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Legendary punkers half notes head westward

By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

The elder statesmen of punk, the New York Dolls, turn 37 this year. That’s half the life expectancy of the average human male. And in a music genre where it’s more common to burn out on smack than to die of old age (e.g. Sid Vicious, G.G. Allin and the Dolls’ very own Johnny Thunders), reaching middle-aged is quite a feat. But to continue to tour nationally and globally and still sell out concert venues throughout is a downright accomplishment.

“Originally we got together to do one show, and that was all we were going to do,” Dolls’ frontman David Johansen said. “Then we took another show, and another show, and after about a year we realized we were actually a band.”

And though the names have changed (aside from Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain there are four new bandmembers), the spitfire spirit remains the same for the new, New York Dolls, who will perform Feb. 26 at the Gothic Theatre on South Broadway in Englewood.

“In our situation everybody is in a similar mindset about rock ’n’ roll music and how it should be played and how it should be presented,” Johansen said. “After that’s established there’s not a whole heck of a lot of thought that goes into it because everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do.”

The original Dolls — who were the premise of punk rock in the 1970s here in the States and across the sea in riot-riddled England — made a big impact on the scene with their raw, unrefined sounds and their absurdly over-the-top, glam-rock image. According to critics, they’ve influenced everybody from the Talking Heads and Blondie to The Ramones and The Clash.

“If you’re an artist, which is what we are — artists and musicians — one of your main objectives is to be an inspiration to the people,” Johansen said. “If you can inspire a lot of different people like that, it’s very gratifying.”

But it wasn’t always gratifying. Early on, the band found little monetary success and broke up after just two, commercially mediocre albums, The New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon. After more than 25 years of solo projects (that included, for Johansen, a stint as Latin-inspired lounge singer Buster Pointdexter), the three remaining members of the Dolls (Johansen, Sylvain and bassist Arthur Kane), reunited at 2004’s Meltdown Festival, hosted by former Smiths frontman, Morrissey. The reunion was shortlived as Kane died just weeks later from leukemia. But by that time the wheels were already in motion.

“I think when we got together if we’d had some kind of plan to keep the band together and keep on playing and making records and such, I probably would have thought that that was too much,” Johansen said. “But the fact that we kind of just fell into it and it took on a life of its own made it all the more interesting.”

Since then, the original Dolls and new members Steve Conte (of The Contes and Crown Jewels), Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks), Brian Delaney and Brian Koonin, have toured Europe, Russia and China, as well as making appearances throughout the United States, both as headliners and as supporting acts at a handful of music festivals.

“We kind of let it take us where it’s going,” Johansen said. “And that’s what the trip’s all about. Since we’ve gotten back together, we’ve been all over the world a couple of times, and it’s a great way to live as far as I’m concerned.”

The once-wild Johansen seems to have taken a more “live and let live” attitude toward the industry these days.

“When we take stage we all look at each other and establish an idea of where everybody’s at and then we take it from there,” Johansen said. “It’s not like we’re trying to be something other than who we are at that moment.”

More than 30 years later, with a new following that adds to the standard group of aging fans, the Dolls’ onstage philosophy continues to garner positive feedback.

“I don’t know who everybody is but (venues are) full every night, so there seems to be people of all stripes still coming out to see the Dolls,” Johansen said. “I think it’s an appreciation for what rock is and the liberating aspects of music.”

Along with their continuous touring loop, the new-look Dolls managed to cut a record. Someday It Will Please Us to Remember Even This, received moderate critical success, a milestone for a band that has been beaten down by misfortune in the past. (Aside from Thunders and Kane’s untimely deaths, original members Billy Murcia (drug overdose) and Jerry Nolan (pneumonia) have also passed over the years.)

“I guess if you’re going to have any kind of parameter around the thing, you play with people that fit into that plan,” Johansen said. “I guess some of our so-called success comes from instinctually working with and playing with the right people.”

So with the right people in place, the New York Dolls are flying higher than ever, not on narcotics, but on high-octane rock ’n’ roll.

“I imagine we’ll just continue to (tour), but who knows?” Johansen said. “I’m just gearing up for the next show. So come on down, and we can all levitate.”

For full interview with David Johansen
visit The Metropolitan website
at: http:www.mscd.edu/~themet