I always go record shopping when we travel, and do so with an emphasis on picking up local music. I did this on our recent trip to New York City as well, and if you’re a fan of early punk one of the true New York greats is David Johansen. He’s probably best known to the world as his alter-ego Buster Poindexter for the 1987 hit “Hot Hot Hot”, but his rise to prominence started a decade earlier with the glam punk New York Dolls, a precursor to the look that became the Los Angeles hair metal scene in the 1980s. Somewhere in between the breakup of the Dolls and Buster’s crooning, David put together a new band and recorded a live show at a New York City club called The Bottom Line, releasing it out on wax as The David Johansen Group Live. It felt like the most New York City record I could possibly find.
And David and the boys don’t disappoint. There’s nothing fancy here – this is a rock ‘n’ roll record at its roots. Sure there’s a bit of smarmy attitude, a little edge, and even a wry humor in songs like “Funky But Chic”, but this is rock through and through. The recording quality is quite good – this is not some kind of bootleg-tape-turned-record, but a professional live recording of a performer who knows what he’s doing. The aforementioned “Funky But Chic” and “Girls” are high points, though honestly the whole album is just a lot of fun start to finish – just drop the needle and let ‘er rip.
The vinyl version of The David Johansen Group Live has nine tracks, but the CD as well as the version on Spotify double that to 18 songs – well over and hour of rocking. And frankly the record is good enough that I think I’m going to check out the full length version.