All language subtitles for Personality Crisis One Night Only [2022] [1080p]

[upbeat low bass]

[vehicle screeching to a stop]

[low bass continues]

[crowd chattering]

[Host] Good evening to all.
How exciting is this?

Come on, you gotta give it
up for the Caf Carlyle, right?

New York City...
2020?

It's really been a pleasure
to introduce this guy.

One of the most bon vivant.

I said it again, elegant,
super intelligent,

nicest guy in the
restaurant, right?

To Mara, the beautiful Mara,
tells us what's going on.

The note comes under
the door, right?

We don't know, Buster
Poindexter, David Johansen,

Rama Lama Ding Dong!

He's got a personality crisis.

He's gonna bring it
all to you right now, OK?

He's also got the best pompadour
in the business.

He's here in person.
Wait, he's right there.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Buster Poindexter,
David Johansen!

[crowd cheering as
upbeat piano starts]

You're funky,
funky but chic

A funky, funky but chic

Your funky, funky but chic

All right.

You funky, but, funky but

All right, all right, all
right

Got a pair of shoes
somebody gave me

My momma thinks I
look pretty fruity

But in jeans I feel rockin'

I don't wear nothin',
not too fussy or neat

I just want somethin' baby

To be able to walk
down your street

Hey, come on baby, let's
get on down to the boutique

Bring back somethin'
that's a funky but chic

I said funky,
funky but chic

That's right, boy.

[Band] Funky, funky but chic

I tell you I'll get
down in any neighborhood

My friends will take me

The people out there
they all itch and bitch

Lord, I swear they
gonna break me

Well, I fly just
to get downtown

Where everybody's crazy

I fly on down that street

Them folks stop acting lazy

And I say...

I don't wear nothing
not to fussy or neat

I just want somethin' baby

To be able to fly
down your street

Hey, get on baby,
who at the boutique

Bring back something that's
a funky but chic, yeah

[Backup singers]
Funky, funky but chic

That's what I'm talking about.

Funky, funky but chic

Correct.

Funky, funky but chic

Oh, yeah!

You funky but, funky but

All right, all right,
all right

[piano solo]

I got a little car, come on,
let's go driving 'round

A '56 Mercedes-Benz
I had painted cocoa-brown

It's brown.

I don't drive nothin',
not too fussy or neat

I just want somethin'
to be able to drive
down your street

Hey, beep, beep, beep, baby

Let's get down
to the boutique

I'll bring back somethin'
that's a funky but chic, yeah

Funky, funky but chic

Oh, chic.

Funky, funky but

Oh tr s chic

-[band] Funky, funky but
- Oh what chic, now

You funky but, funky but

All right, all right,
all right

All right, all right,
all right, all right

Got a pair of shoes
somebody gave me

My momma thinks I
look pretty fruity

But in jeans I feel rockin'

Cut 'em up!

I don't wear nothin'
not too fussy or neat

I just want somethin'
to be able to walk
down your street

Hey get out of bed baby,
let's get on down to
the boutique

I'll bring back somethin'
that's funky but chic

Oh!

-Yeah!
-[crowd cheers]

Yeah!

Yeah!

All right, boys!

Oh, yeah!

All right.
Oh, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien] You were the
lead singer of
the New York Dolls.

A lot of people credit you guys

with really helping to
start the punk movement.

Well, yeah, but
inadvertently, like,

we didn't do it on purpose.

[crowd laughs]

We were in Newcastle and
it's a place in England

where they make this beer
called Newcastle Brown Ale.

And we were young men
and we had a reputation

of being able to hold our booze.

So they say, "Oh, boys, you
gotta try the local brew."

And they give you
these gigantic cans of

Newcastle Brown Ale.

And we're at like the
Newcastle Polytechnic Institute

or something for a show.

We're drinking these things.
"Have another one."

OK, Ok, another one.

So we drank maybe 10
of these things... and...

[Conan laughs]

Maybe, maybe 10.

We go on stage to play and
everything is going fine.

All of a sudden, the drummer
barfs about 12 gallons

of Brown ale onto
his snare drum,

but he keeps playing.

[Conan laughing]

And so, you know, a good
dollop of it hits me right
in the nose

and you know how that is,
it's like a chain reaction.

Yeah, I know how that is.

Why would I know how that is?
I don't know how that is.

