Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Born To Lose [purchase]
Johnny Thunders: You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory [purchase]
Johnny Thunders may have had a junkie's appetite for self-destruction and few figures in rock history have certainly done less with more. Hell, in terms of pure work ethic, Gram Parsons looks good by comparison. But, make no mistake, Thunders was a monster talent and is absolutely essential in the "godfather of punk rock" discussion. As lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter with the New York Dolls and then co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter with The Heartbreakers, he married street-smart lyrical content to a fearless, Chuck Berry-via-Keith Richards guitar sound that profoundly influenced every NYC punk band that played CBGB in the mid-'70s and every British punk band that wished it did. You can also hear the Thunders influence throughout the first wave of LA punks, in bands like X, Gun Club, The Blasters, Lone Justice, and then later, Guns 'N Roses.
In my opinion, you should start with L.A.M.F. and then move on to So Alone, but you could do a lot worse than vice versa. And if you don't already have the Dolls' S/T and Too Much Too Soon, what the hell are you waiting for???
As a bonus, here's the Kinks song from which the kid born Johnny Genzale copped his stage name:
Kinks: Johnny Thunder [purchase]
As another bonus, here's The Replacements' tribute to Thunders from their debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash:
Replacements: Johnny's Gonna Die [purchase]
Johnny always needs more than he takes,
Forgets a couple chords, forgets a couple breaks,
And everybody tells me that Johnny is hot,
Johnny needs something what he ain't got,
And Johnny's gonna die.