I had the privilege of working with David between 2000 – 2003 in his “Harry Smiths” era. We played at the Bottom Line once a month and other NY area venues- and a short European tour. There’s 2 albums “David Johansen and the Harry Smiths” recorded on Chesky records. They were both recorded at St. Peter’s Church in NYC. I worked on the second record with him entitled “Shaker.” The band name referencing the “Anthology of American Folk Music” by Smith. The music was old Americana, Blues, work songs, but with some very sophisticated arrangements and with an open, improvisational approach at times. It was a thrill for me- one of the most inspiring musical situations I’ve been in. David was magical – I loved every minute of it. If you were there, you know for sure. RIP David Jo- much LUV

Keith Carlock

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When I was a teenager still attending high school in New Jersey my then-manager, Toby Mamis (aka the famous Toby Mamis) facilitated my band opening for the New York Dolls at several venues in Manhattan (we were so young that we had to be driven in to NYC)… and imagine our shock and surprise at being these clean-cut high school teenagers opening for David Jo’s band! They were somewhat intimidating because they appeared like something out of another dimension. However, what I remember most was how friendly and gracious David was backstage to me and my band mates (in fact, when one of the other members was posing like he was gonna throw a water balloon at us while we were on stage just for fun, I saw David stop him). At one point in speaking with David backstage somewhere around 2am, it was he that was shocked and surprised to hear that I would be driven back to the suburbs and then attend high school the next morning.

Somehow, over the years, David and I continued to encounter each other at various events and venues, through his subsequent incarnations, including one of my: Buster Poindexter. He always smiled when I would introduce myself and remind him of that early meeting as this opening act… or at least he feigned  remembering. Either way, that is an example of what a classy gentleman and a kind soul David Johansson was. The world needs more people like that. He will be missed.

Wallace Collins

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David Johansen was my friend.  Johnny and Syl too.  I was there from pretty much the beginning, helping them get press coverage by inviting all my rock press friends, and also industry folks, to see them.  At the Diplomat, at Max’s, at the Mercer.  Placing little ads in the Village Voice for their shows.  Setting up photo sessions.

When people say “you had to be there,” well that was absolutely true.

I love those two Mercury albums, even though neither of them captures the live excitement of the band.  They are great albums that have stood the test of time.

Todd tried to tame them, Shadow Morton tried to frame them.

Running into David over the years, all around the world, was always a hoot. I last saw him in 2011, when we had the re-formed Dolls (David, Syl, Earl Slick, Kenny Aaronson, and a drummer whose name I cannot for life of me remember tonight) open for Alice on a UK arena tour.  I was still doing what I could for my friends.

While the news was not unexpected, it still took my breath away today.

When Syl passed away a coupla years ago, USA Today (I think) asked David for his thoughts on being the last living NY Doll.  “I guess I’m next” was his reply.

Toby Mamis

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In the eighties I saw David perform at the now long gone Ripley Music Hall on South Street in Philly. It was a wintry week night and attendance was sparse.

At the end of the band’s set, David announced from the stage “I’ve always wanted to do this.” And promptly walked into the audience, shook everyone’s hand and personally thanked them for coming.

He was a unique talent with a very playful personality. I know I will miss him but certainly not my memory of that moment.

Rest in peace David.

Best,

Andrew Paciocco

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David Johansen lived not far from me in Staten Island. Although we graduated from the same high school (Port Richmond), we were not friends and never interacted personally. He was thirty two years older than me. But occasionally I’d see him shopping at the local Key Food on Forest Avenue. Nobody would recognize him, he was just… there. Staten Island has few noteworthy people. He was one of them. And yet, he was always still a Staten Islander. No matter how inside he went, he remained an outsider ’till the end. Ultimate respect.

Paul Cantor

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The writing was on the wall when David Johansen’s health issues went public a few weeks ago. We knew he wouldn’t be around long, he had already been battling.

