Is it really the Dolls?

So just out of curiosity, I’m putting up an informal poll. The question is this: If a band has five members, how many members can the band lose before it isn’t the same band anymore? What about a band of four? Three? How important is the source of the song writing to this equation? I mean could Nirvana be Nirvana without Kurt Cobain, or would it just be the Foo Fighters with guest bassist Krist Novolselic?

The reason I ask is that the New York Dolls have reformed and are releasing an album this summer. Now, there were originally five of them, Johnny Thunders, Rick Rivets, Arthur Kane, Billy Murcia, and David Johansen. Then Rivets left the band and died and was replaced by Sly Slyvian, and after the band was dropped from their label Murcia died of a drug overdose and was replaced by Jerry Nolan. In the years since the band broke-up Nolan, Thunders, and Kane have passed away. Now in good conscious, can Johansen and Slyvian really call their band the New York Dolls?

I mean can Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney get together and call themselves the Beatles? I mean it’s kind of weird how Jerry Only calls his band the Misfits even though he’s the only Misfit involved, I mean it should be called the Black Misfit Ramones wrapped in a Flag or something like that since it’s one Ramone, one Misfit and one member of Black Flag. Anyway…

So if you want to leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Or don’t.