Happy Birthday Johnny Thunders

Johnny Thunders, aka John Anthony Genzale, Jr., would have been 61 today. You was a New York Doll... and later a Heartbreaker.

In an interview with us back in March, Sylvain Sylvain of the Dolls spent some time talking about Thunders.

[He] had an apartment on Avenue A. His closet was like — everything would be pressed and dry cleaned. He had a real unique way of dressing and picking this and this and that and putting it all together.

When we were picking names for the band, he called me, well, he called Ricky Corvette, and run names by me. 'What do you think of Johnny Thunder?' I'd was like Yeah, that's pretty cool Johnny. The phone would ring five minutes later. What about Johnny Thunders?

You can listen to a Johnny Thunders birthday special hosted by Jesse Malin from last year over at East Village Radio.