It was then I reminisced about when David came onto my radar, when “Live It Up” was released. He absolutely slayed that Animals medley and the other covers and what a hot band he had! I had no idea he was a New York Doll in makeup and high heels just some years before!

I worked backwards and loved and appreciated the Dolls and their influence.

Like you said, he missed out on the riches of that one big payday, and there had to be some dark days of a rock-n-roll life lived in NYC, but he was a survivor, and he had that swagger into his later years.

It was pretty telling that when he passed the tributes flowed freely and piled up from everywhere.

These one-of-a-kind rockers that are passing are never going to be replaced, sadly.

Warmest Regards,
Brian Friel

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Beautiful tribute to David Johansen and a perfectly painted and accurate portrait of his career.

Hard to forget how much pressure was on that first solo album in 1978. What do you do after the New York Dolls?? The songs were powerful and provocative and Johansen seemed both desperate and confident at the same time. But for me the secret weapon was the band behind him— A group of Staten Island musicians who approached him once on the ferry when he didn’t have much going on. They begged for a shot and he gave it to them. Thomas Trask, Buzzy Verno, Frankie Larocca and Jonny Rao who all looked as if they had been cast by Martin Scorsese, stepped up and gave him what he needed at that moment: a gritty, no nonsense yet sparklingly  talented back up band that was funky, chic and could “scrub him on down in any old Launderette.”

As I heard so many times in so many tri-state area clubs in the glorious high school summer of 1978, “ladies and gentlemen, the David Johansen group!”

And then it was off to the races.

Rest in peace, Buzzy, Frankie, Johnny, Arthur, Jerry, Sylvain… And now David.

Chris Epting

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‘everyone’s going to your house / to shoot up in your room / most of them are beautiful / but so obsessed with gloom’

rip to one of the great ones — great tribute sir

cheers,

David Williams

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Dave’s first group on Staten Island was the Vagabond Missionaries: all local neighborhood guys. Thats where he started.

John Bennett

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Undoubtedly, one of the best frontmen of all time!  Among my friends he is a God and will live on forever!  I was lucky to see them on the reunion tours a couple times and even had Sylvain Sylvain in my car once when he was on a solo tour.  The New York Dolls paved the way for so much I love about rock n roll!  Long Live The Dolls!  I also donated to the Sweet

Relief fund and got a great shirt, how do you spell love?  Luv…

Tim Pyles

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Some of my greatest music memories were created around him… seeing the Dolls perform twice in one day in a tent at the Minnesota State Fair for two bucks a pop, and taking a couple of goes at a carnival game with Johnny Thunders between the shows…joining a conga line down Kinzie street in Chicago while Buster passed bottles of vodka down the rank…having a nice chat with David after running into him in Union Square Park back in the early 90s. Just minutes after reading your email, I watched SNL for the first time in months, and was heartened to see the tribute, however brief, for the lonely planet boy.

Thomas Wilson

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I saw David Johansen open for The Ramones at Brandeis University and he and his band were fantastic. I have to hand it to his sound guy because he managed to get a great mix in that awful gymnasium.

Unfortunately, it was the worst possible venue to see The Ramones. It was too big, and the acoustics were brutal for punk. Halfway through the show we were looking around the audience for people we knew.

It was the only time I saw The Ramones and I don’t remember a single song from it. David’s performance, however, is one that I will always remember.

Cheers,

Tom Quinn

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Bob, you perfectly captured the story and the vibe.
I had the privilege of meeting David several times, the dude was a gentleman.
Thank you,

Michael Biondo

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Nicely done Bob….

 

Never got to see the original lineup but got to see them a few times after they re-formed.    The first time at SXSW when they played a set ay Stubb’s BBQ was one of my greatest rock & roll moments ever.  After seeing all these wanna-be electronic and shoe-gazing bands…as soon as they hit the stage with “Looking For A Kiss” it took me back to  the greasy rock & roll I loved.  I was so excited I almost felt like climbing over the wall and jumping up on stage.

