By AMES FLAMES
LOS ANGELES – Today, January 9, would have been David Johansen’s 76th birthday. He passed away last February 28th. In 2011, I was stage manager, guitar tech, and backup vocalist on the New York Dolls Summer Tour with Motley Crue and Poison. It ran from June 7th thru August 17th and consisted of 50 shows. These were also the final shows the band would ever play in the USA. It might have been the longest non-stop tour the band ever did, but I don’t know for sure.
I so enjoyed working with David and Sylvain Sylvain. Also in the New York Dolls was Earl Slick (John Lennon, David Bowie, and Kenny Aaronson (Stories, Rick Derringer, Bob Dylan, currently in The Yardbirds). Watching these seasoned pros play together was amazing. I also got to know David’s wife Mara Hennessey who was singing backup vocals on “Trash” and “Personality Crisis.” At the 31st show at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, I sang backup vocals on “Pills” and it was decided that I would do that for the remainder of the tour that ended in Chula Vista, California. 20 shows. I was the last person ever added to the live shows on a nightly basis. I became a New York Doll such as it was, David and Sylvain both told me I was. Such an honor. I thought I would include this info to give readers the reason I am qualified to write this. I was there and a part of it.
David was such a joy to see perform and get to know personally. Not the young man he once was in the original band in 70s. Not the adult he had evolved into in the new lineup that was prompted by the initial reunion shows in 2004. But as a senior in the final era of the band in 2011. No longer the screamer he had once been, rather more of a crooner. This lineup presented classy versions of the songs both old and new. Despite having a nine or 10-song set, they did songs off of all five albums covering their whole career. One of the most amazing things I witnessed David doing was at a show in Alabama it started pouring down rain. David never flinched or moved from his spot up front and sang as if nothing was happening. It was like he was singing in the shower.
All of us were in one bus, unlike Motley Crue and Poison where the band members each had their own bus and the crew were in their own bus as well. Part of the appeal of touring for me has always been being in the van with band. I usually did most of the driving. In this case I didn’t have to drive and the van was a bus. We had no frills like the other bands.
Fire, video screens, a wall of empty speaker cabinets, and a drummer on a roller coaster. We were a straight up rock and roll band. No back tracks either. During songs they would do different things, not a note for note recreation every night. They had fun when they played. They even changed out songs here and there, something the other bands really couldn’t do because of all the programming for lights, back tracks, etc. Motley Crue was on its 30th Anniversary Tour, Poison on the 25th, but not a mention of the Dolls being in their 40th year. We were the elders. The Dolls were influential to both bands. I would hear fans yell out, “You should be headlining!”
Their final album, “Dancing Backwards In High Heels,” got little to no attention, sadly. I think it’s a fabulous album and an appropriate bookend to the bands career. It was created in three weeks in New Castle in September of 2010. It was the product of the long time collaboration of David and Sylvain. They had Frank Infanti (Blondie) on guitar, Jason Hill (Louie XIV) on bass and producing, and Brian Delaney on drums, who was in the previous lineup.
When the album was released in March 2011, Jason Hill and Brian Delaney did the initial shows but Frank Infanti did not. Earl Slick became the new guitarist. Then in June when I arrived, Jason Hill was replaced by new bassist Kenny Aaronson and Brian Delaney did not do the tour due to family commitments and he had a friend Jason Sutter sit in for him, Brian really had the songs orchestrated so good and he had a certain touch that Jason did not have but he did do a decent job of it. So when I showed up I wasn’t the only new kid on the block.
I had many personal moments with David and Mara. By chance meeting up at smoking areas at hotels, having lunch or dinner on days off or at stops along the road, and even hang out at the pool. He listened intently to stories about my life and bands I worked with. In the bus everyone told stories about their careers. I was not a union roadie. I was allowed to dress up. I was very visible on stage. Black eye makeup, black nails, and my trademark studded leather jacket with a US flag on the back. One day I walked onto the bus with our left over snacks and drinks from our green room, put the stuff away, stood up, and David proclaimed, “We have the coolest lookin’ roadie that has evah been!” What a compliment.
David, Mara, and Sylvain would watch me unload the trailer and prep the gear from the bus. Girls would always approach me in the hopes of getting them a backstage pass. I couldn’t anyway, so I would blow them off or ignore them. David said to me, “I saw you blowing those girls off!” He found it entertaining. Another thing that would happen, I would go out into the venue after my job was done. At that point the band had already taken a shuttle van back to the hotel. When I walked around I would find myself suddenly surrounded by Dolls fans. I did pics with them and even signed a few autographs. They would tell me their Dolls stories.
