This is the David Johansen Week on radio Tangra Mega Rock!
The singer and songwriter who was at the vanguard of glam rock and punk as the frontman of the NEW YORK DOLLS, died 28 February at his home on Staten Island. He was 75.
His death was confirmed by his stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey.
Mr. Johansen revealed last month that he was suffering from Stage 4 cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back. He announced a fund-raising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to assist with his medical bills, saying, “I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency.”
Mr. Johansen was prolific in multiple genres, from blues to calypso, and achieved his greatest commercial success in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his pompadoured lounge-lizard alter ego, Buster Poindexter. But his 1970s heyday with the NEW YORK DOLLS, a band of lipstick-smeared men in love with trashy riffs and tough women, had the most cultural impact, inspiring numerous punk, heavy metal and alternative musicians.
The NEW YORK DOLLS were notorious for transgressive behavior; they were especially notorious for cross-dressing.
Mr. Johansen released five solo albums between 1978 and 1984; professional bar-band rock with bohemian flourishes, the highlights included the declamatory style anthem “Funky but Chic.”
A friendship with the actor Bill Murray led to Mr. Johansen’s appearance in the 1988 movie “Scrooged” as the taxicab-driving Ghost of Christmas Past. It was his most prominent role in an acting career that encompassed dozens of movies and TV shows.
His signature cover of “Hot Hot Hot,” originally recorded by the soca musician Arrow, became a party anthem and a minor hit, peaking at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1987.
In 2023, Mr. Johansen was the subject of “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” a 2023 documentary directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi centered on a Buster Poindexter show at the Café Carlyle in New York.
DISCOGRAPHY:
with the New York Dolls
- New York Dolls (1973) - Too Much Too Soon (1974) - One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (2006) - Cause I Sez So (2009) - Dancing Backward in High Heels (2011)
SOLO
- David Johansen (1978) - In Style (1979) - Here Comes the Night (1981) - Sweet Revenge (1984)
- David Johansen and the Harry Smiths (2000) - Shaker (2002)
MARILLION – STEVE HOGARTH
On Sunday 24th September MARILLION will be performing at an exclusive show in the magnificent Roman theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The prestigious evening will be promoted by the Bulgarian independent radio station Tangra Mega Rock – tickets are available through Eventim.bg at this location.
And this is a great occasion to talk to frontman STEVE HOGARTH.
an interview conducted by Vassil Varbanov, photo: Alison Toon
Transcript of the interview starts below the photo:
HELLO STEVE, HOW ARE YOU AND WHERE ARE YOU?
Hello, good morning! I’m very well, thank you. I’m in the studio at the moment. We’re busy rehearsing.
2017 IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SPECIAL AND SUCCESSFUL YEARS IN THE BAND’S HISTORY…HOW DOES IT FEEL?
Amazing really, considering we’ve been around so long and we’re all getting old and everything…I would like to feel that after all these years it’s great that we’re still making music that is moving forward. It’s particularly great that we’ve had such a positive reaction to our latest recording work as well. We’re thrilled to bits about that, we put a lot of work into it and we still feel like we’ve got something to say.
SOME VERY EXCITING LIVE SHOWS COMING UP AS WELL – THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, YOUR MARILLION WEEKENDS AND OF COURSE THE SHOW AT THE ROMAN THEATER IN PLOVDIV. HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SEE THE VENUE IN PLOVDIV?
Yes, I’ve seen pictures of it, it looks really beautiful. I know that our guitar player Steve said he’s actually been there and he says it’s wonderful, so as long as the weather is OK, it should be amazing.
I BELIEVE IT’S TOO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT THE SETLIST YOU’RE GOING TO PERFORM TO YOUR LOYAL FANS IN BULGARIA, BUT NEVERTHELESS, ANY CLUES?
Yeah, if anybody wants to submit anything via social media – anything they’d particularly like to hear…We can’t guarantee we’ll play it, but we’d certainly give it some thought. We haven’t been down your way before, I don’t think…Have we been to Bulgaria before?