 

For that one night I believed…to quote Danny & the Juniors… that “rock & roll here’s to stay”.

 

Not so sure anymore.

 

God rest David and hopes he meets up with Sylvain, Johnny, Arthur, Billy, and Jerry up above.    That would be one wild reunion party in heaven.

 

#LUV

 

Brian Helgesen

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I remember being a freshman in high school in the fall of 1973 and reading about the Dolls in Circus magazine. Their look got my attention, but they hadn’t gotten airplay in Chicago yet, at least that I had heard, and buying an album was a financial commitment so I gave them no more thought.

Then I saw them on The Midnight Special. The look was outrageous, but the thing that sold me was the raw rock and roll sound!  It was primal, far apart from Yes, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles, and I loved it.

In November of that year I turned 15 and my aunt gave me a $10 gift certificate to Gordons Department Store, on the corner of Broadway and Massachusetts, downtown Gary, IN.

Like so many department stores of the time they had a small record department.  I remember going there and hoping there might be something that was halfway interesting to buy for my growing record collection but not being very hopeful

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Dolls debut album in the N section. I bought it and played it more than any album I bought that year.

The second album came out and I heard it but it didn’t move me like the first one did so I didn’t buy it until many years later when I found a copy in a cutout bin.

I saw David in the early 80’s opening for the Who and remember being surprised that he was still around, but impressed with the set he and his band played.

When he reappeared as Buster Poindexter a few years later I remember thinking that he had finally hit the big time, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I had forgotten about him again until I saw the Scorsese documentary last year. The thing that hit me the hardest was that it looked like he had worked really hard to keep from going under, to stay in the game and that he had succeeded, but that he had also paid a price, as evidenced by the lines on his face.

But the film also reminded me that before the Ramones, before the Pistols, there were the Dolls, and for a brief moment they were the torch bearers for real, raw, rock and roll.

Jim Blaney

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Saw the Dolls in seventy-whatever on a double bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd at a converted bowling alley in Springfield, Missouri, both bands 100% intact and at the top of their game.

Maybe a couple hundred people there, barely. Everybody sat on the floor. That way our faces were closer to our jaws.

Feather boas meeting flannel denim. Both bands performed like they were at the Garden. It was fantastic, in spite of the cognitive dissonance.

dale mccoy

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Thank you for that refresher course on David. The Dolls were a band that you heard about but never saw. Mink DeVille was another. When I frequented New Orleans, Eric and Willie were hanging out and sitting in. Got to see Eric and Willie together.

Flash forward to SXSW. The Dolls comeback. I shot the show at Stubbs. I was walking to my car after and David happened to be in front of me. He very kindly posed for a photo.

I listened to the Dolls on Spotify, yesterday. Now I have to get the Live album thanks to your mention of it.

John Kauchick

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I didn’t know David had died until I read your column and this news sucks. I saw the Dolls at Massey Hall (!) in Toronto in the summer of ’74. Somehow KISS was the opening act and allowed to use their full range of tricks (which were many) in their set. They were virtually unknown in Toronto at the time (I’d never heard of them) and to be honest I was pissed that The Stooges dropped off the advertised bill The Dolls simply couldn’t follow KISS, which was a shame.

That didn’t deter me from my Dolls’ fandom though and I followed Johansen’s career and loved his solo stuff, even when he pivoted to Buster Pointdexter territory. The man was a born star with a huge personality – crisis or not – and I am very sorry he’s left us.