Well, I let loose and then the
bass player let loose,

the guitar player let loose,

the audience was like...
[gasping]

Everybody's throwing up

and at the end of the song,
everybody's like, "Yeah!"

[Conan laughing]

And they thought it
was part of the act

and then all the kids in
England started doing this.

It became the rigor of, uh...

Oh, we gotta throw
up like The Dolls!

You know, that kind of thing.

And that's... that's how the
punk movement was born.

I would say that was the...
if you wanted to bring it

down to a moment in time,
that was the moment.

-[crowd cheering]
-[soulful music]

[David] It's super sensuous,
transcendental

something not to be
explained in rational terms.

It's the Mansion of Fun show.

I hear that melody

On the street

My melody

Soft and sweet

Your melody, would you
sing that song to me

Melodies hauntin' me

Memories just repeat

Your melodies even
haunt me in my sleep

I tried to show you,
you just couldn't see it

I tried to tell you, but your
heart couldn't hear it

I tried to love you, but ya

Your heart had to slip away

Now that melody's
hauntin' me

Melody got that beat

The memory just
repeats in my mind

A melody, where I dance

In the place
that I find romance

Your melody just won't
give me a chance

I tried to show you, but
your heart couldn't see it

I tried to tell you, but
your heart couldn't hear it

I tried to love you, but
your heart had to slip away

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

Melody

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Melody

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Well certain songs
I just can't take it

They start to play and
my old heart starts achin'

Certain songs,
I just can't fake it

They start to play and
I just want to break 'em

I just can't take it

When I hear them
play that song

Yeah that melody

Haunting me

A tender rhapsody,
soft and sweet

The memory follows me

'Til it's insanity

Driving me

Now my melody's
on the street

Oh, melody,
soft and sweet

Oh, melody

Yeah, yeah, melody

Yeah, my melody

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[crowd cheers]

Where am I?

Who am I?

[imitating animal sounds]

Ahhhh, ahhhh

Ahhhh, ahhhh

Well, I'm stranded
in the jungle

I'm trying to keep a date

With my little girl,
that was back in the States

I'm stranded in the jungle,
I'm afraid of it all

Wondering how I could
get a message back home

But how was I to know that
the wreckage of my plane

Had been picked up
and spotted

By the girl
on Lover's Lane

I said, meanwhile,
back in the States

Baby, baby

Let's make romance

Your old-time love
hasn't got a chance

I said he's stranded in the
jungle, bad as he can be

Come on, pretty darling,
just you and me

Oh yeah, oh yeah

Meanwhile, back in the jungle...

Ahhhh, ahhhh

Ahhhh, ahhhh

[interviewer] Why come
to a New York Dolls show?

[David] A lot of kids are
like whipped dogs

and they feel like they're
really terribly alienated

And I think we give 'em a
feeling that they're not

the same people that
feel these feelings

not the only people
that feel these feelings

and that they're not alone.

They all can come
together on our show

and see each other
and meet each other.

[Sylvain] There's a thousand
bands that are coming up

like from the streets,
from the ghetto.

[crowd cheers]

[Billy] 1,2,3,4!

Trash, go pick it up

Take them lights away

Trash, go pick it up

Don't take your life away

Trash, go pick it up

Don't try to take
my knife away

And please don't you
ask me if I love you

If you don't know
what I'm doing

What you know is

Trash, go pick it up...

[interviewer] Now, is it
true that you were president

-of their fan club?
-No. Not at all.

Well, were... were you
involved in their fan club?

No. Not even slightly.

-[interviewer] A member?
-Not even a member.

Tempted to send off
of town for four months?

-Yes, it's all true.
-Yeah.

-It's all true.
-It is true.

You were in the fan club,
you denied it.

-But it's true, isn't it?
-I, I, I, I, I...
was the fan club.

I was the fan club.

And what was it that drew
you to The New York Dolls?

Well, they were very violent.

They were very witty and
they were very intelligent.

And as you know, most pop
stars are not very intelligent.

and they're not very witty
and not very violent.

Right.

[playing Suedehead]

And why-ha-hy ha-ha ha-hy

Why do you hang around

I'm so sorry

I-I-I-I'm so sorry

It was a good lay, good lay

Ah ha

[interviewer] Do you remember
when you first saw the Dolls?

Mm, yes. I had gone to
see them live in '72,

but their drummer had
died three days earlier.

