Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0g5Q91cZOhHEUWdmoS1C3N?si=89b7c7d59771476f

1

He was a survivor.

Until he wasn’t.

I won’t say he reinvented himself as much as Bowie or Madonna, then again Johansen was forced to, because nothing he seemed to do broke through, rained down cash.

So if you were a child of the sixties, you didn’t want to go into tech, never mind finance, you wanted to be in a rock and roll band. That was the highest goal. We’d all seen the Beatles, watched the scene mutate from the British Invasion to the Jefferson Airplane and Hendrix and Cream and we wanted some of that. The lifestyle, the fame…the women.

Now most people gave up. They couldn’t throw off their upbringing, couldn’t go all in on something with such low odds of success. Or else they played and realized they just weren’t that good. But some…some carried on.

David Johansen didn’t start as a scenester at the Mercer Arts Center, he worked his way up to that. From Staten Island to Manhattan. And in the mid-seventies, that’s where it was happening, New York City. Sure, there was the country rock scene in Los Angeles, inspired by the Byrds and culminating in the Eagles, but in New York it was dirtier. Everything happened late at night, whereas in L.A. everybody was already in bed. It was about being there, having the experience.

Or else being outside and looking in, as a result of the little press that leaked out.

Yes, there was this band playing at the Arts Center who dressed as women but everyone said were great. Then again, how many people actually saw them? This was not Max’s Kansas City, this was something new, something closer to the edge, the progenitors of punk, albeit inspired by the glam scene in England to push the fashion envelope.

Then the Mercer Arts Center collapsed. Just when the New York Dolls’ first LP was released, on one of the worst labels extant, Mercury. However, it was produced by Todd Rundgren, who was at the peak of his powers.

2

Now if you listen to the scuttlebutt of those who were there, in the band, Rundgren didn’t capture the excitement, the power of the Dolls on wax. We hear this all the time. Outsider band finally gets signed, they’re hooked up with a professional and when the album stiffs, it’s the producer’s fault.

But the truth is the Dolls’ first album was way ahead of the audience. It was noisy and in your face in an era where acts were growing their hair long and smoking dope and laying back. It was out of time, like in that Rolling Stones song. And it was still out of time when the Ramones pressed on, inspired by the sound. But then, punk exploded in the U.K. and it was fed back to us over here. But the truth is, punk didn’t really break through in America until Nirvana in the nineties.

So that very first album…

To succeed in the recording world you must have a hit. Something listeners can glom on to quickly, hopefully that radio will pick up on. But when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their first LP in ’76 it was seen as too outside, classified as punk, and success had to happen over in England before the band was embraced first in Los Angeles, and then across the nation.

“Personality Crisis”?

If you were a hipster, if you were a denizen or observer of the scene, you got it. But despite everybody being against the Vietnam War at this point, there was a clear line between those in the know and those outside. In most of the nation the FM airwaves were dominated by meat and potatoes rock. “Personality Crisis” could not be understood.

And there were a few more tracks on the debut that deserve mention, like “Jet Boy” and “Looking for a Kiss” and “Lonely Planet Boy,” but either you were in the know or you were not, and most were not, and didn’t care a whit.

I went to see the Dolls at their first L.A. show, at the Whisky, promoting the album at the end of the summer of ’73. The venue was not full. Hipsters were checking them out, but L.A. hipsters are laid back and even though Johansen and company gave it their all, it didn’t resonate, it didn’t convert those who were not already converted. You can take the band out of New York City, but odds are outside the metropolis most people won’t get it. And they didn’t.

But there was a second album, produced by Shadow Morton, whose credits were with the Shangri-Las and Janis Ian. And, of course, the Vanilla Fudge, but was this a good fit for the Dolls?

OF COURSE NOT!

But Shadow was seen as dark. And the Dolls were dark. And you’ll find people who love the second album, but it had even less commercial impact than the debut. I enjoyed “Stranded in the Jungle,” but most people didn’t hear the album if they even knew it existed and then the Dolls were done. Bands without commercial success implode. And that’s what the Dolls did. Leaving their legend and recorded output to be discovered by future generations. Then again, the legacy of the Dolls is akin to that of the Ramones, the music has become secondary to the image, of testing the limits, of doing it your own way.

But what was David Johansen supposed to do?

Go solo.

3

What you’ve got to understand is most failed rockers have no options. They didn’t graduate from college, if they even went. Their business skills are limited. Which is why they keep trying, believing ultimately it will all work. Otherwise, what was it for?

We thought Johansen had disappeared. It had been four years since the last Dolls album. He’d gotten his shot, the Dolls were overseen by Leber and Krebs, the biggest managers on the east coast, with Aerosmith already in their stable. The music continued to evolve. Dressing up in women’s clothing was passé, there was no room for David Johansen. Or was there?

Now Johansen was managed by Steve Paul, who had his own label with Columbia, Blue Sky. And when Johansen’s solo debut was released…

Timing looked good.

David had left the glam behind. He was a straight ahead rocker now. You could fit him in with Elvis Costello and the rest of the new wave, conceptually anyway. Then again, he had that New York attitude.

But that’s what made the music so great.

The album started off with “Funky but Chic,” delivering on all the promise of the Dolls. If you were a fan, this was an elixir, this was what all the hype had been about.

“I got a pair of shoes I swear that somebody gave me

My mama thinks I look pretty fruity but in jeans I feel rockin’

I don’t wear nothin’ not too fussy or neat

I just want somethin’ baby to be able to walk down your street

Hey come on baby, let’s get on down to the boutique

Let’s bring back somethin’ that’s a funky but chic, I said now”

This was the flip side of “Saturday Night Fever.” Fashion counted, but there was no slickness involved. And certainly no disco. But ultimately radio never bit, so “Funky but Chic” became a fan favorite.

But the piece-de-resistance was the closer, “Frenchette,” the best thing David Johansen ever did.

“You call that love in French, but it’s just Frenchette

I’ve been to France, so let’s just dance

I get all the love I need in a luncheonette

In just one glance, so let’s just dance

I can’t get the kind of love that I want

Or that I need, so let’s just dance”

It was a different era, just because you were not educated, that did not mean you were not intelligent, that you did not have insight, and a sense of humor.

But “Frenchette” was too sophisticated for the hoi polloi. Yet if you were a David Johansen fan… This was all you needed.

4

But the follow-up, 1979’s “In Style,” co-produced with Mick Ronson, missed the target. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that none of the tracks stood out and deserved attention. And honestly, if you were a fan, you were disappointed.

And in 1981 there was another Blue Sky album that got even less attention.

But then came the live album, “Live It Up.”

Sure, it had “Personality Crisis,” even “Stranded in the Jungle” and “Funky but Chic” and “Frenchette.” But despite the greatest hits lineup, it was the covers that delivered, and finally resonated with radio programmers, hip radio programmers in the city.

The Animals were a sixties curio, they’d been forgotten, but Johansen brought them right back with a medley of “We Gotta Get Out of this Place, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “It’s My Life.” A killer trilogy. Then again, just “Don’t Bring Me Down” is enough to seal the deal. Johansen was a modern day Eric Burdon. With the same darkness and attitude. Man, was that medley great… It killed at the Roxy when I saw him. Yes, David Johansen still couldn’t sell any tickets. By this time many knew his name, but not many wanted to pay to see him.

The other gem on the live album was a cover of “Build Me Up Buttercup,” long before it became a movie staple later in the century. Johansen sped it up and added attitude and then…

That was it. There was another studio album, on indie Passport. And it was the heyday of MTV and there was no place for David Johansen.

So he reinvented himself as a lounge singer, the antithesis of his previous incarnation out on the ledge. Then again, Buster Poindexter had an edge. It was all a joke. Or was it? There was even a hit, “Hot Hot Hot,” that penetrated the consciousness of America, everybody knew it.

But most didn’t know who David Johansen used to be.

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And to survive you’ve got to have relationships. David leveraged his to secure acting roles. He was a man about town in New York City, you saw him on TV, never mind movies. He was staying alive, which is the hardest thing to do as a musician.

And there were the lounge shows. And ultimately a Dolls reunion. Yes, some of the audience had caught up with what had happened decades before. But even though there was a new album, this was nostalgia. Because people grow up. And you can try to suspend disbelief, but you can’t. You can be young and dangerous, but very few can be old and dangerous. David Johansen grew up. And so did we. But since Johansen had morphed, just hadn’t repeated the same damn formula, he continued to be thought of, to be hip, he had a place in the firmament.

And then he died.

6

Music is a hard game. Sure, you hear about the money of the titans. Billy Joel could lose it all and then make it back.

But most people don’t make it in the first place.

And we all need money to live.

Most of Johansen’s contemporaries faded away into irrelevance, or died. But he soldiered on, figuring it out along the way.