I was always friendly with the fans because I knew I represented the band. I would even say that I was just a stage guy. They would say, “You are a New York Doll, we saw you up there!” That became more true once I started singing backups. I would tell David and Sylvain that I was unfairly getting the rock star treatment they should be getting. They would say, “That’s great, we don’t want to do that and we’re glad you’re doing it.”
I would tell them how fans were all “Dolled up,” especially the kids. Some were so cute. After a few weeks, I started to understand why they didn’t want to do that anymore. It seemed like every five steps I took, someone else would approach me. Still I remained cordial because I knew I was representing the band. At one point Mara told me, “David thinks you are a shaman!” I pulled off a lot of amazing stuff, but I will leave that for my book about it all.
During the tour we did get to do two headlining club shows. One in Covington, Kentucky at Radio Down, and one in Chicago at the Double Door. The band got to play longer sets which included songs not played at the other shows. None of us knew the band would come to an end a few months later. They did six shows in Australia in early October which saw Brian Delaney return, and four shows in the UK opening for Alice Cooper in late October with Jason on drums. The final show was in Glasgow October 31, 2011. They did have shows booked for December 30th in New York and December 31st in Boston but those both got cancelled. So without fanfare the band came to an end.
For me, to be on tour with a band from my high school days was a dream. I still haven’t awakened from that dream. I never saw David and Mara again but we did message from time to time. I did stay in contact with Sylvain until he passed in 2021. It wasn’t merely about working with them, it was the friendship and comradery we had. When Sylvain passed, Mara was part of putting Sylvain’s memorial show together. I sent her a thing I wrote titled “The Ballad Of Sylvain Sylvain.” She asked me to video myself reading it so I could be part of the memorial show, which I did.
What an experience to be included with all the actual rock stars and Dolls family. I watched the whole memorial and there I was with my name on the screen. It gave me closure. The final performance was David Johansen, along with Earl Slick on guitar, and Earl’s son Lee on drums playing “Plenty Of Music” off of the “One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This” album. It was the first song David and Sylvain wrote when they decided to re-light the band in 2004. It is a song about loss, the actual death of someone. Mara made a photo slide show that played throughout the song that were pics of people important to Sylvain including his wife, son, and friends. It was cool to see David and Earl playing together again. When it got to the end, the final pic was a pic that Mara took of me on top of the Dolls bus. In the photo my arms are up stretched and it was panned so it looked like I was flying up into the sky. I almost fell off my chair. I had no idea that I would be included in David’s video. I was moved and blown away.
“You Don’t Have To Cry” is a song off of the final album. It is a song about they themselves dying and what we should do to handle it. Never performed live by the band but David did perform it at a solo show in May of 2011. David was a star in so many ways. Singer, songwriter, DJ, movie star, and more. Plus, he was a friend I came to luv. The same goes for Mara and Sylvain. Sylvain brought me into the Dolls because I was his tech in The Batusis, his band with Cheetah Chrome.
Cheetah Chrome pulled me into The Batusis and that is how I met Sylvain. That Dolls tour was my destination from everything I had done before. Just like I did for Sylvain, I wrote a piece titled “Still Alive In Me” to honor David and I have included it here. I send luv out to everyone who was part of the bands total existence and I am so happy I am a small part of that. I got to do that final lap and I became one of them. Amazing. David’s final words. “Keep the music wild and your spirit free, that’s how you truly live.”
Still Alive In Me by Ames Flames
His destination off the beaten track.
A pioneer with arrows in his back.
He opened doors so others could walk through.
He was dressed in red never feeling blue.
Went out on a limb, living for the thrill.
He did all the work, then he paid the bill.
Lookin’ for a kiss, singin’ in the rain.
Everyday a dream, no two were the same.
Ignored by critics, but loved by fans.
He had a talent that won’t fit in cans.
He said live it up so we all got down.
When it was over no one was around.
He gave it his all, everyone could see.
What was important was the LUV.
Waiting in the wings so when duty calls.
He’d proudly announce, we are New York Dolls.
Just like a sickness but there is no cure.
Nothing can erase everything they were.
Still waving the flag the last of his kind.
He was the last piece that was left to remind.
There were highs and lows, coffins and bows.
There were some days off in between shows.
City to city just changing clothes.
Why did he do it, nobody knows.
I can spell success as you can see.
It forms a word, D A V I D.
He gave us so much and now he’s free.
David Johansen, is still alive in me.