''So Alone'' is the debut solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

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 ...

, then leader of

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 ...

and formerly lead guitarist for

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 ...

Background and content

After recording ''

L.A.M.F. ''L.A.M.F.'' (abbreviation of ''Like a Motherfucker'') is the only studio album by the American punk rock band The Heartbreakers, which included Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure and Billy Rath. It was released on October 3, 1977 by the ...

'' with the Heartbreakers, Thunders returned to the studio and recorded his first true solo album, ''So Alone''. The album featured Heartbreakers Walter Lure and Billy Rath, as well as several well-known guest musicians, including

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

Steve Marriott Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted po ...

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

Peter Perrett Peter Albert Neil Perrett (born 8 April 1952) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is the singer, rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter for the rock band the Only Ones. Prior to forming the Only Ones, who were ...

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

with whom Johnny would later record an album of duets. The album contained a mix of originals, standards from Heartbreakers live shows, and covers, including

the Chantays The Chantays, sometimes credited as Chantay's, is an American surf music band from Orange County, California, United States, known for the hit instrumental "Pipeline" (1963). Their music combines electronic keyboards and surf guitar, creating a u ...

' surf classic "

Pipeline Pipeline may refer to: Electronics, computers and computing * Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on ** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...

the Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Gre ...

' "

Give Him a Great Big Kiss "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (sometimes entitled "Great Big Kiss") is a song written by Shadow Morton and performed by the Shangri-Las. It debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late December 1964, and peaked at #18 for two weeks in l ...

Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), "Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry Le ...

's "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (done with Thunders on the opening verse, Phil Lynott on the 2nd and Steve Marriott on verse 3), and

' "Subway Train."

Diss track

The track "London Boys" was an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

from Thunders aimed at 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 ...

who had recorded a song called "New York" on their album ''

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' is the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, released on 28 October 1977 by Virgin Records in the UK and on 11 November 1977 by Warner Bros. Records in the US. The album ...

'' a year earlier, in which they anachronistically attacked Thunders's band

for being rip-offs.

Reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' called ''So Alone'' "Thunders at his best." 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).

Track listing

All tracks written by Johnny Thunders, except where indicated.

Side one

# "

" ( Bob Spickard, Brian Carman) # "

You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" is a song released in 1978 by Johnny Thunders. The title was taken from a line in the " Better Living Through TV" episode of the sitcom ''The Honeymooners''. It is considered by many to be his signatur ...

" # " Great Big Kiss" ( George "Shadow" Morton) # "Ask Me No Questions" # "Leave Me Alone"

Side two

# "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (

) # "London Boys" (Billy Rath, Walter Lure, Thunders) # "(She's So) Untouchable" # "Subway Train" (Thunders,

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 ...

) # "Downtown" (Thunders, Johansen) ; CD release bonus tracks *Tracks included on 1992 CD reissue: # "Dead or Alive" # "Hurtin'" (Henri Paul Tortosa, Thunders) # "So Alone" # "The Wizard" (

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

)

Personnel

*Johnny Thunders – guitar, vocals, producer *

– drums * John "Irish" Earle – saxophone * Paul Gray – bass *

– vocals on "Subway Train" *

– guitar *

Koulla Kakoulli Koulla Kakoulli ( gr, Κούλα Κακουλλή) (September 1961 – 2 or 3 August 2018) was a British musician, dominatrix and bodybuilder. Born in Forest Hill in London, she died in Brighton in August 2018. Background As a musician, she sang ...

– vocals *

Mike Kellie Michael Alexander Kellie (24 March 1947 – 18 January 2017) was an English musician, composer and record producer. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Kellie was a member of the rock bands the V.I.P.s, Spooky Tooth and the Only ...

– drums *

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...

– piano, keyboards, producer, engineer *

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. He ...

– guitar *

– bass, vocals on "Daddy Rollin' Stone" *

– harmonica, piano, keyboards, vocals on "Daddy Rollin' Stone" *Steve Nicol – drums *Patti Palladin – vocals *Henri Paul Tortosa – guitar *

– guitar, vocals *

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 ;Technical *Peter Gravelle – photography *Molly Reeve-Morrison – project coordinator *Lee Herschberg – remastering *Ira Robbins – producer, liner notes *Bill Smith – art direction, design *Joe McEwan – producer

References

{{Authority control Johnny Thunders albums 1978 debut albums Sire Records albums Real Music Records albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite