Punk with New York Dolls to his solo career and the Alter Ego Buster Poindexter
David Johansenwho died on Friday, February 28, at 75, helped to create the Glam-Punk soundtrack as the innovator vocalist New York Dolls. Songs such as “Personality Crisis” and “Trash” influenced numerous bands, from Aerosmith the Guns n ‘Rosesguaranteeing the band a place in the history of rock. But his musical journey did not stop there: after the end of the dolls, Johansen built a solo career and took over the alter ego BUSTER POINDEXTERexploring various sounds. Of New York Dolls the BUSTER POINDEXTERthese are the essential songs of the charismatic singer.
“Personality Crisis” – New York Dolls (1973)
“We were very raw,” Johansen remembered about his time in New York Dolls. “We really confront the audience: ‘Hey, their idiots bastards. Get up and dance.'”
No song has better captured the essence of the band’s Glam R&B than “Personality Crisis”, opening track of the 1973 debut album. Todd Rundgren In an eight -day session, the track featured the band’s chaotic and provocative sound.
“Jet Boy” – New York Dolls (1973)
The second single from New York Dolls“Jet Boy”, stood out as the last track of the debut album, ending the band’s thunderous debut at Rock & Roll. The song tells the story of a boy in a jet that flies through New York stealing babies, creating a feverish delirium set in the dirty streets of the city.
The journalist of Rolling Stone, Tony Gloverdescribed the song as “Marvel Comics finds Lower East Side”. The band’s presentation in the British program Old Gray Whistle Test caused controversy, taking the presenter Bob Harris describing the group as “rock of fake”, which caused a fervent reaction of fans, including a young man Morrisseywho later became president of the band’s fan club.
“Looking for A Kiss” – New York Dolls (1973)
The highlight of “Looking for Kiss” is not just the mocking way with which Johansen sings the introduction inspired by Shangri themturning a romantic verse into something darker. Nor is it in the footprint of the guitars Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvainthat boost the song as if it were a platform jump parade by St. Marks Place.
What makes this special range the intimacy of its lyrics: Johansen sings directly to the listener, without specifying whether he is talking to a boy, a girl or even his heroine itself.
“TRASH” – New York Dolls (1973)
Johansen said the Terry Gross from the NPR: “Over the years, in rock history books, like the Rolling Stone Complete Encyclopedia of Rock & Rollalways describe us as trashy, spreading, drug addicts, drag queens. “This spirit of New York Dolls It is encapsulated in “Trash”, the B side of “Personality Crisis” and the first track on the side of the band’s debut album. With your beat inspired by Bo Diddleychaotic guitars and disordered vocals, “Trash” synthesized the best of the group in three minutes.
“Human Being” – New York Dolls (1974)
THE New York Dolls I wanted to work with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stollerbut ended up recording their second album, TOO MUCH TOO SOON1974, with Shadow Mortonproducer of Shangri them. The disc mixed original covers and compositions, culminating in “Human Being”, one of the greatest punk hymns of all time. The track is a Glam-Punk rebellion statement, with Johansen singing: “If I’m acting like a king, it’s because I’m a human being.”
“Build Me Up Buttercup” – The David Johansen Group (1978)
Since its early years in bar bands at Greenwich Village, Johansen It has always demonstrated a keen taste for covers. The public had a glimpse of this in his medley with “We Gotta get out of this place”, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “It’s My Life”, from the Animalswhich became a small success for him in the early 1980s.
But it was your version of “Build Me Up Buttercup”originally recorded by the British band of Soul The Foundationswhich really showed his ability to reinvent a classic. Playing completely on the track, Johansen brought a passionate desperation that the original version only suggested, while his band accompanied each gram of its intensity. The best version is on the album Live at The Bottom Line.
“Funky But Chic” – Solo (1978)
In 1978, Johansen released his great debut solo album, adjusting the sound of New York Dolls for a 1970s rock with the help of a large cast of support musicians, including Sylvain Sylvain, Joe Perry of Aerosmithand Sarah Dash of Libelle. The main single was “Funky But Chic”, a leftover the dolls written by Johansen with Sylvain. The song is bold, noisy, fun, self -confident, funky and chic at the same time, with Johansen Screaming a tribute to your own Outside style.
“I have a pair of shoes that I swear someone gave me / My mother thinks I look a little effeminate, but jeans I feel rock’n’roll,” he sings.
He makes it seem like feeling “Fruity and Rockin” “is the secret of life.
“Girls” – Solo (1978)
“Girls, I Like ‘in Seizing the Power / With Girls, It Takes Me More Than An Hour”sings Johansen In this highlight of his 1978 solo album, a very much -style statement. The rest of the song follows the same line, with the band delivering a well -structured bar rock, while Johansen deepens in performance, shouting and screaming in a way that sounds like a lost classic of Dolls.
“Here comes the night” – Solo (1981)
The title track of the third solo album of Johansen It is a vibrant and exciting statement about taking possession of the coming night. In this song, this means having a love, a party and a few hours when “everything is fine”. Johansen joined BLONDIE CHAPLINone of the great employees of Beach Boysto find a dynamic and uninterrupted production style (Chaplin also composed the music), mixing its punk roots from New York Dolls with the most polished sounds of the 1980s. The result is a line of continuity between its two musical worlds.
“Hot Hot” – Buster Poindexter (1987)
Johansen raised his profile (and his hair) with the extravagant persona as a lounge singer BUSTER POINDEXTER. “I can do what I want as a buster,” he said Conan O’Brien in 1995, and became a popular figure of the age of MTV with its version of “Hot Hot” and its festive music video.
Originally composed and recorded by Calypso artist ArrowJohansen’s version has expanded the tropical atmosphere and exaggerated the tacky style, ensuring both hit and an inescapable trademark. “This was, like, the curse of my existence”, Johansen said to NPR in 2004. “It was ubiquitous … played at weddings, bar mitzvahs, six flags.”
“Porest People” – Buster Poindexter (1989)
We tend to associate BUSTER POINDEXTER to festive and pompous festive songs, but BUSTER It also had a more melancholy side that arose from time to time. There is no better example than this sad and Latin influences from Buster’s second album, BUSTER GOES BERSERK.
Written by the saxophonist and member of the band Tom Brownthe song sounds like a great lost classic Doc pomuswith an introspective buster leaving aside its theatrical face to regret being “One of the poorest people / who is not in love with someone who loves”.
It was one’s own BUSTER POINDEXTER Facing its identity crisis, and one of the most impactful moments of Johansen’s career.
“We’re All In Love” – ​​New York Dolls (2006)
Johansen was just over 50 when the New York Dolls gathered, against all expectations, for the album One Day It It Will please us to Remember Even This of 2006. But its youth energy remained evident in tracks like this vibrant glam hymn.
“Jumping on the stage like teenage girls / throwing pearls to the pigs,” Johansen sings enthusiastically, as if the Dolls’ party in the 1970s was never over. “Don’t mess with us, what people say / They’ll work, we’ll play!”
In a 2007 interview, Johansen stated that this letter summed up his philosophy of life: “If it was a job, I wouldn’t even want to do it. What kept us alive and brought us here was the fun. It’s really amazing to be in a band where everyone touches the simple pleasure of listening to the sound we want to create.”
This article is a translation of Rolling Stone American, published March 1, 2025. Read the original version here.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
