By DONNA BALANCIA
NEW YORK – David Johansen, the lead singer of the New York Dolls who later achieved fame as the lounge singer character, Buster Poindexter, passed away on Feb. 28, 2025 at the age of 75. Johansen had been fighting cancer for many years.
Johansen was an integral part of the New York music scene, renowned for his booming baritone and larger-than-life personality despite his slight stature.
Born in Staten Island on Jan. 9, 1950, Johansen launched his career with the Vagabond Missionaries in the late 1960s. He co-founded the New York Dolls in 1971, a band, which, complete with platform shoes, wild makeup, big hair and frilly clothes, was instrumental in popularizing glam rock. The New York Dolls, comprised of bassist Arthur Kane, guitarist Johnny Thunders, drummer Jerry Nolan and pianist and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, had a vital impact on New York’s sound and fashion of the day.
Following the breakup of The New York Dolls in 1977, Johansen re-emerged as Buster Poindexter, a tuxedo-clad, martini-swilling lounge singer character perched atop a bar stool in the back room of Tramp’s Irish Pub in New York City. His style was elegant in simplicity and his first few shows cost $4 to get into on the occasional Tuesday night. The opening act was Tony Machine.
In the early days of the Buster Poindexter act, the few and new fans were even able to stick around for the second show of the evening. But within a few months, it became known that the true identity of the deep-voiced lounge singer at the Irish pub was Johansen. Buster Poindexter and The Banshees of Blues became the hottest act in town, drawing lines down the street, and bringing fellow rockers and celebs into the tiny New York bar.
The music was completely different from Johansen’s previous endeavors. At the time in the early 1980s, Johansen told audience members at Tramp’s that he researched the cover songs in his act, digging through old record store bins. The setlist was eclectic, including the humorous and upbeat “Monkey,” a Harry Belafonte cover written by the late Irving Louis Burgie, the wistful ballad, “Poet’s Cafe,” which Johansen co-wrote with Carl D’Errico, and of course “Hot Hot Hot,” written and originally recorded by the musician Arrow. “Hot Hot Hot” had been a hit for Arrow in the UK (1982) and became a major hit for Johansen in 1987.
Johansen also performed on TV and in the movies including his well-remembered role in “Scrooged” in 1988. He brought a new persona to the legendary Ghost of Christmas Past in the form of an NYC cabbie with an oversized and evil laugh.
In 2004, the New York Dolls reunited, released albums and toured, bringing their legacy into a new era. In 2023, the Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi-directed documentary “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” was released via Showtime and Johansen was able to attend the premiere.
Johansen is survived by his wife, Mara Hennessey, and his daughter, Leah Hennessey.
Check out Buster Poindexter’s audio performance of ‘Poet’s Cafe’ here: