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David Johansen
Johansen performing in a concert
Background information
Birth name	David Johansen
Born	January 9, 1950 (1950-01-09) (age 57)
Origin	Staten Island, New York
Genre(s)	rock, punk, blues, pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, actor
Instrument(s)	vocals
Years active	1970 - present
Associated acts	New York Dolls

David Johansen (born January 9, 1950, in Staten Island, New York) is an American rock, punk, blues and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He was a member of the seminal punk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success using the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.

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.

• 1978 David Johansen
• 1978 The David Johansen Group Live
• 1979 In Style
• 1982 Live It Up
• 1982 Here Comes the Night
• 1984 Sweet Revenge
• 1987 Buster Poindexter
• 1989 Buster Goes Berserk
• 1994 Buster's Happy Hour
• 1997 Buster's Spanish Rocketship
• 2000 David Johansen and the Harry Smiths
• 2002 Shaker

• Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, 1988 (one of Various Artists), as "Buster Poindexter and The Banshees of Soul"

• Jacobson, Mark (September 20, 2002), "The Icon: Doll Face", New York Magazine, <http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/music2002/n_7736/>.

• Rosen, Richard J. (July, 2000), "Rick Visits . . . David Johansen", Stereophile, <http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/248/>.

• Rollins, Henry (September, 2006), "David Johansen", Interview, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_8_36/ai_n16740654>.

• David Johansen Online
• David Johansen at the Internet Movie Database
• David Johansen at the All Music Guide
• Buster Poindexter at the All Music Guide