And everybody was expecting
the Dolls to walk on the stage.

And of course they didn't.

There was just suddenly an
announcement that

Billy had died
and everybody just collapsed.

And then the next
encounter was television.

They, they appeared
very famously

on The Old Grey Whistle Test

which in those very
dark days of '73

was a fantastic vision.

People forget how
absolutely dank things were,

how dank life was
and pop art was.

And there was no,

there was no sense of danger
within pop music at all.

But I was obsessive.

I was, I was
ridiculously obsessive.

This, this was the band for me.

This was the turning
point for me.

[interviewer] Why have so few
people heard New York Dolls?

[Morrissey] This is
a blighted band.

I'd almost say cursed
because if you listen to,

if you listen to, to,
to the... the music they made,

every single song is
really a hit single.

And there's no reason on earth
why it shouldn't have happened.

But because they were connected

with drugs and absurdly
transgender issues.

So here were boys who were
calling themselves "Dolls"

and they looked like
prostitutes, male prostitutes,

which at the time,
you have to remember,

it was a long time ago

and all... and all of that kind
of thing was really taboo.

And if a man walked

down the street wearing
women's clothes,

he could be arrested
and thrown into jail.

That's why they only made
two studio albums.

And for a group who
did so little really

and existed for such
a short amount of time,

their impact has
been extraordinary.

And the music, because it was
such fantastic pop music,

it, it just seemed to me like

the absolute answer
to everything.

Which of course...
too dangerous.

[sad, solemn music playing]

[David] I just want
to be like very welcoming.

'Cause the way the society is,
I mean, it, it was set up is

like very strict, like...

straight, gay...

whatever, vegetarian,

whatever you want to, you know,
anything you want to say.

I just wanted to kind of like
bring those walls down and...

and have a party
kind of a thing.

[soft instrumental music plays]

[crowd claps]

Oh, man, this is great.
This is very nice.

This is a classy bo te,
the Caf Carlyle.

And we are starting our
semi-annual bisexual--

What am I talking about?

Bi-annual residency.
And the cafe called Mara,

who runs this whole
shebang up here and asked

if we'd like to come back.

She said, "Yes."

No, we love it here because,
I'll tell you why,

you take the elevator to work.

My whole life I've
been schlepping.

Oh, in some ungodly conveyances.

[crowd applauds]

Then came the... the question of
what kind of a repertoire we

would present because you have
to have a new one every year.

And I was in no mood
for learning 20 songs.

There's only so
many hours in a day.

[crowd laughs]

So we decided that we
would do Buster Poindexter--

That's me--

singing the songs of
David Johansen-- that's me.

[audience murmurs, applauds]

Because I know those songs.

And so here we are, both of us.

And... tonight, I'm gonna do
songs that I wrote or co-wrote,

I guess from when I was a
teenager, all the way up to now.

And the one thing I could say,
the unifying thing

of my existence, is that there's
always been plenty of music.

[piano plays Plenty of Music]

That's nice. Very nice.

Feeling a great
sadness today

I don't want to shush
it or shoo it away

It belongs to the whole
world, the boys and girls

It ain't just mine

Like joy and love,
it's always there

I don't know how I tune in,
or why that I care

But I can't pretend it
don't feel like the end

And everything is fine

I feel exiled
from the divine

Me and these sad
friends of mine

We're just waiting down here,
drinking beer

And losing time

Well, I hear
plenty of music

I see superfluous
beauty everywhere

Why should I care

What does it matter to me

[piano solo]

Yeah, yeah.

All right, now.

The myth of life
is a song

Yeah!

And nature, too,
that's the song

All right.

Don't you destroy the song

'Cause when
the song is gone

You'll be gone too

I don't know
how it went astray

Seem like the whole world
is an ashtray

Floatin' around

Some broken-down,
low-end galaxy

I don't know what I
did to get sent here

Must have been some
bad that I done

There in the world gone mad

Feeling sad

[sighs]

I guess I'm sorry

I don't need
no one to love me

Or place theirself above me

What does it matter,
I don't need a ladder

What's it to me

I hear plenty of music

I see superfluous beauty

Everywhere

So why should I care

What does it matter

Yeah, I hear
plenty of music

I see superfluous beauty

Everywhere

Why should I care

What does it matter to me

What's it matter to me

Nothing matters to me

What's the matter with me

Oh!

[crowd cheers]

Beautiful.
Beautiful.

