Background: Steven Paul Smith was born at the Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child of Gary Smith, a student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Bunny Kay Berryman, an elementary school music teacher. His parents divorced when he was six months old, and Smith moved with his mother to Duncanville, Texas. Smith later had a tattoo of a map of Texas drawn on his upper arm and said: "I didn't get it because I like Texas, kind of the opposite. But I won't forget about it, although I'm tempted to because I don't like it there."
Context: Smith graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1991 with a degree in philosophy and political science. "Went straight through in four years", he explained to Under the Radar in 2003. "I guess it proved to myself that I could do something I really didn't want to for four years. Except I did like what I was studying. At the time it seemed like, 'This is your one and only chance to go to college and you had just better do it because some day you might wish that you did.' Plus, the whole reason I applied in the first place was because of my girlfriend, and I had gotten accepted already even though we had broken up before the first day." After he graduated, he "worked in a bakery back in Portland with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and legal theory". While at Hampshire, Smith formed the band Heatmiser with classmate Neil Gust. After Smith graduated from Hampshire, the band added drummer Tony Lash and bassist Brandt Peterson and began performing around Portland in 1992. The group released the albums Dead Air (1993) and Cop and Speeder (1994) as well as the Yellow No. 5 EP (1994) on Frontier Records. They were then signed to Virgin Records to release what became their final album, Mic City Sons (1996). Around this time, Smith and Gust worked a number of odd jobs around Portland, including installing drywall, spreading gravel, transplanting bamboo trees, and painting the roof of a warehouse with heat reflective paint. The pair were also on unemployment benefits for some time, which they considered an "artist grant". Smith had begun his solo career while still in Heatmiser, and the success of his first two releases created distance and tension with his band. Heatmiser disbanded prior to the release of Mic City Sons, prompting Virgin to put the album out inauspiciously through its independent arm, Caroline Records. A clause in Heatmiser's record contract with Virgin meant that Smith was still bound to it as an individual. The contract was later bought out by DreamWorks prior to the recording of his fourth album, XO.
Question: How many people were in the band?
Answer: After Smith graduated from Hampshire, the band added drummer Tony Lash and bassist Brandt Peterson

Background: John Anthony Gillis was born in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of ten children--and the seventh son--of Teresa (nee Bandyk) and Gorman M. Gillis. His mother's family was Polish, while his father was Scottish-Canadian. He was raised a Catholic, and his father and mother both worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit as the Building Maintenance Superintendent and secretary in the Cardinal's office, respectively. Gillis became an altar boy, which landed him an uncredited role in the 1987 movie The Rosary Murders, filmed mainly at Holy Redeemer parish in southwest Detroit.
Context: White has been called "eccentric." He is known for creating mythology around his endeavors; examples include his claim that the Stripes began on Bastille Day, that he and Meg are the two youngest of ten siblings, and that Third Man Records used to be a candy factory. These assertions came into question or were disproven, such as when, in 2002, the Detroit Free Press produced copies of both a marriage license and divorce certificate for him and Meg, confirming their history as a married couple. Neither addresses the truth officially, and Jack continues to refer to Meg as his sister in interviews, including in the documentary Under Great White Northern Lights, filmed in 2007. In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jack alluded to this open secret, implying that it was intended to keep the focus on the music rather than the couple's relationship: "When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, 'Oh, I see...' When they're brother and sister, you go, 'Oh, that's interesting.' You care more about the music, not the relationship--whether they're trying to save their relationship by being in a band." He has an attachment to the number three, stemming from seeing three staples in the back of a Vladimir Kagan couch he helped to upholster as an apprentice. His business ventures frequently feature "three" in the title and he typically appends "III" to the end of his name. During the White Stripes 2005 tour in the UK, White began referring to himself as "Three Quid"--"quid" being British slang for pound sterling. He maintains an aesthetic that he says challenges whether people will believe he is "real." He frequently color-codes his endeavors, such as the aforementioned Third Man Upholstery and The White Stripes, as well as Third Man Records, which is completely outfitted in yellow, black, red, and blue (including staff uniforms). As a taxidermy enthusiast--that correlates to his work as an upholsterer--he decorates his studio in preserved animals, including a peacock, giraffe, and Himalayan goat.
Question: Did this eccentricities affect his personal life?
Answer: ). As a taxidermy enthusiast--that correlates to his work as an upholsterer--he decorates his studio in preserved animals,

Background: The New York Dolls were an American hard rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although their original line-up fell apart quickly, the band's first two albums--New York Dolls (1973) and Too Much Too Soon (1974)--became among the most popular cult records in rock.
Context: Sylvain Sylvain and Billy Murcia, who went to junior high school and high school together, started playing in a band called "the Pox" in 1967. After the frontman quit, Murcia and Sylvain started a clothing business called Truth and Soul and Sylvain took a job at A Different Drummer, a men's boutique that was across the street from the New York Doll Hospital, a doll repair shop. Sylvain said that the shop inspired the name for their future band. In 1970 they formed a band again and recruited Johnny Thunders to join on bass, though Sylvain ended up teaching him to play guitar. They called themselves the Dolls. When Sylvain left the band to spend a few months in London, Thunders and Murcia went their separate ways. Thunders was eventually recruited by Kane and Rick Rivets, who had been playing together in the Bronx. At Thunders' suggestion, Murcia replaced the original drummer. Thunders played lead guitar and sang for the band Actress. An October 1971 rehearsal tape recorded by Rivets was released as Dawn of the Dolls. When Thunders decided that he no longer wanted to be the front man, David Johansen joined the band. Initially, the group was composed of singer David Johansen, guitarists Johnny Thunders and Rick Rivets (who was replaced by Sylvain Sylvain after a few months), bass guitarist Arthur "Killer" Kane and drummer Billy Murcia. The original lineup's first performance was on Christmas Eve 1971 at a homeless shelter, the Endicott Hotel. After getting a manager and attracting some music industry interest, the New York Dolls got a break when Rod Stewart invited them to open for him at a London concert.
Question: Did they cut any albums?
Answer:
An October 1971 rehearsal tape recorded by Rivets was released as Dawn of the Dolls.