Mike Campbell

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No TV ? The Dolls were on “Midnight Special” and

“Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert”

And he was on Letterman in 1983 performing the Animals medley, plus “Stranded in the Jungle”

Stuart Taubl

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Bob, I was a huge fan of the Dolls & David but I didn’t know the Live It Up album existed. Listened to it on the Spotify list you posted & it’s fantastic. Just bought it. RIP David. Best, Jeff Hayward/Maine

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I saw the Dolls at the Allen Theater in Cleveland in 1974. It was, I think, their second trip in, having played the Agora in 1973. Everyone knew them as Cleveland’s juggernaut radio station, WMMS, had embraced them early like Roxy Music and the Alex Harvey Band, among so many others. They were snotty, brash, wild looking and actually sounded great. David just commanded the stage like a Bowery Jagger. My favorite, being a bass player, was Arthur Kane. 6” platforms, wild blonde hair and a sort of aimless demeanor. For some of the show he just wandered around the stage playing single notes with great intensity, even if some of the time they weren’t really in same key as the song. Like so many others, they were simply out of time and didn’t have the machine behind them to push it through. Personality Crisis indeed. RIP David Johansen.

Stephen Knill

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I love this man.  He was just an original, and a hard worker, and in on the joke, and we are missing that now.  Thanks for taking me back, but also spotting the light on a true character.  R.I.P.

Ron Welty

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I can’t believe you didn’t mention David Johansen’s part as the ghost of Christmas Present in Scrooged. Bill Murray may have been the “star”, but his scenes with him were a riot!

Michael Moniz

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Only got to see Buster once,  but it was a show to remember.  The man was a performer

Brian Barry Esq.

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One of the greats, a true rocker. Don’t forget the Harry Smiths, David’s roots reincarnation.

He also was the best guest ever on the Tonight Show. Never had anyone so surprised and enthralled Johnny.

“Buster and Johnny have a talk”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EalIXbQsLCA

Bill Megalos

Venice

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In my little 11th grade circle in 1978 in New York… We knew. We used to go see Johnny Thunders and when he could stand up straight, he was a force. One night at club 57 David Johansen and Sylvain showed up and did a medley of Dolls songs with Thunders and Nolan….  So when the tickets for the Paradise shows in Boston went on sale, I was first in line. Those shows were absolutely tremendous. At just 18 years old. I didn’t really know where the Animals tunes were coming from but I had heard them on WNEW. I even got to meet David by accident online at the Agean in Kenmore Square the night before… I was wearing a doll’s pin on my jean jacket and this guy standing in front of me looking nothing like I had imagined was just glaring at me… Waiting for me to invade his space. I held back and we both had a smile and that was a funny moment. God bless David Johansen, and God bless The Dolls….

With Gratitude,

Matt Peyton

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Bob…Saw the Dolls up in New Paltz Spring Weekend ‘73…the hippies hated them…but in the middle of “Frankenstein”, I got it…and loved David from that moment…Matt Auerbach…

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I was living in London in 2004 – as an illegal alien. The tech company I moved there to work for, Riverstone Networks, blew up in a fit of SEC violations at the end of 2003 and I was left unemployed – but I didn’t leave. My wife & I stayed in London with expired work permits and hired a lawyer to help us get visas. Six months later I got a call from the lawyer on June 16th saying our passports with approved visas were at his office – just across the Themes from the Royal Festival Hall.

I went to pick up the passports that afternoon and across the Themes I saw a crowd gathering – the Dolls reunion show I desperately wanted to attend but was too depressed because of my illegal status was that night. But I was no longer illegal with those new visas!  So I got across the river, scalped a ticket in the 2nd row and saw the Dolls reunion.   They were fabulous and it was perhaps the best day of my entire life.

Brett Howser

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In 2006, I spent a month on tour in one of the opening bands on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Tour being headlined by the New York Dolls. Being a generation younger, I first loved David Johansen from SNL & “Hot Hot Hot” (and Scrooged) so I couldn’t believe how great and different his solo work and the New York Dolls were as I worked my way backwards through his catalog. I was over the moon at the opportunity to play on the same bill with him/them and I made sure to watch their full set every night – it didn’t matter that after 20 shows, I’d memorized it, they still crushed it every time. As Johansen would get to the venues close to his set-time, I know he hadn’t seen me on-stage but all the bands were on the road together in the same hotels, gas stops, etc. and while I talked to the other guys in the Dolls, I remained shy/intimidated when I’d see him. Finally on the last night in St. Louis, I approached him backstage to tell him how much of a fan I was and how much I’d loved watching him all month and he said, in his inimitable style, “cool, thanks….whaddya on the tour or something?” – definitely the greatest non-compliment I’ve ever been given!