[guitar playing]

Poor boy

Poor boy

Poor boy long way from home

When I was down
in Louisiana

Just doing as I please

Now I'm in Texas

I got to work or leave

Poor boy

[interviewer] You
actually knew Harry Smith?

Well, I didn't really know him,

but I met him a couple of times.

[interviewer] You went to
his place at The Chelsea?

Yeah, probably, yeah.

[interviewer] What
was his room like?

[chuckles]

It was kinda like, you know,

a speed den,
I think at the time.

You know, like when I was a kid

you would go to The Chelsea

and you'd get stuck
in there for like a week,

going to different
people's rooms and stuff.

I was probably 18 at
the time, you know,

so I would like to go see
people that were generally older

and could impart
some kind of wisdom.

[interviewer] Was Harry
Smith one of those people?

Well, I, you know...
[laughs]

He could have been.

-[interviewer] Who's this?
-[David] Who's who?

[interviewer] This guy.

-Oh, that's Harry Smith.
-[interviewer] Oh.

He was, you know,
like a polymath.

This guy was into a lot
of really good shit.

He would be into something

and then he would be like
through with it, you know?

When he was young,
he started out,

he would hang with
the Lummi people.

He recorded their
traditional music

and he made a lot of like
experimental films later on.

He would put ads in
newspapers around the country,

asking people if they
wanted to get rid

of their old 78s that
were in the attic.

I mean, you know,
he was the kind of guy

who would collect string,
you know what I mean?

His record collection
is pivotal

in the American music
and rock and roll

and the folk boom in the 50s.

Everybody who wanted
to be a folk singer

in the 1950s would learn
songs from those records.

And there was a lot of
different kinds of songs.

[guitar playing]

[David] He picked like, you
know, really strange tunes.

[interviewer] You
recorded a lot of songs

from the Harry Smith
record collection

and you named your
band The Harry Smiths.

Would you say that he's
someone who inspired you?

Not at all.

[Interviewer chuckles]
Well, you're very averse to...

No, because he was such
a grouch, this guy.

I mean, I liked a lot
of the stuff he did,

but I never thought, "Oh wow,
I wish I could do that."

Poor boy

Poor boy

[David] I grew up
in Staten Island

in a house that my
grandfather built.

We had a lot of
records in the house.

Music was on all the time.

You know, sometimes
there would play a show

while we were having dinner
or something, you know.

[interviewer] What
about your dad singing?

What about it?

[interviewer] Like,
did you sing with

your dad around the house?

Uh no, not so much,
but he was a very good singer.

He used sing like light opera
like Gilbert and Sullivan.

He knew a lot of operas.

[interviewer] How old were you
when you had your first band?

[David] Thirteen or fourteen.

We used to play at you know,
like school dances

and we used to go into
the "Battle of the Bands."

We always used to come in
second because this other group

from the ass end
of Staten Island,

used to play these songs
with like The Ventures,

like with the guitars
behind their head,

which I always saw felt like,
that's really a lame gimmick.

But... they won every time.

I remember the first
time we played

I remember the first song,
Boogaloo Down Broadway

by the fantastic Johnny C.

-You know that song?
-[interviewer] No.

[hums song]

Baby, oh baby

Boogaloo down Broadway

Yeah, yeah, funky Broadway

I closed my eyes for
the whole first song...

and then I could hear
them all applauding

and I opened my eyes

and I was like,
"Oh, they like it."

OK, here we go.

I'm gonna just reminisce
for a minute here, but...

[clears throat]

...it's my birthday today.

[crowd cheering]

And I'm such a
sentimental old fool.

I was recalling how
when I was like 16,

my friends and I went to...

and I had a very interesting
group of friends,

kind of like Maynard G. Krebs
type people.

The New York Avant
Garde Festival was...

held on the ferry boat.

So we went to see
Charlotte Moormon

-play the cello topless.
-[audience chuckles]

That's the kind of
crowd we ran with.

[crowd laughing]

We liked a little culture
with our pornography.

[crowd laughing]

So a friend of mine said,
"I work for a guy over there

and he's looking for
somebody else to work there."

It was a little store on

St. Mark's Place
called Matchless

and it was run by a
fellow named Lore Wilson.

And it was nice.

They had tchotchkes,
you know, around the store.

