When an interview appeared recently with David Johansen under the heading 'I Thought You Were Dead', one suspects that even the singer had a throaty chuckle at how well his had life turned out. At the age of 21 Johansen was the frontman and mega star in waiting with The New York Dolls, the band whose stomp and pout mixed punk and glam, but whose shambolic lifestyle meant that success was on a very short fuse.
Two albums later, they imploded in 1975, leaving classic songs like 'Looking For A Kiss' and 'Personality Crisis' and a tragic legacy that saw two band members dead from drug overdoses. Johansen however, got himself together and picked up the pieces as a solo artist, scoring chart success in the late 1980's as lounge crooner Buster Poindexter and developing an acting career in films like 'Married To The Mob' and 'Scrooged'.
An offer to play an anniversary show for a club in his native New York led Johansen to create his new outfit the Harry Smiths. Retreating to the blues records that wowed him as a teenager, Johansen and band then recorded an album in three days, heading south for gravel vocal tributes to the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters. Now 51, he says he'll keep playing into his seventies - the Dolls seem like another life, right now a new era is just beginning.
Harry Guerin
David Johansen and the Harry Smiths is out now on Chesky Records.
