Arthur Kane
Encyclopedia
Arthur Kane was a musician
best known as the bassist
for the pioneering glam rock
band the New York Dolls
. He stated in the 2004 documentary film New York Doll
that his nickname, Arthur "Killer" Kane, was inspired by an early New York Dolls concert newspaper review in which the journalist remarked about his "killer bass" playing. He also suggested it was inspired by the old Buck Rogers
comic strip's villainous character Killer Kane
. Kane remained part of the Dolls from their founding, until he was forced out of the group shortly after the departure of Johnny Thunders
and Jerry Nolan
. He joined them for a reunion show in 2004, which was the subject of the aforementioned 2004 documentary New York Doll. Singer-songwriter
Robyn Hitchcock
wrote a tribute to Kane, "N.Y. Doll", for his 2006 album, Olé! Tarantula
.
, New York
to Erna and Harold Kane. His mother died when he was a young man and his difficult relationship with his father went downhill. He graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, New York. He first played bass in the band Actress along with the other original New York Dolls: Johnny Thunders
, Rick Rivets
and Billy Murcia
, but not David Johansen
.
Kane attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York as a Food Science and Management student, a "foodie." During his early years there, Kane socialized with art students such as Eric Marshall in the Pratt dormitory on Willoughby Avenue. (Marshall was later, through association with the retro New Wave band Marbles, recruited on saxophone for fellow-Doll Sylvain's short-lived Criminals.) Kane was always interested in music. By his third year at Pratt he had stopped attending classes, was sharing an apartment with Dave Trott, and wanted to start a band. At twenty-one he inherited money that he used to move to Amsterdam hoping to find like minded musicians. Kane's ancestors, on his maternal side, were from Sweden.
of Hawkwind
.
from W.A.S.P. on a project dubbed Killer Kane, which resulted in the single "Mr. Cool." Lawless was an old friend from the Bronx and had replaced Johnny Thunders during the ill fated Florida tour in 1975. He also took part in such short-lived efforts as The Idols (with Jerry Nolan) and The Corpse Grinders (with Rick Rivets
). He backed Johnny Thunders on a few tours in the 80's. One by one, these projects failed, and Kane began to feel that there was no longer any place in the music business for him, and that what little material success he had achieved with the Dolls was to be the high water mark of his career. He saw himself living in poverty and obscurity for the rest of his life. As this bitter realization gripped him, band after band directly inspired by the Dolls catapulted to stardom, and the other members of the Dolls continued their careers. Lead singer of the Dolls, David Johansen
, who Kane viewed as a rival, found success as "Buster Poindexter".
As a result, Kane grew frustrated with music (although he continued playing and in fact learned harmonica during this period). He relocated from New York City
to Los Angeles
, but he could not escape his regrets. His envy and creative block, coupled with alcoholism and the breakdown of his marriage, led to a deepening depression. Although urban legend frames Kane as a drug addict, this was not the case; his true downfall was alcohol. After seeing David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past
in the comedy Scrooged
, Arthur, in his depression, got drunk and jumped out a third story window. Luckily a door cover broke his fall, but the impact caused slight neural damage and affected his speech.
Kane surprised all who knew him when, in 1989, he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He continued to do volunteer work as a librarian in the Family History Center
(genealogy library) at the Los Angeles Temple. In 1992, Kane was badly beaten with a baseball bat while walking home during the Rodney King riots, and left for dead. He was in the hospital for almost a year and ended up with a metal plate in his head.
gave the project impetus when he offered Kane an opportunity to perform a reunion show with the surviving Dolls (David Johansen
and Sylvain Sylvain
) in London
as part of his Meltdown Festival. Whiteley filmed Kane's experiences preparing for the performance, which was for Kane the culmination of a nearly 30 year dream. In the process of preparing for the concert, Kane bought his bass guitar back from a pawn shop with money borrowed from fellow Latter-day Saints, reconciled with Johansen, and put together a stage outfit in homage to church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Whiteley's footage resulted in the 2005 Sundance
featured documentary entitled New York Doll
.
, and died within two hours. He was 55 years old. Johansen wrote of Kane's death: "It's good to know that he went out on a high point in his musical life, but he will be sorely missed." Annual tributes to Kane's lasting memory and influence were held at the Continental in New York City until its closing in 2006.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
best known as the bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
for the pioneering glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
. He stated in the 2004 documentary film New York Doll
New York Doll
New York Doll is a documentary film based on the life of former New York Dolls member Arthur Kane. The film was nominated for both a Satellite Award and a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in 2005...
that his nickname, Arthur "Killer" Kane, was inspired by an early New York Dolls concert newspaper review in which the journalist remarked about his "killer bass" playing. He also suggested it was inspired by the old Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
comic strip's villainous character Killer Kane
Killer Kane
Killer Kane is a fictional character in the 1939 Buck Rogers serial film produced by Universal Studios. Kane is a gangster who became the supreme dictator of Earth with the help of his criminal army. Although the events of the serial transpire in the year 2440, Kane has apparently ruled the world...
. Kane remained part of the Dolls from their founding, until he was forced out of the group shortly after the departure of Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
and Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with The New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.-Career:...
. He joined them for a reunion show in 2004, which was the subject of the aforementioned 2004 documentary New York Doll. Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
wrote a tribute to Kane, "N.Y. Doll", for his 2006 album, Olé! Tarantula
Olé! Tarantula
Olé! Tarantula is a 2006 album by Robyn Hitchcock, recorded with Peter Buck of R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Rieflin of Ministry, who are billed collectively as The Venus 3...
.