Was very happy a few years ago when Morrissey played in Brooklyn that before the show began, they screened a montage of old pictures and videos of icons and influences and when they showed Johansen & the New York Dolls, it got the loudest ovation. A true legend. RIP.

Ethan Jon Kreitzer

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Man, I just loved David Johansen and the Dolls.

As a 13 year old I first heard the New York Dolls and “Personality Crisis” grabbed me and moved me as much as Lou Reed or Bowie. Growing up on Long Island I started working in a music club in Babylon and all the bands played there from the Good Rats, Twisted Sister, Pat Benatar and Blue Oyster Cult but David Johansen was the guy who really spoke to me as he had a sense of humor and just seemed fearless. Listening to those records and later Television’s “Marquee Moon”, Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, Sweet, Mott the Hoople, etc let me know there was life outside of the conservative Long Island town I grew up in.

I went off to Hampshire College in Amherst Mass and a few friends invited me to visit at SUNY Buffalo. They said “The Who are playing, come on up…” Little did I know that The Clash and David Johansen were opening. That was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I’ll miss David, what a talent with a unique artistic vision.

Joe Fletcher

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yes. saw him so many times.A great rock singer and band leader. saw the dolls and his other bands  and playing solo acoustic. A clever soulful songwriter, a master at putting a song across.

Owen Plotkin

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David Johansen had no bigger fan than Steve Paul.  Steve saw super-star power in David and did everything he could to help David reach that career goal.  David was signed to Steve’s Blue Sky label, and Steve also provided management.  I was the product manager up at Epic when Steve brought in that album with Funky but Chic — not being able to break David, and particularly that album, was disappointing for us, and I know especially for Steve, who never stopped believing in David.

Jim Charne

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So those of us who were at RCA when David flipped to Buster will have nothing but really great memories of working with him. So funny and so cool. I had the privilege of traveling around with him doing promo during those days. But here’s my favorite “David thing.” He used to joke with me about applying Preparation H to remove bags under his eyes. He called it the “Detroit Tuck.”

Hugh Surratt

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I saw David live a few times around 2010 at the Highline Ballroom in NYC. He was in amazing spirits and sounded fantastic. I saw him do acoustic blues/solo sets and a holiday show as Buster with a full band. It was refreshing to see him pulling back from the Dolls reunion, which was great but not as personal as his solo work. I was shocked to see so few people in attendance. We do a horrible job as a culture assigning value in the arts…when a valuable artist is willing to continue to follow his muse in the midst of this, it is to be applauded.

Daryl Williams

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& he loved the blues:

David Johansen & the Harry Smiths – https://open.spotify.com/album/7g6IL4R4MMeIvWOOyr3g5g?si=j6zzGpRXS4iDXmfgwR4ZTw

David Johansen & the Harry Smiths – Shaker – https://open.spotify.com/album/5mAvs4hj3PMkLSdcx4ajr2?si=hpR4PhrETEqeZSG1-BJzBQ

Ashley/Evosound

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Bob.. Thanks for talking about David Johansen and the New York Dolls…They  are one of my fave’s… I was working in a cardboard box factory In the 70’s and my band buddies with me bought tickets to see the Dolls.. the show never happened because customs wouldn’t let Jonny Thunders into Canada… surprise !!! I loved their swagger and their ragged music… and they were dangerous.. They will be missed! God Bless Them…Bob Rock

“Why a Chinese Gadget Company Can Make an Electric Car and Apple Can’t – Xiaomi, which produces smartphones and consumer electronics, delivered 135,000 E.V.s last year after tapping China’s robust manufacturing supply chain.”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/business/china-xiaomi-apple-electric-cars.html?unlocked_article_code=1.004.JrHO.YaLEg8q5xxnh&smid=url-share

This is why you read mainstream news.

My inbox is full of those who decry the mainstream news. They claim it’s biased, they want nothing to do with it, they get their news from a cornucopia of bloggers, podcasters and broadcasters, mostly echoing what they already believe. And this is on both the left and the right.

Now it’s instinctual to hate the big kahuna, that which has more power than you do, but that does not mean you don’t need to pay attention. Because the mainstream newspapers are in the business of collecting and reporting news, whereas nearly every other outlet is about opinion. Sure, the mainstream has got a lot of that too, but don’t forgo the news just because you disagree with the slant of the Op-ed page.

Recently all the publicity has been about AI, where there’s been a ton of investment and very little return, except for NVIDIA, which makes the chips AI is based upon. As for AI’s economic impact in the future? That’s up for grabs. Meanwhile, there’s the issue of hallucinations. You can’t take what AI says to the bank. And in a world of zeros and ones, where we want it exactly right, that’s a humongous failure.

But transportation? It’s never going out of style, people have to get from here to there. And for the foreseeable future it will be in cars.

Now the right wing decries electric cars, despite their hero Elon Musk manufacturing them. They want fossil fuel burners, the bigger the better, that’s the American way, right?

Well, decades ago, but not anymore.

And even if you don’t believe in climate change electric cars are the future. You’d think we’d all get on the same page and try to prepare before the Chinese eat our lunch entirely.

Yes, that’s what they’re poised to do.

Xiaomi, which is best known for smartphones and appliances, just released the fastest EV on the market, the SU7 Ultra. It goes from zero to sixty in less than two seconds. And it looks just like a Porsche. But it costs only $73,000.

Oh, that doesn’t sound so cheap. Until you learn that the regular everyday model sells for THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!

Not a single foreign competitor has been able to make a cheap EV, but there are a plethora in China.

Last year Chinese carmaker BYD sold four million new cars across the planet. That’s more than Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, Subaru and, of course, Tesla… Which didn’t even break two million.

Sure, Tesla is hobbled by security constraints in China. They’re finding it hard to compete because their self-driving software has not been approved, because of worries about data leaks. But irrelevant of that, Teslas are just too EXPENSIVE!

And oh yeah, since the introduction of the SU7 Porsche’s sales have tanked in China by 30%. We’ve seen this movie before with computers. IBM charged a premium price, Dell came along and sold at a much cheaper price point and ate market share and caused every other manufacturer to imitate their process and drop prices.

So how did Chinese EVs and hybrids make inroads so quickly?

“Chinese electric vehicle companies have benefited from billions of dollars in government support, which has helped them gain control of the supply chain down to the very minerals inside the car batteries.”

But in the U.S., the government is the enemy. Its support is being cut everywhere, private business baby, no one wants to pay more taxes.

But that might leave us like a walled garden South American country. Where you buy an inferior product at a premium because the superior foreign one is taxed astronomically.

Now this can’t happen, right?

Of course it can! We saw it half a century ago with electronics. Japan ate the Americans’ lunch.

Furthermore, your Xiaomi car integrates with the rest of the software in your phone and in your home. It’s the Apple construct on steroids!

And the Easter eggs!

“On the first day SU7s were delivered, buyers could go to Xiaomi’s app store and get accessories to trick out the cars, like analog dashboard clocks and a row of physical switches that attach to a touch-screen panel.”

Now it’s not only the “Times” that covered Xiamoi’s entry into the automobile market, last week the “Wall Street Journal” had an article too:

“The Chinese EV Maker Threatening Ford and GM – Lei Jun set out to build the ‘Apple of China.’ Xiaomi’s car business is now outpacing Tesla and Rivian.”

Free link: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/chinese-ev-maker-xiaomi-threatening-ford-gm-tesla-757cabb4?st=de7Heb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Here’s the money quote from the WSJ article:

“Farley, Ford’s CEO, had a Xiaomi SU7 specially shipped to the U.S. and spent six months last year driving it.

