By early 1975, the Dolls were disintegrating amid poor record sales and tensions within the band, and Thunders and Nolan quit during a tour of Florida in March 1975.
[1] As Hell said, "I was fed up with Television because it was getting so pretentious...so I thought, this is perfect – we'll make a really good rock & roll band that's dealing with interesting subjects.
In the band's early days, each member took turns on vocals, with Hell bringing in songs (such as "Blank Generation") originally written for Television, and Thunders contributing new material as well.
The combination of the style-conscious Nolan and Thunders with the beatnik Hell and gangly Lure made for a visually arresting and musically powerful group.
[1] Replacing Hell with Rath solidified the Heartbreakers sound, firmly rooted in 1950s rock and rhythm 'n' blues, but with the energy, volume, and attitude of punk.
Rath was a better bassist than Hell, meshing with Nolan to form a formidable rhythm section, and was also content with playing a supporting role in the band without seeking the spotlight.
"[4] Although the band regularly drew packed crowds at Max's and other venues, by this point Thunders, Nolan, and Lure were heroin addicts (Rath preferred methamphetamine), so money was tight.
As Childers said, "The Heartbreakers blew everyone away, for no more reason than they were just more experienced – they had their roots in rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll...no matter how anarchic an audience thinks it is, if the bass player can actually play, and the drummer is Jerry Nolan, suddenly they're going 'this is GREAT'!
Sold-out gigs at London clubs Dingwalls and the Roxy established the band as one of the top groups in the nascent punk scene, and eventually they signed a contract with Track Records in the spring of 1977, earning a substantial advance and beginning work on their debut album.
As a live act, at this point the Heartbreakers were second to none – a summer tour of the UK was very successful, with a New Musical Express review describing one gig as "the nearest thing I ever saw to Beatlemania.
As Childers said, the album's failure to capture the Heartbreakers' live sound was "the biggest, hugest fuck-up in the history of rock 'n' roll.
That summer, the three found themselves in New York and decided to play some "farewell" shows – as Lure acknowledged, "we were all strung out, we were all in town, and we all needed money.
"[4] Minus Nolan, the band booked a series of shows at Max's Kansas City with drummer Ty Styx sitting in.
But there was no attempt to write new songs or record new material – the gigs were purely "rent parties" to help the members stay afloat financially (and pay for their addictions.)
In 1984, the band was able to rerelease a remixed version of L.A.M.F., and did a reunion tour of Europe in 1984 that led to a live video and album [1] recorded at The Lyceum Ballroom London on March 25, 1984.
In June 1991, a memorial concert was held for Thunders' family, at which Lure, Jerry Nolan, Coiro, and Joey Pinter played a set of Heartbreakers songs.
He remained active in the music world with his Heartbreakers-style band the Waldos, who played regularly in New York City; Lure would also do an international tour once or twice a year.
[11] Billy Rath disappeared from the music scene after leaving the Heartbreakers in the mid-1980s, and he undertook a period of rehabilitation to recover from the effects of sustained abuse of drugs and alcohol.
After being persuaded to attend the Max's Kansas City reunion gig in September 2010, Rath reentered the music world and briefly fronted a new band, the Street Pirates.