Early life
Arthur Harold Kane Jr, was born in The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Erna and Harold Kane. His mother died when he was a young man and his difficult relationship with his father went downhill. He graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, New York. He first played bass in the band Actress along with the other original New York Dolls: Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
, Rick Rivets
Rick Rivets
Rick Rivets is an American guitarist.In 1971, he and childhood friend Arthur Kane formed a band which, after Rivets was replaced by Sylvain Sylvain, became the New York Dolls, the name provided by the new guitarist....
and Billy Murcia
Billy Murcia
Billy Murcia, born in Bogotá, Colombia and raised in Jackson Heights, New York, was the original drummer for the New York Dolls.Billy Murcia and Sylvain Sylvain both attended Quintano's School for Young Professionals, in the late sixties. It was at Quintano's that they met Johnny Thunders, also a...
, but not David Johansen
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
.
Kane attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York as a Food Science and Management student, a "foodie." During his early years there, Kane socialized with art students such as Eric Marshall in the Pratt dormitory on Willoughby Avenue. (Marshall was later, through association with the retro New Wave band Marbles, recruited on saxophone for fellow-Doll Sylvain's short-lived Criminals.) Kane was always interested in music. By his third year at Pratt he had stopped attending classes, was sharing an apartment with Dave Trott, and wanted to start a band. At twenty-one he inherited money that he used to move to Amsterdam hoping to find like minded musicians. Kane's ancestors, on his maternal side, were from Sweden.
The New York Dolls
At a time when many rock performers sought notoriety through their on-stage antics, Kane gained fame for his motionless performances, with some calling him "the only living statue in rock-and-roll." Throughout his tenure with the Dolls, Kane dated a succession of atypically tall women, including StaciaStacia
Stacia , born 26 December 1952 in Ireland, was a dancer for the English rock group Hawkwind. She is now a professional artist.-With Hawkwind:...
of Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
.
Post Dolls
After the Dolls broke up, Kane collaborated with Blackie LawlessBlackie Lawless
Blackie Lawless , is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band W.A.S.P..In an interview, Blackie claims to have been born in the kitchen of the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood,...
from W.A.S.P. on a project dubbed Killer Kane, which resulted in the single "Mr. Cool." Lawless was an old friend from the Bronx and had replaced Johnny Thunders during the ill fated Florida tour in 1975. He also took part in such short-lived efforts as The Idols (with Jerry Nolan) and The Corpse Grinders (with Rick Rivets
Rick Rivets
Rick Rivets is an American guitarist.In 1971, he and childhood friend Arthur Kane formed a band which, after Rivets was replaced by Sylvain Sylvain, became the New York Dolls, the name provided by the new guitarist....
). He backed Johnny Thunders on a few tours in the 80's. One by one, these projects failed, and Kane began to feel that there was no longer any place in the music business for him, and that what little material success he had achieved with the Dolls was to be the high water mark of his career. He saw himself living in poverty and obscurity for the rest of his life. As this bitter realization gripped him, band after band directly inspired by the Dolls catapulted to stardom, and the other members of the Dolls continued their careers. Lead singer of the Dolls, David Johansen
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
, who Kane viewed as a rival, found success as "Buster Poindexter".
As a result, Kane grew frustrated with music (although he continued playing and in fact learned harmonica during this period). He relocated from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, but he could not escape his regrets. His envy and creative block, coupled with alcoholism and the breakdown of his marriage, led to a deepening depression. Although urban legend frames Kane as a drug addict, this was not the case; his true downfall was alcohol. After seeing David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past
Ghost of Christmas Past
The Ghost of Christmas Past is a character in the well-known work of the English novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of the three spirits that haunted the miser. Ebenezer Scrooge in order to prompt him to repent...
in the comedy Scrooged
Scrooged
Scrooged is a 1988 American comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue...
, Arthur, in his depression, got drunk and jumped out a third story window. Luckily a door cover broke his fall, but the impact caused slight neural damage and affected his speech.
Kane surprised all who knew him when, in 1989, he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He continued to do volunteer work as a librarian in the Family History Center
Family History Center (LDS Church)
Family History Centers are units of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
(genealogy library) at the Los Angeles Temple. In 1992, Kane was badly beaten with a baseball bat while walking home during the Rodney King riots, and left for dead. He was in the hospital for almost a year and ended up with a metal plate in his head.
New York Doll and reunion
In the early 2000s, Kane met filmmaker Greg Whiteley through his work with the Latter-day Saints, and the two became friends. Whiteley had the idea of chronicling Kane's life in a documentary, and, in 2004, MorrisseyMorrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
gave the project impetus when he offered Kane an opportunity to perform a reunion show with the surviving Dolls (David Johansen
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
and Sylvain Sylvain
Sylvain Sylvain
Sylvain Sylvain is an American rock guitarist, most notable for being a member of the New York Dolls.-Early years:...
) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as part of his Meltdown Festival. Whiteley filmed Kane's experiences preparing for the performance, which was for Kane the culmination of a nearly 30 year dream. In the process of preparing for the concert, Kane bought his bass guitar back from a pawn shop with money borrowed from fellow Latter-day Saints, reconciled with Johansen, and put together a stage outfit in homage to church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Whiteley's footage resulted in the 2005 Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
featured documentary entitled New York Doll
New York Doll
New York Doll is a documentary film based on the life of former New York Dolls member Arthur Kane. The film was nominated for both a Satellite Award and a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in 2005...
.
Death and legacy
On July 13, 2004, just 22 days after the reunion concert, Kane thought he had caught the flu in London, and checked himself in to a Los Angeles emergency room, complaining of fatigue. He was quickly diagnosed with leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, and died within two hours. He was 55 years old. Johansen wrote of Kane's death: "It's good to know that he went out on a high point in his musical life, but he will be sorely missed." Annual tributes to Kane's lasting memory and influence were held at the Continental in New York City until its closing in 2006.