‘It’s fantastic,’ Farley said on an October podcast. ‘I don’t want to give it up.’ The maker of the sporty sedan, he said, was ‘the Apple of China.’

Furthermore:

“The bestselling car brand last year in Singapore, long a bastion for Japanese carmakers led by Toyota, was China’s BYD.”

Science, facts, they’ve become up for grabs in the U.S. Everything is about emotion and opinion. And that doesn’t stand up to science and organization.

I know you hate to read the mainstream press, just like you hate to listen to the Spotify Top 50. That’s for other people, the less sophisticated.

But if you truly want to know what is going on, you must pay strict attention to the mainstream press, you must consume the news, because he or she with the most information wins, all the time.

Which is why I’d rather sit at home and read than talk to most people.

But that’s just me.

This Chinese car thing is a juggernaut. And yes, there are hybrids along with EVs, but the dirty little secret of a hybrid is…

It requires service just like a traditional internal combustion engine. You’re worrying about getting a charge in the middle of nowhere, you’re hedging your bet, but the joke is on you. An EV requires almost no maintenance, period. Then again, too many people hate electric vehicles in principle to know this. Then again, the dean of automobile writers, Dan Neil, pointed this out this advantage of EVs in one of his recent WSJ columns.

America invented the transistor, but Japan saw the opportunities and fed it back to us in consumer electronics. The same way Brits heard the Delta bluesmen and created music that resulted in the British Invasion.

But we’re dismantling our infrastructure in the U.S. Cutting funds for scientific exploration in universities for fear of what they teach. Believe me, an automobile doesn’t care whether the company that made it had a DEI policy or not.

Or whether it was built by trans people.

We’re so caught up in our petty wars in America that we’re missing the point. We’re so busy hating each other that we can’t move forward.

This must change.

MTV had it right. You don’t age with the audience, you pick your target demo and recreate your product to appeal to them. Otherwise, you die.

Of course MTV died anyway. Superseded by music video on the internet. But everything is time-stamped, don’t you know? But for a few decades there, MTV ruled not only music, but popular culture. The oldsters didn’t abandon the channel when it jettisoned the original VJs, it was shocked, shrugged, and stayed tuned in.

Who in the hell’s idea was it to have Conan O’Brien host the Oscars? I’ve got no problem with the orange-haired Harvard graduate, then again, the Lampoon hasn’t ruled anything in comedy other than SNL for years. Yet there are comedians all over YouTube, Netflix, who appeal to the younger generations. But I don’t think the Academy brass knows this. Because don’t you know that the internet and YouTube are the enemy? You’ve got to see a movie on the big screen, in a theatre. Just like you’ve got to read a physical book purchased in an indie bookstore. Even worse, the cohort of baby boomers is so large that it convinces itself that it’s in touch and right.

Hogwash.

My mother and her cronies went to the movies constantly. Because that’s what they grew up doing. If it was Saturday, they picked a flick. Any flick. It didn’t really matter, they were going. When was the last time you decided to go to the multiplex and bought a ticket for what was starting right then? Oh, maybe if you’re an oldster, but not if you’re a youngster. Youngsters live in an on demand culture. They do what they want when they want to. And if the schedule doesn’t comport with this, they don’t partake. This is why distribution is king. Content is not enough if it’s not on the right streaming channel and available 24/7.

And speaking of distribution, the Academy should have had a weekend wherein all nominated films were on a streaming service. At least then there’d be a chance that people would have seen the pictures. It’s not so much that the movies were bad, but that few have seen them. Make it easy, create excitement. But no, those in control of this telecast, this process, are not only afraid of technology, they still think the Oscars are a cultural rite.

But we haven’t had that spirit here since the last century. And that was TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO!

Quick, ask a young ‘un if they’re going to watch the Oscars.

