In 2011, with original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain still at the helm, the New York Dolls released their final album, Dancing Backwards In High Heels. Recorded in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north of England, it bore many of the hallmarks of the Dolls’ glam-trash 70s sound but with a few modern flourishes. We asked Johansen to tell us about it.
Why did you record in Newcastle?
We’d played there before, and we seemed to mesh with the populace so seamlessly that I hardly even noticed I wasn’t at home. I loved the place, and didn’t really have to alter my New York state of mind.
Are you happy with how it’s turned out?
Definitely. Although we just finished making a video for one of the tracks, Fool For You Baby, and if I ever hear that again it’ll be too soon. It’s hard to like anything once you’ve had to listen to it twenty times in a row.
Was it a shock when Arthur Kane died so soon after the Dolls’ initial reunion?
It was apocalyptic, devastating. He was a lovely dude. He’d gone through this horrifying alcoholism for twenty years and there’d hardly been any contact between us during that time, but we’d just started to re-establish a beautiful friendship. He’d stopped drinking and was refreshing to be around again.
Which was the most difficult to deal with: Arthur’s alcoholism or Johnny Thunders’s heroin addiction?
Johnny didn’t really get strung out until after we broke up. His chemical issues always kind of get conflated with the Dolls, but it wasn’t until later that he became dependent to the point of needing dope every day. I would see him every now and then; if I was doing a show in New York he would come up on stage and do a couple of numbers, so we were sort of on the same campus but not really hanging out as buddies.
I don’t know how familiar people are with the day-to-day life of a heroin addict, but I don’t think anyone would want that existence unless they had no choice. I never felt like saying: “Let me go with you while you try to cop.”
Guitarist Frank Infante from Blondie plays on the new album. Was there a great rivalry between the Dolls and Blondie way back when?
Not that I recall. I think both bands really dug each other. We kind of complemented each other. We were very different sounding, but I guess we were both more showbiz-oriented than everyone else on the New York scene at that time. Both bands knew how to have fun, and I think there was a shared intelligence or instinct to what we were doing.
Are you still ‘funky but chic’, as in the title of your old solo single you’ve re-recorded for the new album?
Yeah, I’d like to think so. I’ve always been funky but chic. A lot of people in the industry have been saying we should drag that song out again because it could be used for so many extra-curricular projects. Maybe we can persuade the guys at Max Factor to put it in one of their commercials, or get someone to put it in a movie.
Also, I have to be honest and say that we needed to come up with about a dozen tunes in three weeks to fill the new record, and that one was ready-made. Syl and I actually wrote it for the Dolls before we broke up the first time, so it’s kind of finally come home, you could say. Still sounds great, like there’s a really good party going on.
How difficult is it to dance backwards in high heels?
I was always pretty good at it. I can’t remember ever falling over, although I broke a lot of shoes of in the early days. Then we started going to this cobbler on First Avenue who’d reinforce the heels with steel shanks to make us ready for combat.
Where is your alter ego Buster Poindexter these days?
He’s still in Betty Ford, doing twice-nightly shows in the celebrity rehab wing. Still getting big crowds.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about you?
I’d like to think that everything people think about me is a misconception.
What can David Johansen do that nobody else can?
I can roll my belly quite lithely. I learned how to do it as a child in a belly-rolling contest. I can’t remember if I won, but I certainly inspired awe.
What is the secret of success?
If you’re an artist, you should create art that pleases you and doesn’t necessarily pander to the marketplace. Managing to satisfy yourself while being an inspiration to others is what I’d call success.
What epitaph would you like to be written on your tombstone?
One word: ‘Fabulous’.
This interview originally appeared in Classic Rock 156 (April 2011) and has not appeared online before.
