''Valley of the Dolls'' is the second studio long-player by the British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...

, which was produced by Ian Hunter.

Production

''Valley of the Dolls'' was recorded at

Wessex Sound Studios Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk ...

in Islington in October 1978. The record's

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

was 'Intercourse (Old Meets New)', which was superseded by a name taken from a 1966 novel. Ian Hunter was commissioned as the record's producer at Tony James's request, from having been a fan of his work with

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fai ...

in the early 1970s. The record was Generation X's second long-player release, and displayed the band transitioning from its origins in the London Punk Rock scene of the late-1970s into a more mainstream rock music sound, with the incorporation of musical influences ranging from

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 ...

Progressive Rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

, and Bruce Springsteen's mid-1970s work, and was in part aimed at providing the band with a means of entry into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

market, and gearing up the scale of the band's sound to move from playing in club venues to theatres and arenas. In pre-release music press interviews for the record

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

presented it as a departure from the punk movement by the band:

"I think with this album we've exorcised the ghost of punk rock, people always saw punk as unmusical, and we aim to show that we've got ideas, and that we're individuals and not just following what everyone else does. Generation X is its own band. This LP is a lot different from our
last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...
, which didn't have enough staying power, this new one doesn't wear off so easily and we think it will last longer."

On release in January 1979 the record performed disappointingly in the UK Albums Chart, and contributed substantially to Generation X's demise as a band at the year's end. In a later interview with the '' New Musical Express'', Tony James, the band's bass-player and song-writing lyricist attributed the record's failure commercially and artistically to:

"I was in love with the rock and roll myth. I'd read ( Mick Farren's novel) ''The Tale of Willy's Rats'', and thought it was wonderful. I certainly had a romantic vision of rock and roll groups, and I think with the ''Valley of the Dolls'' album we reached an all time bottom in that rock and roll romanticism. After the album came out I realised that I'd been talking about things that I didn't really understand, or which even were just not true. Afterwards we realised we had to sing about what we knew about, not what we wished we were."

Concerns from the record's producer Ian Hunter about the technical competence of Generation X's drummer led to the employment for the recording sessions of

Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. Bunker is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engage ...

as a session musician. Bunker and Laff played together on the tracks, achieving a distinctive double-drum sound.

Singles releases

The album contained the UK singles: "King Rocker", which reached #11 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1979; "Valley of the Dolls", which reached #23 in April, and "Fridays Angels" in June 1979, which failed to enter the top 40.

Chart performance

On release the ''Valley of the Dolls'' long-player reached #51 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Track listing

Original LP (1979)

Personnel

;Generation X *

−

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Tony James − bass, vocals * Bob "Derwood" Andrews −

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 ...

, vocals *

Mark Laff Mark Laff (born Mark Red Laffoley; 19 May 1958) is a retired English drummer and former member of several rock bands, including Generation X. Early life and career Mark Red Laffoley was born on 19 May 1958 at Barnet General Hospital, at Chip ...

− drums, vocals ;Additional musician *

- drumsInterview with Derwood Andrews, 'Fear & Loathing' website interview, 2 December 2013. http://longbeachloathing.blogspot.com/2013/12/interviewgeneration-x-and-empire-s.html ;Technical *Gary Edwards - engineer *Peter Wagg - art direction *Janusz Guttner - design *Rod Delroy, Paddy Eckersley - photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valley Of The Dolls (Album) 1979 albums Generation X (band) albums Chrysalis Records albums