Originally influenced by
Mick Jagger and by
Rob Tyner of
MC5, Johansen began his career in the early
1970s as the
singer in the
protopunk band the
New York Dolls. The bulk of the material was written by Johansen and
guitarist Johnny Thunders, who left in
1975.
After the dissolution of the final Dolls line-up in early
1977, Johansen embarked on a
solo career. His first two
albums, David Johansen and
In Style, featured original
songs. His fellow ex-Doll
Sylvain Sylvain frequently performed with him, and his band covered many Dolls tunes in concert; his live albums
Live It Up and
The David Johansen Group Live show his talent as a live performer. The studio releases
Here Comes the Night (including his signature song "Heart of Gold") and
Sweet Revenge featured original material.
In the late
1980s commercial success came his way under the pseudonym
Buster Poindexter, performing a mixture of
jazz, lounge, calypso, and novelty songs, and appearing as part of the
house band on the television program
Saturday Night Live. As the artist Buster Poindexter, he achieved his first
hit song, "
Hot Hot Hot" which, in an interview on
National Public Radio's Fresh Air, he referred to as "the bane of my life," owing to its pervasive popularity. "Hot Hot Hot" was initially written and recorded by
Montserratian-Antiguan Soca Artist
Arrow. As Poindexter, he often used his band the Banshees of Blue.
Johansen acted in several films during the
1980s and
1990s, and had a brief role on the
HBO drama
Oz. He also appeared in the
television series, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, in the episode "On Golden Pete," in which he played a park ranger. One of his more memorable roles is that of a wisecracking ghost of Christmas past in
Scrooged. David Johansen was also in the movie based on the old television series "Car 54, Where Are You?". He can also be seen in the
Jim White documentary film Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus in which he does a version of "James Alley Blues" (by
Rabbit Brown) from a motel room.
Johansen then turned to the rendition of country blues with his back-up group, The Harry Smiths. The group was named by way of tribute to
Harry Everett Smith, who compiled the
Anthology of American Folk Music; "James Alley Blues" and some of the other songs covered on their eponymously-titled debut recording come from the Anthology. Johansen's second album with the Harry Smiths is called
Shaker. He also had a supporting role with Mick Jagger and Emilio Estevez in the movie
Freejack and a supporting role as Looney in the comedy
Let It Ride.
Johansen is currently touring with a re-formed version of the
New York Dolls. Because of the success of the tour, the Dolls released their first album in nearly 30 years in 2006. He also hosts a weekly show on
Sirius Satellite Radio.
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