Sunday, March 03, 2013

The Harlots of 42nd Street –Unreleased Acetate!




The Harlots of 42nd Street - Polyethylena Purebred/ Shake My Blues (Unreleased acetate US 1973?)
When platform-booted slags ruled the roost…The Harlots of 42nd Street were major players in the early 70s New York underground Glam/Trash crowd which also included The New York Dolls, Stilettoes, Bitch, Teenage Lust, Brats, Magic Tramps, Luger and others. Apart from the Dolls, very little has been heard from these bands, although a Harlots single was released on Sunburst http://proudfootsound.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/harlots-of-42nd-street-cool-dude-foxy.html
This unreleased acetate s hints at the power and sleaze promised. It’s rough, fun, under-produced and but still doesn’t quite capture the band in all its expected raw glory. Polyethena Purebred is surprisingly melodic over the NY Dolls raunchy backdrop whilst Shake My Blues is a good chug-a-long, again quite melodic with and end sing along. So this acetate ends up being more of an important historical document in the Proto Punk archives, than a revelatory kick-ass single. But the questions remains: What else is potentially in the vaults somewhere?


 

 Hear a full version of Polyethylena Purebred



Hear a full version of Shake My Blues







11 comments:

Velvettinmineradio said...

Got any hints as to why when I click "share" and then "link to mp3" I get brought to the main divshare page? Anyone else ever told you about that problem?

Robin Wills said...

Not a problem. The song clips are for listening, not downloading

Chris Harlot said...

Nice to here the old tunes....thanks!

Chris Harlot

Robin Wills said...

Hi Chris...Did you guys record any more tracks at the time? Best Robin

Anonymous said...

"Hi Chris...Did you guys record any more tracks at the time? Best Robin"

Well Robin...lets see..the ones that have been "uncovered" so far...

"Cool Dude and Foxy Lady"
"Spray Paint Bandit"
"Polyethylena Purebred"
"Shake My Blues"

Should be two more that were recorded during Harlot history...

"TV Man" and ..."And I Know".

Will they "surface"...
I don't know?

But...thanks for the listen...you've got a nice blog...:)

Chris

Gene Harlot said...

Not sure if my last post "got in" or if you even review these things anymore. Just wanted to say "Thanks" for uncovering some other material....while these 2 are not my favorite Harlot tunes (some of the best never were recorded)they were made by us (and, unfortunately PRODUCED by us...which shows why you should never do THAT) and were designed to get some real record folks down to gigs. Anyway...while I now wince at some of this, it's nice to know that afer all these years someone still cares. Even though we were only a footnote to a footnote of Rock N Roll history...we were a hot commodity at the time....and, of course, a lot better band than these show...and certainly better than the Dolls & others who killed the record label's desire to sign more & better acts!
Thanks,
Gene Harlot

Unknown said...

This was the coolest thing to discover! Gene, do you remember Tony Benelli? I am his daughter. I remember watching you perform! I still have your 45!

Unknown said...

I just wanted you to know I used to come see you when I was younger my dad Fred ORZO was manger of your band for a while you guys put on a badass show and we're always very nice to me

Unknown said...

Just wandering if you remember my dad Freddy ORZO he was manger of your band for awhile and I remember coming to see you guys it was a badass show and you were all very nice to me

Unknown said...

Im trying to find my buddy Mugsy Franklin aka Mugsy Harlot him and I go back 40 years we played together back in the day .if anyone v can locate him please give him my email address stevertl@outlook.com .

Seth Greenky said...

Attn: daughter of Tony Benelli. You are posted as "unknown." Condolences on the loss of your father. See below, and please contact me at my email: GreenKeyM@aol.com
------------------------
I am the producer/manager of "The Harlots." I recently spoke with the four surviving members of the band to let them know that we have a new album deal for most of our fabulous, previously unreleased recordings. The tapes survived 47(!) years without needing baking. They have been digitized, re-mastered, and sound like we just left the studio. As the label's head wrote when he first heard it "Dude, this shit is good!" Indeed, it was, and still is. I've seen the cover art, in progress, and it looks great. A known writer is putting together interviews and liner notes. Look for Vinyl and CD to be released in early 2022. It would be sooner but vinyl pressing facilities are few and far between, and with vinyl regaining popularity, there is a wait to get in. It's going to be awesome! Sundazed Records recently let it be known.