And I was sent down to
the basement to work,

which was like...
very dark, dank, stonewalls...

like it was dug out of rock...

with moss and water
dripping down.

It was a Dickensian hell.

And my job was to cut logos

off of beer cans and
soda cans, like Pepsi,

and then put a fastener on it
and make earrings out of them.

It was kind of pop art jewelry.

But I noticed that along
the walls there were racks

and on the racks were
these big fat lush boas.

There was a huge
sequined phallus.

There was... all kinds of
headdresses and costumes.

And so I said, "Lore, what's the
deal with this...

-cosplay stuff over here?"
-[audience chuckles]

And he said, "Oh, well
I'm the costume designer

for the Ridiculous Theater

and these are costumes
for their next production."

I think it was
Whores of Babylon,

or Conquest of the Universe,
or something.

So I said, "Oh, can I go
to the rehearsal with you?"

And he said, "Oh yes."

And then I met the most
fabulous people I think

that I could ever have
imagined at that point.

So I said, "Lore, I'm not
gonna be coming back tomorrow."

I was like, "I'm gonna stay
over here at the theater."

And... sometimes I
would do the sound and...

sometimes I
would do the lights,

sometimes I would nod out
while I was doing the sound

and Charles Ludlam
would have to like...

give me my cue
like three times.

"And then the thunder rolled."

[grumbles]

"The thunder rolled!"

And then I would go.
[imitating thunder]

Sometimes I was a spear
carrier and went on stage.

It was just great.

And one time I was sharing
a dressing room table

with Candy Darling and
Black-Eyed Susan was complaining

about her waitressing job.

And Candy said, "I've been a
lot of low things in my life,

but I've never
been no waitress."

[crowd laughing]

I went from hell to heaven,
you know, it was fantastic.

[Temptation To Exist plays]

OK, baby.

Yeah, yeah.

Temptation to exist

Give me another kiss

Tell me how you love me

A mesmerizing kiss

That I can't resist

Say I'm the way you want me

So I can breathe
your perfume

Dancing with you
'round the room

Long after a masquerade

All right, baby.

Stripped of
facade and costume

The drag with being born

It's really not a thorn

Baby, it's a dagger

Most people would deny

Say it's a piece of pie

To you it doesn't matter

I hear about all
the sad affairs

Up on the heights
of despair

Someone's always perishing

Ah...

By the self they've assumed

All right Ray, let's go.

[whistling]

Ol !

Yeah, baby!

Aw yeah.

[band playing]

Heh-hey!

Temptation to exist

Obsession to persist

Death-defying romance

Give me another kiss

Show me what I miss

Baby, since our last dance

So I can get back in tune

All right.

Dancing with you
'round the room

Long after the masquerade

All right, baby.

With no facade, no costume

[whistling tune]

[David] Here we go, boys.

[whistling]

[crowd clapping]

Ray Grappone, everybody,

Ray Grappone on
whistling and drums.

Ray, I would whistle
with you anywhere.

Well, thank you, boss man.

You know, Ray and I
have been practicing

in the shower and it's
coming together really well.

-Oh, Thomas!
-[Ray] Did he say that?

-Thomas everybody.
-Thank you.

You are a living legend.

Oh, oh, oh...
God bless you.

If you need anything here
at the Caf Carlyle,

ladies and gentlemen,
just slip Thomas a "C" note

and he'll take care of it.

-I love you, thank you.
-[Thomas] Same to you.

[crowd cheering]

What a class joint.

Oh, this is great.

I'm used to playing the 2:00 AM
show in the Boom Boom Room.

You know what I'm saying?

Boys, we're in top form tonight.

Have you noticed?

This is The Boys
in the Band Band.

Well, have you heard of
a fellow named Morrissey?

If you haven't,
I'll clue you in.

He was the teenage president

of the New York Dolls
fan club in England.

He's kind of a Gloomy Gertie.

But he loved him some Dolls,
you know what I'm saying?

And still does.

So... he called me and he said,

"I understand you're a
pretty big Maria Callas fan."

And I said, "Yes, I happen to be

known for
that in certain circles."

And he said, "Well, you know
that film she made

where she did
a fantastic concert

at the Royal Festival Hall?"

I said, "Yes, by heart."

He said, "How would
you like to play the

Royal Festival Hall?"

I said, "Yes, I would."

He said, "Well,
all you have to do

is get the Dolls back together."