Will he be remembered by the masses?

I don’t think so. I doubt he’ll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, unless it’s in some special category.

But if you were there…

You were paying attention to the scene. I went to see the Dolls in ’73 because that’s the only way you could experience them. There was no TV, never mind internet. There was just a little bit of press.

And there were those of us who lived on the edge, who needed to know about the new acts, who had to check them out. And some of them broke through, and a ton of them did not. But still, we have our favorites.

Despite the brashness of his character in the Dolls David ended up beloved. And I think he knew that.

The circus lost another act yesterday.

But if you were there, you’ll never forget David Johansen.

The audience is hipper than the musicians.

The internet not only broke news, it broke music. First came the loss of ubiquity. You just can’t reach everybody. Kind of like the Democrats complaining that the Republicans are not reading the “New York Times.” THEY HAVE ALTERNATIVES! Ditto on cable news, never mind the endless niches purveyed online. Why should it be any different in music? IT”S NOT!

So what we’ve got in music is the three major labels selling the blandest, easiest to market music while stripping the number of new releases like a newspaper in a backwater trying to survive. There’s consolidation, a focus on the bottom line… Meanwhile, the aforementioned “New York Times” flourished by adding cooking and games and product advice…and now has 11.4 million subscribers. Meanwhile, the labels are focusing on superfans, a subset of the overall audience. They think it’s growth, but it’s really marginalization. Focusing on net, they’re forgoing gross.

But you’ve got to sell something the public wants to consume.

Doesn’t a diss war between Kendrick Lamar and Drake look quaint and out of touch today? The whole world is watching, as they did at the Super Bowl, and the supposed victory was Lamar putting the stake in the heart of the Canadian rapper. This is no different from the Marvel movies released by the major studios, who’ve marginalized themselves into irrelevance. Once again, fewer releases in fewer genres, overhyping material that most people don’t ever want to see. Meanwhile, after eradicating comedies because they don’t translate overseas, China’s market is now filled with domestic product, they’ve just had their highest grossing pic ever!

If you’re looking for the future, what’s happening, don’t go to the boardroom of an entertainment company, go to social media.

So music demand blew up with the Beatles and the ensuing tsunami professionalized the business. Money was rolling in in the seventies until the audience got sick of being served lowest common denominator crap, like corporate rock and mindless disco. The business crashed and then was resuscitated by MTV, an entirely new paradigm. But then hair bands came along like classic rock and despite indie rock and rap making inroads in the nineties the channel turned to half hour non-music shows, after all it was TELEVISION, not music. Television is long-form, music is bite-sized.

And then came the excitement of Napster. All the music you ever wanted, even that which was never sold commercially, was at your fingertips. Took ten years to figure out distribution, but Spotify ushered in the on demand streaming culture fifteen years ago and the music scene has been moribund ever since.

You see it’s now about software, i.e. music. And innovation is lacking. And it’s harder than ever to make a living period, never mind in music. So those who might have been innovative and testing boundaries are in other fields. They just don’t want to take the risk of being broke.

Meanwhile, there are singing competition shows. The lionization of no or little talents with brand extensions. The music is no longer the end result, but just a means to become a brand. And despite pledging fealty to the fans, acts can’t wait to separate themselves from them, flying private, showing off their wealth, illustrating rather than being just like the listeners, they’re completely different.

People keep asking whether they’ll be playing the music of today at the parties of tomorrow, how much of today’s music will last decades… Almost none of it! Heard Bobby Rydell recently? Fabian? Just because it sells once doesn’t mean it lasts forever.

Music is just like it was before the Beatles. A business, but not the cutting edge. Tripe sold to the brain dead.

But then came folk music. Which grew out of social consciousness.

But today’s generations are all disillusioned, and would rather focus on their screens than worry about the state of the nation.

Until they do.

Want to take the pulse of the nation? Just go on TikTok. Immediately after the Zelensky/Trump/Vance kerfuffle, there were videos on the platform. Where were the musicians? Silent! Or getting wardrobe fittings. Or complaining Spotify, et al, just don’t pay enough per stream. Meanwhile, these musicians don’t understand the payments just like MAGA doesn’t understand the facts. But it makes a good story! The U.S. sent $350 billion to Ukraine! Only the truth is it was less than half of that and Europe sent MORE!

In the folk music era it was about performance rather than sales too, just like today. And acts showed up everywhere for the cause. There was a pulse. Sure, people wanted to get paid, but not each and every time.

