

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

song. In ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine, Tony Glover wrote that "Personality Crisis" serves as "a jumping companion piece to classics" such as

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

' "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Cool, Calm & Collected" by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. It is number 267 on ''Rolling Stones 2004 list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

(#271 on the 2010 list).

Covers

*"Personality Crisis" is the closing track on David Johansen's 1982 live album, '' Live It Up''. It is the only New York Dolls original on the album. * Sonic Youth recorded "Personality Crisis" with

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

on lead vocals in July 1990. It was first released as a write-in offer promo 7" single in the November 1990 issue of Sassy Magazine, then included on the 1993 '' Whores Moaning'' e.p. and later added to the Deluxe Edition bonus disc of ''

Dirty Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a genera ...

''. * Teenage Fanclub featuring

Donna Matthews Donna Lorraine Matthews (born 2 December 1971) is a Welsh musician who was the lead guitarist of the Britpop band Elastica. Music career When she was 20, Matthews answered an advert in ''Melody Maker'' for a guitarist with a new band. She became a ...

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...

cover the song for the soundtrack to the 1998

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

ode to

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

, ''

Velvet Goldmine ''Velvet Goldmine'' is a 1998 musical drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes from a story by Haynes and James Lyons. It is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, and tells the story of fictional bisexual pop star ...

''. *

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...

included it on his 2011 album ''

A Compilation of Scott Weiland Cover Songs ''A Compilation of Scott Weiland Cover Songs'' is a compilation album by Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, released on August 30, 2011 by Softdrive Records. The album consists entirely of cover songs, featuring an array of covers of arti ...

'' *

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

included "Personality Crisis" in a 2011 collection of covers of songs that he'd produced, entitled '' (re)Production'' * Rockhead covers it on the various artist collection, ''Sin City: Dirty Rock Anthems'' inspired by the ''

Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51� ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

References

{{New York Dolls 1973 songs 1973 singles New York Dolls songs Songs written by Johnny Thunders Mercury Records singles Songs written by David Johansen