“Holy Shit, That’s David Johansen:” A Call to Action

It was one day in the mid-2000s. I worked in radio in an office that housed Classic Rock Q107 and 102.1 The Edge, Canada’s leading rock and alternative stations. I walked into my boss, Robbie J’s recording studio, to check on something when I heard a voice. That voice. That unmistakable New York voice.

“Holy shit, that’s David Johansen!”

Johansen and his New York Dolls bandmate Sylvain Sylvain were recording an interview with alternative music guru Alan Cross in a booth. I met them both when they were done and standing in the hallway.

“He knew it was your voice immediately,” Robbie J told Johansen, pointing at me.

“Did you recognize it from that movie I did with Bill Murray?” the one-time Buster Poindexter asked.

“No, I knew it was you because of Tales From The Darkside,” I responded.

That was my first encounter with David Johansen in person. Not long afterwards, I saw him, Sylvain, and the reconstituted New York Dolls at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre in an amazingly loud show for the venue. The band played songs off their new album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This, along with music from their classic, self-titled debut album from 1973.

I fell in love with the New York Dolls and their music in the 2000s, discovering the songs and image that inspired legions of artists that followed. It’s a fucking travesty that the Dolls aren’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Like the Velvet Underground before them, they may not have sold many records when they were together. Still, Johansen, Sylvain, Jerry Nolan, Johnny Thunders, and Arthur “Killer” Kane made an impact that still reverberates today.

David Johansen, whose most mainstream recognition came as an actor and in his lounge lizard alter-ego Buster Poindexter, has outlived all his bandmates and is now suffering. His daughter Leah Hennesey revealed today that for most of the past decade, the singer had been dealing with invasive stage 4 cancer and a brain tumour. This past US Thanksgiving, he also suffered a fall and broke his back in two places. As it stands, Johansen and his family need financial assistance, which they’re coordinating via Sweet Relief.

I already donated to the David Johansen Fund by purchasing a cool t-shirt; for the joy Johansen, the Dolls and their music have given, it seems the least I could do. Should you be inclined, you can do so as well here. In the meantime, I hope this piece gets to David so he can hear about how much I love his music and how memorable my encounter with him was all those years ago.