YEAH, IN 2009.
Ah, ok, so it’s been a while. Yeah, we’re open to ideas and requests. Obviously we’ll play quite a lot of the new album, but if we can kind of get a feeling for what the people there would really like to hear, that might well influence what we rehearse for the show. Oh, hang on a minute, we played Sofia, didn’t we? It’s all coming back to me. That was a great show, we had a good night there.
YOU’RE ONE OF THE BANDS WITH A VERY LOYAL GLOBAL FANBASE, THE MARILLION FAMILY. ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF FANS FROM BULGARIA?
I’m never that aware of what’s going on, to be honest – I’ve got my head so much in the music. But I know we had a really great show there last time, it has only just come together in my head, but I remember it really well now. I remember the dressing rooms and the gig, I remember what a beautiful city you’ve got there. And we had a good time in Sofia. We do have a very fanatical family worldwide and it does feel more like a family than a bunch of fans, it’s a very one-to-one relationship we have now with the people who listen to us.
PLOVDIV IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S WINE CAPITALS AND WE’LL BE DOING SOME SPECIAL WINE TASTING WITH SOME OF THE FANS PARTICIPATING. ARE YOU A WINE AFICIONADO YOURSELF?
Well, I drink the stuff. I’m not sure I’d call myself an aficionado, but I know a red wine from a white wine.
MARILLION WILL BE CELEBRATING 40 YEARS AS A BAND IN 2019. ARE YOU ALREADY TALKING ABOUT DOING SOMETHING SPECIAL?
Well, no. The past is a terrible place to live. These anniversaries have gone past before, the 20th, the 30th and now the 40th…We haven’t actually noticed when they’ve gone past. I suppose it’s always a good showbiz excuse to do something, but we don’t really concern ourselves too much with that, we have our sights firmly set on the new work and where to go next, rather than where we’ve been a very long time ago.
OBVIOUSLY F E A R WAS A VERY WELL RECEIVED ALBUM. ARE YOU ALREADY THINKING OF THE NEXT ONE?
Erm, no. Personally, I’m not thinking about the next one yet, I’m just recovering from the last one. I’m thinking of what we’re gonna do next in terms of live stuff etc. I’ve currently got my head in the Conventions – thinking of the creative and the production aspects of that at the moment. That’s taking up quite a bit of time.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR SOLO PROJECTS. ANY PLANS TO WORK WITH RICHARD BARBIERI AGAIN?
I’m actually going to be working with Richard Barbieri in four days time. I’ve got a show in London at the 100 Club and I believe he’s going to get up and play something with me there. We have started work on another album, which we’re hoping to finish at some point. Finding the time is tricky, but once we both do, we do have plans to resume work on that album, so I think there will be another Hogarth/Barbieri record.
MARILLION’S SHOW IN PLOVDIV IS PART OF AN ONGOING ANNUAL MUSIC FORUM CALLED SOUNDS OF THE AGES. MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND AND THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT WILL HEADLINE THE TWO PREVIOUS NIGHTS LEADING UP TO YOUR SHOW. HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO MEET ANY OF THOSE ARTISTS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS?
We actually did a gig in Germany with Manfred Mann’s band last summer. I don’t know if I met any of them at that show, but I did meet Manfred Mann years ago, in the 80s, when I was in The Europeans. He wanted to cover one of our songs and I remember meeting him in the pub. So I have met Manfred Mann, but it was a very very long time ago.
ARE YOU STILL ALLERGIC TO CATS, BY THE WAY?
Yes, I am. They give me asthma and I can’t breathe. They also make my eyes sore, so I tend to stay away from them.
IN THAT CASE WE PROMISE TO KEEP ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE OLD ROMAN THEATER AWAY FROM YOU…
It’s full of cats, is it? I’ll wear a plastic bag, don’t worry.
