ANOTHER BONUS POST: A LITTLE “SWEET RELIEF” FOR “BUSTER POINDEXTER” aka DAVID JOHANSEN
THE "INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOY" HIMSELF
From Robert Christgau - the Dean of Rock Critics:
I regret to report that seminal New York Doll David Johansen is battling cancer in Cali. I owe him so much that of course I mailed a tax-deductible check to David Johansen Fund, Sweet Relief Musician Fund, 2650 East Imperial Highway Suite 208, Brea CA 92821-6135 while the Post Office is still operative. But the below link will get you there as well. (PS from WF: Yes, I Wilsci, am proud to say that I also sent them a PayPal.)
Regretfully, I haven’t had a chance to write about Buster / David in a few years - but here are three vintage blurbs on this quintessential New York entertainer:
“Buster Poindexter”
The Café Carlyle
35 E 76th Street, (212) 744-1600
Thursday October 31
It's official! Halloween is now the biggest party night of the year, and there's no one better to spend it with than this fearless and flamboyant entertainer. As rocker David Johansen, he wore shades and a moptop and led The New York Dolls to proto-punk glory. As blues-infused lounge lizard Buster Poindexter, he sports a pompadour, sips martinis, and carries on (in more than one sense of the term) the legacies of such insatiable party animals as Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan. Whatever you call him, it's a cinch that that the Carlyle never rocked so hard or swung so mightily as it's going to this Halloween night. In fact, this being the Carlyle, one has to wonder, how many girls – or even boys – are going to come dressed like Elaine Stritch?
(The Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2013)
“Buster Poindexter”
The Café Carlyle
35 E 76th Street, (212) 744-1600
Through Saturday
You know the signatures: the Poindexter spectacles, the pompadour by Frank Lloyd Wright, and, most of all, that resplendent baritone. The artist still occasionally known as David Johansen of the New York Dolls may present himself as a boozy lowlife in an open-shirted tuxedo, but he actually runs an incredibly tight ship onstage, moving seamlessly from song to joke and back again, shifting beats with every tune. The native Staten Islander is also, as he was frequently introduced, "the world's foremost ethnomusicologist": he not only croons show tunes and belts the blues, but brings a dazzling panoply of Pan-American rhythms to the table: rumbas, sambas, calypsos, soca, beguines, all building up to a George Jones saloon song ("The King Is Gone"). Overall, this Bachannalian funster may be the greatest entertainer that the Carlyle has presented since the late Bobby Short – and they both do a mean "Down in Mexico." (The Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2014)
“Buster Poindexter”
The Cutting Room
44 E 32nd St, (212) 691-1900
Tuesday, July 2
Today, the words "blues" and "shouting" are, alas, inextricably linked, but what about the tradition of mellow blues crooners that extended through Charles Brown, Nat King Cole, and, in their more romantic moments, Joe Williams and Ray Charles? "Buster Poindexter" (née David Johansen) first attracted attention as a glam rock pioneer (in the New York Dolls, with whom he still tours) and then as an early MTV idol (with "Hot Hot Hot"). Yet with his big, deep resonant voice, Poindexter is most impressive as a crooner and occasional belter of ballads in the classic R&B tradition. His ongoing run at the newly restored Cutting Room affirms the point that however you know him, the artist known as Buster, complete with his one-liners and longer comic monologs (not to mention his signature pompadour), is one of the most endearing and enduring entertainers currently trodding the boards in New York. (Citivew, 2015)
P.S.: Here is my favorite - at least my non-singing favorite clip - of Buster / David - this is the one where he tells the classic “audition story.” (Bob Goulet fans - of which I am one - take note!)
The mighty Michael Katsobashvili took this video during one pre-pandemic Christmas celebration at Town Hall - note the wonderful Bria Skonberg in Vince Giordano’s trumpet section. (And look around for the Boardwalk Empire soundtrack CD for an official recording of Buster with the Nighthawks.)
Vintage Buster / David - the early MTV period, I actually like this “live” performance better than the official music video:
special thanks to DAN FORTUNE for helping with proofing this post - and don’t forget to check out Dan’s own excellent substack, MuchoMusic.
PS: “Yes! Robert Goulet!”
Sing! Sing! Sing! : My tagline is, “Celebrating the great jazz - and jazz-adjacent - singers, as well as the composers, lyricists, arrangers, soloists, and sidemen, who help to make them great.”
A production of KSDS heard Saturdays at 10:00 AM Pacific; 1:00PM Eastern.
To listen to KSDS via the internet (current and recent shows are available for streaming.) click here.
The whole series is also listenable on Podbean.com; click here.
SING! SING! SING!
Ella Fitzgerald: "Ella's Race Problem" with Judith Tick
(BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2025-02-24)
download: <or> play online:
Nat King Cole: "We Are Americans Too" (“Assault on a King”)
(BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2025-02-18)
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THE REAL AMBASSADORS with special guest Ricky Riccardi
(Black History Month 2025-02-17)
download: <or> play online:
The Don Redman Songbook
(SSS #135 2025-02-15 Black History Month)
download: <OR> play online:
Pioneering African American Female Songwriters w Dr. Michael Garber
(BLACK HISTORY MONTH - SSS #134 2025-02-08)
download: <or> play online:
“Strange Fruit”: Billie Holiday | Abe Meeropol | Earl Robinson
(BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2025-02-05)
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Louis Armstrong: Satchmo's Race Problem (with Ricky Riccardi)
(BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2025-02-03)
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: The Black Experience in WW2
(SSS #133 2025-02-01)
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Bobby Hackett Meets the Great Singers
(SSS #132 2025-01-25)
Download: or play online.
Salute to Fruit, Part 1 - Stealin' Apples
(SSS #131 2025-01-18)
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Get Happy! The Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler Songbook
(SSS #130 2025-01-11)
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The Buzz! (Jazz Journalists Association)
Neal Tesser interviews Will Friedwald
Listen here.
Let's Have a Party! NEW YEAR’S PARTY SPECIAL
(SSS #129 2025-01-04 )
download: or play online:
Best of 2024 Jazz Vocals
(SSS #128 2024-12-28)
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Dylan Goes Eclectic! Bob Dylan Jazz & Pop Mixtape w ELIJAH WALD
(SSS #127 2024-12-21)
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Sinatra! Frank Conversation with very special guest, MR. BILL BOGGS
(FS 2024 11 2024-12-16)
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SLOUCHING TOWARDS BIRDLAND is a subStack newsletter by Will Friedwald. The best way to support my work is with a paid subscription, for which I am asking either $5 a month or $50 per year. Thank you for considering. (Thanks as always to Beth Naji & Arlen Schumer for special graphics.) Word up, peace out, go forth and sin no more! (And always remember: “A man is born, but he’s no good no how, without a song.”)
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Slouching Towards Birdland (Will Friedwald's SubStack) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Slouching Towards Birdland (Will Friedwald's SubStack) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.