It’s all here: vocals with a growl and enough passion to make you notice, an inventive melody, a mix of a power ballad and frenzied rock and roll, lyrics that are fun and taut all spun together with the skill of the Brill Building but none of the slickness.
Word broke today that David Johansen, founder of the New York Dolls, solo artist, incognito as Buster Poindexter and the cab driver in Scrooged finds himself staring down the ferryman on the river Styx. He has stage four brain cancer and last November fell and broke his back, leaving him incapacitated. Like many rock and rollers, he and his family are having trouble paying for care, so Sweet Relief, the medical fund for artists, is hosting a fundraiser for him. We all have many demands on our time and wallet, but if you can, please make a contribution to help: https://www.sweetrelief.org/davidjohansenfund.html.
The New York Dolls consisted of some outer borough boys flaunting every barrier they could find, with their high heel shoes, make up and roaring guitars, they paved the way for the punk movement that would follow. So grateful to hear Personality Crisis and remember when they played a Long Island club, Ubie’s OTJ (for out to jail). I was in high school and that was one of those times telling this white, suburban, middle-class kid at an all-boys Catholic school that there was a bigger world and I could give voice to all the confusion I felt.
The Dolls could not last – too much energy to remain stable for long – though Johansen persisted and evolved in many forms. This song comes from his first solo record released in 1978. He morphed into Buster Poindexter with his Banshees of Blue, putting out some fun dance tunes. Caught his act one New Year’s Eve in the old Tramps on 15th Street, my bride and I dressed in matching tuxes we found at a thrift store on lower Broadway, wound up with Tom Waits holding up the bar nearing sunrise.
Later, we caught his act with the Harry Smiths singing songs from the well of America. Brought my junior high son and his friend to hear music that came from places deep in the earth. He sang back up on many albums including one by Bill Morrissey. No one predicted that for a New York Doll.
To know him is to love him. And if you don’t know him, know that he mattered to you and made a difference in the music you hear.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #davidjohansen #sweetrelief #love
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Otrt0iH9ubw?si=g4C_2rywWb0ZpJ1b
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7F3a9y9Gtk4DUdAfRXuYkF?si=1945c9e4fe604a5f