"Personality Crisis" is the lead track from 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 ...

' self-titled debut album. It was written by Dolls lead singer David Johansen and guitarist

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 ...

. An early demo version of it appears on the 1981 collection ''

Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972 ''Lipstick Killers – The Mercer Street Sessions 1972'' is a 1981 album of Demo (music), demos by the New York Dolls. The album's songs were later re-recorded for ''New York Dolls (album), New York Dolls'', except for "Don't Start Me Talking" and ...

''.

Release

Mercury Records originally released "Personality Crisis" in 1973 as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

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 Bellaphon Records is an independent German record label of Bellaphon records GmbH. The label produces its own artists and distributes those of other labels. Recording artists * Johnny Cash * The Flippers * Ganymed * Geordie * Joan Jett & th ...

as a double A-side with "Looking for a Kiss" in 1978. In 1982, a

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

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 CD single released in 1990.

Reception

Jack Douglas, who engineered ''

'', named "Personality Crisis" as his favorite song on the album. Music journalist

Tony Fletcher Tony Fletcher (born 27 April 1964) is a British music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M., and also as a show director for the Rock Academy in Woodstock. ''Jamming!'' Born in Yorkshire, England, ...

called it an "instant glitter rock anthem", while writer and historian David Szatmary called it an anthemic and dynamic protopunk song. In '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, Tony Glover wrote that "Personality Crisis" serves as "a jumping companion piece to classics" such as The Doors' "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Cool, Calm & Collected" by the Rolling Stones. 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 Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

recorded "Personality Crisis" with Kim Gordon 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 ''Whores Moaning'' (or ''Whore's Moaning'') is an EP by Sonic Youth released in February 1993. It was released exclusively in Australia to coincide with 1993 tour dates in Australia and New Zealand. The name of the EP was a reference to Nirvana's ...

'' e.p. and later added to the Deluxe Edition bonus disc of '' Dirty''. *

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...

featuring Donna Matthews of Elastica cover the song for the soundtrack to the 1998 Todd Haynes ode to glam rock, '' Velvet Goldmine''. * Scott Weiland 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 ar ...

'' * Todd Rundgren included "Personality Crisis" in a 2011 collection of covers of songs that he'd produced, entitled ''

(re)Production ''(re)Production'' is the twenty-third solo album by rock musician Todd Rundgren that was recorded and released in 2011. For this album, Rundgren re-recorded songs that he had produced for other bands across his career, including Meat Loaf, Hall ...

'' *

Rockhead Rockhead was a Canadian hard rock music group formed in 1991 in Vancouver by Bob Rock. History Already a well-established music producer, guitarist Bob Rock formed the group in 1991 with his Payola$ and Rock and Hyde bandmate, drummer Chris Ta ...

covers it on the various artist collection, ''Sin City: Dirty Rock Anthems'' inspired by the '' Sin City'' comic books.

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