[audience laughs]

And I thought, Royal Festival
Hall, Maria Callas.

I combed every opium
den in Chinatown

and I pulled that band together.

We were fantastic.

It was a big success.

They added a second show.

Then... it was the
beginning of the summer

and all these festivals
in Europe were

starting where they
play in the fields.

I didn't know
about these things.

They called, "Would you play?"

And I said,
"Well, of course we would."

We were up and running.

We went all over the place.

Then we went all over the world.

Then we went all over
the world three times.

And I was like, "OK, you know,

I've really seen
enough of this world.

I want to go home, thank you."

I came home, my liver
was like...

[imitates thumping]

So, I'm just saying
this because like

if you haven't seen
me around, that's why.

[Ray] One, two, three, four...

[band plays Better Than You]

Oh! That was some segue.

My baby

I don't talk
nasty about her

You ain't even got no class

I'm gonna kick your ass

All 'cause my baby

Oh, wait a minute,
I fucked it up.

I fucked it up.
I fucked it up.

It's all my fault.

I was thinking of another song,

I was thinking of a
Jimmy Rogers song.

[crowd applauding]

[New York Dolls play Jet Boy]

Who's so fly up in the sky

Faster than any boy
could ever describe

Who's got that love so deep

With everything alive,
I said

Jet boys fly, jet boys gone

Jet boys stole my baby

Flying around
New York City so high

Like he was my baby

[guitar solo]

This is the kind of
place where no one cares

What you're living for

And Jet Boy's
so preoccupied

He don't care about before

And that's why

Jet boys fly, jet boys gone

Jet boy stole my baby

Flying around New
York City so high

Like he was my baby

My baby

-Yes.
-Very nice.

Fantastic.

I've never seen
anything like it.

Yes, you've never seen.

Happy memories looking back?
What is that?

What feelings are you feeling?

I feel invincible.

[Host 1] Yes.

[Host 2] Didn't you
once get arrested

for impersonating a woman?

Well, it was in Memphis,
as I recall, right?

But you weren't
impersonating a woman.

I wasn't, I was kind of dressed

like Liza Minnelli at the time.

He invited everybody
on the stage

and he got arrested for
that in Memphis, Tennessee.

But they, they pegged it on
dressing like Liza Minnelli?

Yeah, I had to go to jail
dressed like Liza Minnelli

and Memphis jail
is not Mayberry.

It's a real jail.

[David] No if you went to like
the thrift store or something,

you would most likely have
to buy women's clothes

to look like a
rockstar, you know?

[interviewer] It's
interesting that you guys,

that you thought that you
had to wear women's clothes.

[David] Well, we didn't have to

but there was nothing
else available.

You know, if
Granny Takes a Trip,

had opened an outlet,

then we could have wore
men's woman's clothes.

But we used to kind of
improvise, you know.

[electric guitar music]

Come on, boys!

[interviewer] Were
there places where,

or times where it felt a
little more risky or dangerous?

[David] Well...

[interviewer] Or you
might get beat up?

[David] Yeah, I mean, the first
time we played outta town

we played at some like
club in Long Island.

It was called like
The Shark or something,

I don't remember
what it was called.

It was just like a big room,
like a warehouse kind of room.

And when we pulled up,
there was all these

like muscle cars and
stuff, pack of cigarettes

stuck in the shirt that was
rolled up kind of a thing.

And I was like, "Oh man,
people still doing this?"

[laughing]

And we started to play
and all the guys moved

towards the back and the
girls moved towards the front.

Somethin' happened.
I don't even remember what,

but the guys started beating
the hell out of each other

and then they opened up
the doors on either side

-and pushed everybody out.
-[interviewer] Why?

Because of the sound?
The look?

What was so bad?

[David] It kind of caused a
lot of sexual tension, I think,

between guys and girls.

It was a mess.

The thing about the Dolls,
the original Dolls, was that

we all had very kind
of similar ideas about

what it takes to be
a great rockstar.

People who are really
campy, but you know,

it's an old expression,
but it's like the lie

that tells the truth, you know?

And it just kind of
gets to the point.

[playing Jet Boy]

Baby, up all night

Baby, New York City

Baby, so so high

Baby, so so high

Don't you know that

Like he was my baby

Like he was my baby

Like he was my baby

I remember during this period
when we were having this

reunion thing, the Dolls,
we got a call from

one of our myriad
record companies.