You see it was about hearts and minds. Uniting the audience and the performers. As I said above, now they’re separate.

And there’s no tradition. I may remember the sixties, but the frame of reference for those coming up today is Mariah Carey, or Maroon 5. Trifles. No nougat present.

So if you’re waiting for protest music…

It ain’t gonna be like it was in the sixties… Because the whole world is not listening to ANYBODY! And if everybody is not listening, the musicians don’t want to write and play it. And they’re not arbiters of truth, they’re just cottage industries trying to get rich.

The spark has to come from somewhere.

So just like Netflix stole Hollywood’s lunch, the public has stolen the power of music, the immediacy, the truth. That’s right, TikTok is more vital than today’s music. And it spreads to YouTube and Instagram Reels too. Everybody wants to play, unfiltered. Sure, there are moneygrubbing influencers, but there’s also a ton of truth.

So… Just like politics will be saved by spontaneous generation, the same thing will happen with music. Someday. Maybe not even for a long time. First and foremost it must be innovative and different. Which is anathema to the food chain, because there’s no instant cash. The outside takes a while to percolate before it gains traction.

As for the money…

It’s not about money, it’s about POWER!

Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk…they blow with the wind. They’ve lost all credibility. All they’re worried about is their power.

Meanwhile, the “New York Times” has tons of power and its asset value is a fraction of Amazon or Facebook or Tesla…

If you’re getting into music to get rich…

You’ve got it wrong.

We want truth. The cash comes afterward, if at all.

Today you play and you see if your music catches on. If it doesn’t, change or give up. But the trophy for last place generation believes it’s entitled to attention and riches, that somehow it’s been screwed. No, you’re just not good enough, sorry.

And back in the day, in the sixties, you’d be stunned how few albums some of the legends sold. You’re complaining you can’t get paid, THEY NEVER GOT A ROYALTY, EVER!

So if you’re looking for music to lead in times of crisis… Keep looking, it ain’t gonna happen. Music is mini-moguls, and no one in the industry has a backbone, for fear of pissing off a potential customer. It’s more like General Mills than the Beatles.

So if you want to know which way the wind blows…

Go on social media.

Do not listen to a record, even though everybody in the music food chain will tell you you’re wrong.

Music blew up as a result of free thinking, individuals putting it all on the line, not holding back punches.

Today everybody holds back. The musicians, the Democrats. That’s part of Trump’s appeal, he lets it fly. You can too. That’s the modern game.

But you must have something to say and say it well.

And most people don’t.

But we’re looking for leaders.

AND WATCH THE PARKING METERS!

Tune in Saturday March 1st to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

This reminds me of nothing so much as being called to the principal’s office in high school.

Somehow you offended the teacher, who wants you to respect them because of their twenty years of tenure, even though you’re more intelligent than they are.

Or some weasel kiss-ass cried wolf and since you’re the outsider, you’re the one who colors outside the lines, you’re at fault.

So you’re marched down to the office where some grand poohbah excoriates you, doesn’t want to hear your defense, just wants to sentence you to detention.

And when you emerge from the building having paid your penance, you run into the bullies on the schoolyard. There’s no one there to come to your defense. And it’s always the number two who is the consigliere, who warns you of the power of the number one, who stands there silently, staring at you, as you get ready to take a punch.

As for the number two… Sans the presence of number one he’s a wimp, who will beg for forgiveness if confronted when alone.

So you stand there and take your punches. There’s no alternative. No one can outrun these bullies, they’re a crowd, immersed in groupthink, and you’re the enemy, because you won’t pledge fealty, you won’t be on their side. You’re the outcast and for that alone, they’re gonna pick on you.

So…

Somewhere along the line the term “rock star” became equivalent to money. But the money always came last, after rock stars emerged and owned their piece of the firmament. Being a rock star is not about cash, it’s about being an individual who thinks for himself. Doesn’t worry what others have to say. And therefore, people are drawn to him.

The rock star was never the captain of the football team. Was never Prom King. The rock star was someone who stood on the fringe, observing, refusing to play the game.

And America is about the game. You’ve got to get good grades to get into a good college! And you have to network to work your way up the corporate ladder! That’s Jeff Bezos, all the rest of the two-dimensional wanks who’ve got money but no character.

And a rock star has character.

Steve Jobs was never perfect, but he didn’t want to lord his power over us. He wanted to create products so good that we were drawn to them, and him.