Of course not! Sit through a multi-hour telecast with all those commercials? If anything good happens, they’ll see the clips the next day and then forget about the whole damn thing. Quick, who won ANY Oscar last year? Can you remember? Today’s society moves so fast that everything is plowed under. Which is why you make the event stand alone and forget any gravitas. Gravitas is elusive, the public decides what lasts, and very little does. We live in a throwaway society.

And those are the films young people go to see, if any. As a matter of fact, Marvel movies and their ilk are declining in popularity. I mean once you’ve seen the trick… Would you be interested if a musical act made the same damn album over and over? This is what people say they want, but this is untrue. The public wants something new and different, innovative. They can’t tell you what it is, but when they find it they embrace it.

Why is it boomers want to keep intact traditions of the past? I mean it’s one thing to lobby for the preservation of edifices. But what’s next, the preservation of slang? Do we need to convince the younger generations that A Flock of Seagulls was cool? There were some great bands in the eighties, but a lot of schlock too.

So you roll out crusty actors as if they’re icons but to the younger generation these two-dimensional vessels are not heroes. The internet has eviscerated the power of actors, they can’t even open a flick, never mind a streaming TV show. No, to be revered by today’s younger generations you must evidence your identity. As a musician, as an influencer. Phony is anathema.

Kind of like the Oscar ceremony itself.

How about a dressed-down Oscars, like Zelensky.

But it’s all about the red carpet!

So why don’t you have fashion and beauty influencers interview those on the walkway, why not do something to entice the younger generations?

No, the Oscars would rather die. Sink like a ship. Whilst blaming the audience for being dumb and out of the loop.

No, it’s the Oscars that are dumb and out of the loop.

I don’t care if you watch. Enjoy it. I used to live for it, but no more. If I want to watch something at home…And I watch everything at home, what a pain the theatre experience is, you’ve got to drive there and wait for the flick to come and even worse it doesn’t start when you want it to! One of the reasons I gave up going to the theatre was because I’d sit there revved up from work and not be able to enjoy the picture, whereas at home the picture starts (and stops!) when I want it to…I watch a series. All the talk is about series. Because you can marinate in them, invest in them. Singles ruled until the Beatles made the album a statement. And now retro-thinking acts are so busy creating their albums that they’ve lost sight of the fact that in a fast-paced world you need a single to get people interested. Makes me crazy when musicians say they’ve got to make an album. Who’s got the time to listen to so much dreck. You’ve got to earn the audience’s attention!

And the Oscars have fumbled people’s attention for years. I don’t mind a long show, even younger generations love to binge series all weekend, but I’ve got no time for boring. If you’ve got my attention you’ve got to keep it, you’ve got to earn it.

And you’ve got to have a sense of humor about yourself, otherwise people don’t respect you. Enough about the power of movies, how many people are watching around the world. I’d rather hear jokes about how no one has seen the winners!

What I’ve written is heresy. Assuming you care. Which most people do not.

We live in an attention economy. To matter, you must get people’s attention. Most of the films themselves did not get people’s attention, why should they watch a show celebrating them? The whole thing looks like a circle jerk, if you pay attention at all!

I’m not saying visual entertainment is bad, lacking or history. As a matter of fact, it’s flourishing! It’s the heartbeat of the world more than ever. But the Oscars are out of time. They’re playing to a dying generation that remembers when.

I remember when…

But the real excitement is living in the present.

But most boomers and the Academy refuse to do so.

As for the studios… There’s no Robert Evans, there’s not even a Barry Diller, who made his name in TV anyway. We all know Reed Hastings, and most people know Ted Sarandos. But the head of a studio? We need DOGE for Hollywood, these puffed-up people make way too much money considering their output and success rate.

But orthodoxy persists. Just like Congress and Trump. You don’t want to speak the truth, you don’t want to cross the line. It’s groupthink 24/7 as the leader drives you off a cliff.

But people are hungry for the new and different, for honesty, for credibility.

GIVE IT TO THEM!

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.

5

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.