[audience laughing]

Every time we do a record,
we get dumped.

So, they said, "Would you
like to go to the island

of Kauai, Hawaii
and make a record

at the home of Todd Rundgren?"

I said, "Yes... now?
Like now? January now."

"Yes."

Showed up a few days early.

Todd was kind of pissed,
but fuck him.

[audience laughing]

You know what I'm saying?

Who does he think he is?

So he said,
"OK, what do you...

play me what you got.
What do you got?"

I said,
"We don't have nothing, man.

We'll get right to it though."

So, it was great.

It was verdant.

It was lush.

I don't know if you saw it
in Architectural Digest,

but Todd's house,

it looks like a Cambodian
drug lord's pagoda.

[audience laughing]

It's beautiful.

I was like,
"Man, a gentleman of my stature

belongs right here."

You know what I'm saying?

We went back to the
Bay of Honah Lee.

You know who lives there,
don't you?

-Puff.
-[audience laughs]

Oh, yeah.

We hung with Puff a
little bit there, baby.

It was cool.

Normally it rained every day.

But intermittently,
at intervals.

Usually, it stopped raining
when it was time for us

to go in the studio
and make some noise

with the pots and pans, but
it was it was still beautiful.

[band plays Making Rain]

Anyway, we wrote
this song there.

It's a good one.
It's gonna be really good.

[gentle acoustic music]

Hate how the myth
of separation

Really cast a spell on me

Never missing one occasion

Of the infinite
varieties of agony

We pass on down our
borrowed anguish

Our blasted joys,
our jubilant despair

Leave us crying out
here to languish

Poor outcast,
it's too much to bear

Making rain

Yeah, making rain

It's always raining here

Sometimes I need a
little shove, yeah

Remind me of my providence

Learn to bear the
beams of love, yeah

Mending my conflict
with circumstance

Just making rain

Yeah!

Yeah, making rain

It's always raining here

The heart's in pain

Crying in the rain

Here comes that rain again

Exacerbations,
excruciations

That's the tears of things

[piano solo]

Yeah, baby.

Exacerbations,
excruciations

Well, that's the
tears of things

Very nice.

Waiting in a subway station

In some godforsaken
neighborhood

It's as if my
blood was dreaming

And resolved
itself into melody

Yeah, making rain

Here comes the rain

It's always raining here

Our hearts in pain

Yeah, findin' the rain

Oh, the rain

Yeah, the rain

It's always raining here

Oh, the rain

Yay...

Yeah, it's always
raining here

[chuckles]

-[audience applauding]
-Yeah, baby.

Yup.

Keith Cotton,
everybody, on the piano.

[audience applauding]

You know, when I was 18,
I started hanging around at

this place, Max's Kansas City.

It was kind of like this place.

Great people.

My kind of people,
you know what I'm saying?

Like, it was probably the
greatest bo te of all time

after Caf Carlyle.

But still up there
in the top two.

It was a lot like this actually.
It was a lot like this.

Some of the greatest queens
you'd ever wanna meet.

Oh, my god.

I remember one night...

I believe it was...
[clears throat]

Penny, you'll correct
me if I'm wrong.

Because Penny Arcade was
there as well this evening.

-[audience applauding]
-It was Ingrid Superstar?

It was you, Bill Vehr and
Ingrid Superstar and me.

OK, Penny and I,
my friend Bill Vehr

from the Ridiculous Theater.
The author of Turds in Hell.

He was my best
friend at the time.

We were biffing.

And Ingrid Superstar.

And Ingrid said,

"You're on a trip.
You're on a trip.

You're on... everybody here
is on a trip except for me."

And Bill very calmly said,
"But, Ingrid Superstar,

you took eight Tuinals."

She said, "Yeah, but
I'm not on a trip."

Anyway, I found that
amusing, you know.

So much so, that I recall
that after all these years.

[scoffs]

Something about certain
turns of phrase in language

that are peculiar to each of us.

[Duchess] Written
for you, Tina Louise.

-What's my real name, Duchess?
-[Duchess] I don't know.

You really like to
destroy people, don't you?

[David] Everybody you
would meet would be alive,

freewheelin' and so
much stuff going on.

[Bill] So that after you've
come six times, six times,

you're gonna find out
that you're Superman, you see.

There's something
wrong with this.

[David] Charles Ludlum came
to the show one night

and he just said, "I'm
having a personality crisis."