Elon Musk needs the adulation. He bought his own social network. He thinks he alone can solve the nation’s problems.

A rock star specializes in seeing the problem. Analyzing it and playing it back to us. Elon Musk can’t even see himself.

Back in the heyday of the rock star it was all about personal development, insight. You wanted to learn about yourself, how you fit into the world. And if ever the press and the public got close to understanding you, you pulled back and/or obfuscated. That’s Bob Dylan’s specialty, he’s constantly telling untruths, not to put one over on you, but to keep you guessing, and thinking.

And during Dylan’s heyday he famously said not to listen to him. That he was just one person speaking his truth. That you must find your own truth. Contrast that with the tech blowhards lording it over us each and every day.

Zelensky is a rock star. He spoke truth to power. And power didn’t like it.

The two bullies, Trump and Vance.

Trump has always been a bully. Who has never acceded to the infirmity or lack of status of those below them. He sees himself as a benevolent king.

As for J.D. Vance… He’s that number two I was referencing in the schoolyard above. Let’s see him make those statements in other circumstances, without the protection of Trump.

As for Lindsey Graham and Mike Johnson and the rest of the pussies patrolling the halls of Congress… We grew up with people like this. Sucking up to the popular and powerful. They’re concerned about their status in the hierarchy, not the truth, the truth has nothing to do with it.

And the truth is this exchange was on television. And now all over the internet. So the only thing up for grabs is interpretation.

On the right there are hosannas, we’ve finally got a leader, respect us.

But this reminds me of high school gangs who have no power after they graduate. There’s no context.

And here the context is the world.

You can live in the MAGA echo chamber, think everybody in Europe is a two bit idiot. But that is not the truth.

Trump has now told the world that you can’t count on him to fulfill the nation’s obligations. Isn’t this what Zelensky said today about Putin not fulfilling his promises?

But liars love liars.

The more you remove yourself from the world, the less power you have, never mind lacking insight.

People don’t want those damn immigrants in their neighborhood. And while you’re at it, get rid of everybody not like them, the Blacks, the trans people… Like I said, it’s like high school. There’s a big club but you’re not in it.

Everyone thought that Putin would wipe out Ukraine in a matter of days.

But that’s not what happened. Because it’s hard to conquer hearts and minds.

Meanwhile, America is rolling over to autocracy. If only we had a Zelensky on our side of the pond.

But Zelensky was a comic, who first and foremost knew people, relationships, and that’s what the world is all about.

As for negotiation… Do you know anybody who negotiates for a living? They don’t do it at all like Trump. What they’re looking for is a win-win, because you always end up coming back to the table, you see the same people throughout your life.

Bully and piss off people like Trump and Vance and you may think you’ve won, but the rest of the negotiating public is now on notice, doesn’t trust you and if it deals with you at all refuses to compromise.

The art of the deal?

The art of the SCHLEMIEL!

I’ll throw Biden and Kamala and the rest of the Democratic Party under the bus while I’m at it. They were so busy looking at each other that they had no idea of the temperature of the public.

And while we’re at it, let’s blame Fox News and the internet, because facts are now fungible. There is really no truth. No matter what you say, if you point to the words of the Brittanica or Einstein, it doesn’t matter. Because today emotions rule.

But you’ve got to know when to keep your emotions in check.

Yup, tell me to be thankful while you’re whipping me. God, it’s like a parent beating a kid while telling them they’re not going to quit until the child stops crying.

If you think America won today, you’re myopic.

We need more rock stars like Zelensky. They are our true leaders.

But just because you make music or have money that does not make you a rock star.

Like George Harrison sang, you must think for yourself. Own your position.

“Do what you want to do

And go where you’re going to

Think for yourself

‘Cause I won’t be there for you”

The principal ain’t going to be there for you. Nor the bullies.

And certainly not Donald Trump.

Then again, George had it right about Trump too.

“You’re telling all those lies

About the good things we can have

If we close our eyes”

That’s what they want us to be, sheep. Get in line, close our eyes and march in lockstep.

It ain’t me babe.

And it ain’t Zelensky.

As for those who are following in Trump’s footsteps…

The true believers, the non-thinking people who trust their leaders always have their best interests at heart… They learn the truth last.

Russia’s economy is teetering. This was the moment Ronald Reagan was waiting for. The weakness that will make the entire edifice collapse.

But Trump wants to prop it up and rescue it.

Thank god there are people like Zelensky, who channeled Daryl Hall today and said I CAN’T GO FOR THAT!