Proto-punk, songwriter, guitarist, New Yorker, junkie pin-up, colossal fuck-up: Johnny Thunders was all that and more.

He came up in early ’70s New York and ran two of the great rock ’n’ roll bands of all time: the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers. His contributions to the New York music scene in the ’70s and early ’80s are huge.

Thunde...