Arthur Kane
Death Of A Doll


Arthur "Killer" Kane, legendary bassist for the New York Dolls, passed away in an L.A. area hospital on July 13 from an advanced case of leukemia that he didn't even know he had. Arthur had not been feeling well ever since returning from the Dolls' triumphant pair of reunion performances at London's popular Meltdown Festival in June, where he'd been reunited with the other two surviving Dolls, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain. After feeling progressively worse, Arthur finally went to the emergency room around 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of July13. By 5:30 p.m., he had been diagnosed with leukemia. And by 7:30 p.m., he was dead.

The last time I spoke with Arthur about a week before his passing, he thought he was battling a bad case of the flu exacerbated by exhaustion from all the activity surrounding the reunion shows, but it turned out it was something much more serious. Despite this, he was still thrilled over the reaction the Dolls had received at their much-anticipated reunion shows in London. He was also looking forward to playing the various festivals the reunited Dolls had been invited to participate in over the coming months, particularly the big show in New York in August with The Stooges. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to play any of those shows. But fortunately, the two Dolls reunion shows in London did manage to come to pass before Arthur made his exit. He was able to go out on a high note, having had the chance to share the stage with his former bandmates and to feel the appreciation that so many people had for the impact that the New York Dolls made on the history and spirit of rock 'n' roll!

Of course, anyone who's been paying attention over the past few decades is already aware of the Dolls' huge influence on the evolution of punk rock both in America and in England. They served as the bridge in the New York underground scene from the times when Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground ruled the roost to the days when bands like the Ramones, Blondie and Television came along to shake things up and rock the world. In fact, Warhol superstars as well as future punk rock royalty populated many of the early Dolls shows. But despite the Dolls' legendary status, not many people ever really got to know a whole lot about the quietest member of one very loud band!

For anyone who was fortunate enough to know Arthur "Killer" Kane, or even just to have met him, you know how hard it was not to love the guy. He was one of the most soft-spoken, gentle and kind-hearted souls one could ever come across in the world of rock 'n' roll. As Arthur's former bandmate Sylvain Sylvain recently told me, "He really should have been called Arthur 'Sugar' Kane because he was so sweet!" In fact, his nickname "Killer" was originally intended as a bit of a joke given Arthur's rather gentle and passive nature. This was apparent onstage as well as he often appeared to be a bit of a human statue, seemingly reluctant to move off his spot. Because of this, he's even occasionally been referred to as "the rock." But personally, Arthur was anything but a rock. He was an extremely open, honest, sincere, genuine and vulnerable soul. His life was an open book. He often prefaced many things he had to share with the phrase, "To tell you the truth…" And he usually did! He'd tell you virtually anything, no matter how unflattering it might be to his own ego. And many of the things that Arthur had to share were not terribly ego boosting!

When I first met Arthur, he was living in a cramped little studio apartment that he shared with a few cats on Holloway Drive in West Hollywood. The place often reeked of a strange mix of pot smoke and cat urine. To sit and listen to tales of the glory days of the Dolls in this humble setting certainly seemed more than a little incongruous. And if it seemed a little incongruous to me, just imagine how it must have seemed to Arthur! For many years, Arthur was pretty much forced to live on social security disability payments. He had no car, so he had to take the bus to get around. As he would resignedly say, "I've been demoted from rock star to just some schlep on the bus." He never particularly looked forward to venturing onto the busses of L.A. since, as he would tell me, "Every time I get on the bus, I expect a standing ovation… but it never happens!"

Despite all the struggles, or perhaps because of them, he always held on to the hope, no matter how ridiculous or far-fetched it may have seemed at times, that there would eventually be one last big hurrah for the Dolls. When the reality of the much-dreamed-of Dolls reunion suddenly emerged (thanks to the machinations of Meltdown curator and former Smiths main man Morrissey), Arthur had to borrow money to get his bass guitars out of hock and to get his passport in order for the trip to England.

Over the past decade or so, Arthur had become somewhat adopted by the Mormons. As he told me, he began participating in their activities for the opportunity to enjoy a few free meals, but he progressively became more and more involved with the church, and finally ended up working in their family research center. Oddly enough, when the Dolls reunion finally started taking shape, it was the Mormons more than anyone who helped Arthur take care of all the business, financial and otherwise, of getting himself together to make the big leap back into the high-gloss world of rock 'n' roll. They even dispatched a film crew to follow him through the entire trip from L.A. to New York for rehearsals and reunions with David and Syl, and all the way to the stage of the Royal Festival Hall in London. Arthur expressed some concern that having a Mormon film crew following him around might cut into some of his action in London, and he wondered if you took the sex, drugs and foul language out of rock 'n' roll what might be left! But he soldiered on anyway as the star of his own little reality drama about the virtues of piety and sobriety in the world of rock 'n' roll, even offering up a backstage prayer with his compatriots before hitting the stage.

Some of this footage, which is priceless, was shown at the memorial that was held for Arthur at the Mormon Temple in West L.A. The incongruity of Arthur's life managed to spill over once again into this event, which was attended by a healthy contingent of clean-cut and straight-laced Mormons as well as various and sordid remnants of the old punk rock underground, many of whom turned up fashionably late. But let me tell you, there are few things more incongruous than hearing Mormon bishops quoting Johnny Thunders! And hearing folks discussing Arthur's old band, the Corpse Grinders, in a pious place of worship puts one in mind of B-movie king Ed Wood getting the Baptists to finance a script called "Grave Robbers From Outer Space!" But leave it to Arthur to one-up Ed Wood by bringing Mormons, junkies and corpse grinders all together under one roof!

Unfortunately, just as things were finally starting to look up for Arthur after decades of dashed hopes, the opportunity to enjoy a few long-overdue rewards was denied him. The Dolls had always been Arthur's greatest blessing. But, as with many blessings, they can also turn out to be great curses. In those heady early days when he was riding the crest of the wave with the Dolls, Arthur had gotten a chance to glimpse the Promised Land… that place where everything seems more real, more intense and more important, and a world of endless possibilities seems open and available. And he spent the rest of his life knowing just what that promised land looked like, and hoping to have the chance to recapture it. It must be hard to live with that knowledge, especially when you're forced to witness everyday just how short the real world can fall from the vision. But how many of us get the chance to ever know that vision? Not many!

And fortunately, after almost 30 years of holding on to the dream, Arthur did have the opportunity to briefly glimpse that vision and enjoy the chance to reunite with his former band mates one last time and feel the love that so many people had for the New York Dolls and the contribution that they made to rock 'n' roll! And for everyone who ever had the chance to know Arthur Kane, his own unique spirit will definitely be missed but certainly never forgotten!