"Jet Boy" is the closing track and second 7"

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial suc ...

' self titled debut album. It was written by Dolls lead singer

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

and

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 string ...

ist

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played wit ...

. The lyrics are simply about a jet boy who stole his baby. There is little explanation as to what a jet boy is other than to say that he flies around

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Tony Glover of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' described the song as "

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

meets the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

." The New York Dolls famously performed "Jet Boy" on ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

'' on 27 November 1973. After their performance, "Whispering" Bob Harris, host of the programme, laughingly referred to the performance as " mock rock." The original B-side to "Jet Boy" was the love song "Vietnamese Baby," written by David Johansen. According to journalist Steve Taylor, "Vietnamese Baby" dealt with the impact of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

at the time on everyday activities for people, whose fun was undermined by thoughts of

collective guilt Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...

. (Sample lyrics: "Catch me your slaves, shot at/Every rifle on the way and I gotta/Show you more

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

than any girl ever seen/Since I been blasted, I've been blown, I've been backing away/You've got to back it away/You've got to take a search of values/Yeah, But I've got a concert out to play") Album producer

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band U ...

played synthesizers on the track. "Jet Boy" b/w "Babylon" and "Who Are the Mystery Girls" (both from '' Too Much Too Soon'') were released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

in the UK in 1977.

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based hard rock band

Jetboy This is a list of characters from the '' Wild Cards'' book series. Astronomer The Astronomer is a character from the '' Wild Cards'' series of books. He first appeared in the short story "Pennies from Hell" by Lewis Shiner in '' Wild Cards II: ...

is named after the song.

References

External links

*New York Dolls * 1973 singles New York Dolls songs Songs written by Johnny Thunders 1973 songs Mercury Records singles Songs written by David Johansen {{Song-stub