A one-off band that never received much consideration in the NYC Glam Rock scene. Five Dollar Shoes included Gregg Diamond (also member of Jobriath backing band, The Creatures), Mike Millius, Tom Graves, Jim Gregory and Scott Woody. LP was recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City´s Greenwich Village. Apparently, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons (then in Wicked Lester) were backing vocalists on the studio sessions, but i'm not hearing it on the LP.
Either way, this is an eclectic mix:
*Mott the Hoople swagger
*Early 70's Rolling Stones junkie pathos
*Tom Waits-esque insightful/dirty/urban story-telling vox and elan
All driven with a classic proto-Punk/New York Dolls-esque Rock-n-Roll engine with quality production values.
May be a musical "stinky cheese" type experience for some......But for me, this is a brilliant dusty used bin type find that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the more muscular Glam Rock from the era and something i'll spin often. I caught myself wanting to sit down with the lyric sheet about 3 tracks in. That's always a good sign. This is a good result.