He was best known as the founder of indie punk—new wave label Red Star Records in 1977,[1] and for being the manager of the New York Dolls[2] and co-producer of Suicide's classic self-titled debut album.
The Dolls were known for their urban street attitude and gender parodying irreverence, and recorded songs drawn from early 1960s girl groups, southern soul, and 1950s rock 'n' roll.
After the Dolls disbanded in 1975, Thau entered New York's underground demimonde and was integral to the scene's development as a spawning ground of punk-new wave stars.
[citation needed] In addition to the Dolls, he worked with prominent punk and new wave artists such as The Ramones, Blondie, Brian Setzer, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Real Kids, The Fleshtones, Martin Rev and Walter Steding for his Red Star label.
[6][4] Before his death, Thau reported that he was working on a memoir titled Rockin' The Bowery (From the New York Dolls to Suicide), previewed in Rocker Magazine in the fall of 2011.