And I thought,
"That's really good."

And I kind of
remembered it, you know.

[Leah] Here, let me
pull through the bottom.

[David] I remember when I moved
into my first apartment,

which was a seventh-floor walkup
on the Hells Angels block.

I turned on the radiator
and it just like started
hissing steam

I really didn't
know what to do about it.

And so, I knocked on, I guess
it was my neighbor's door,

or two doors down
and this guy came in.

He was like a college professor,
but kind of like, you know,

a hip college
professor kind of guy.

He was very nice
and very political.

He told me that I should
check out his group,

which happened to be the Up
Against the Wall Motherfuckers.

I said, "OK."

And he kind of like would
encourage me

because apparently,

I had the stuff to rally the
street if something went down,

so I used to stay on the corner,

like go climb up a
lamppost and say,

"We're not gonna let these cops,

blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah."

And everybody'd
be like, "No, no."

And then there'd be
like some kind of a...

skirmish or whatever.

And my mother said to
me about them, she said,

"You know what you are?
You're a commie dupe."

[laughing] I had to
think like, "Yeah, maybe."

Maybe I was.

There were so many characters
on St. Mark's Place in,

you know, '69,'70.

I used to really like Abbie
Hoffman a lot when I was a kid.

[interviewer] Did
you meet him first?

Yeah, I used to see
him all the time.

He was very personable.

We planted a tree in the
middle of St. Mark's Place.

He was the instigator of that.

The ruse of it was
that we need more trees

on St. Mark's Place.

He said, "Where're
we gonna get a tree?"

I said, "They got trees
all over Staten Island."

He got a van, came
to Staten Island,

dug up a tree like
in the Greenbelt

or something where
there's a million trees.

[interviewer] And did you
put it in like a bucket

or did you--

[David] No, I think they just
put a mound of dirt around it,

as I recall.

They didn't expect it to stay.

It was in the middle
of the street.

Like they just wanted
to like do something.

We went to Lincoln Center.

It might have been the
opening of Lincoln Center.

You know, those like
industrial boxes of Tide

like they have at a
laundromat so you can buy

like a cupful or whatever?

They dumped one of
those in the fountain.

And it just like started,
it was like a comedy movie.

It just like started foaming
up and all these people

who were like, you know...

uh...

society contributors
to Lincoln Center, right?

They were all done
up to the nines

and they were all like
slipping in the foam.

And it was great.
It was so beautiful.

There was a lot of
liberation movements

in the East Village
in those days.

They were all kind
of interesting, so...

But the Yippies were the
most ridiculous, you know,

so that appealed to me

and Charles Ludlam
was ridiculous

and that appealed to me.

Ridiculousness is something
that I've always kind of,

especially, if it's really
intelligent ridiculousness

it's kind of appealing to me.

[indistinct chatter]

We've really expanded
all definitions

and all mediums to where
that you have to forget

those definitions that you
learned in school.

[chuckles] But you got
to forget that, folks.

So, you got to forget
the definition of art,

the definition of music, the
definition of video art now.

All these things are being
expanded every single day.

Music does not aim
at sound itself,

but is in a complex conception.

First, forget about sounds.

Sounds must be free.

[audience applauding]

[David] The goal of today's
Mansion of Fun show

is to live with
godlike composure

on the full rush of energy,
like Dionysus riding the leopard

without being torn to pieces.

[sings O mio babbino caro]

[Jimmy Castor whistles]
Hey, Leroy!

-[Leroy] What?
-[man] Your mama.

She's calling you, man.

-[all laughing]
-[upbeat music]

[Hey, Leroy,
Your Mama's callin' You
by Jimmy Castor plays]

You know, when I was a kid,
I lived on East Sixth Street.

Before that, I lived
on Third Street

on the Hells Angels block.

-Not my cup of tea.
-[audience laughing]

I mean, it was all right.

But... one day there was
a knock at the door,

which was in the kitchen,

which is also where the
bathtub was located.

I opened the door and
there stood this big viking

who was wearing a tutu
and paratrooper boots

and some like ripped
yellow tights.

Next to him was this
little Colombian guy.

He was kind of like cleaning
his nails with a stiletto.

But still I thought, "I gotta
watch out for this big guy."

Turned out though it
was the little guy

I had to watch out for.

Anyway, it was Arthur Kane
and Billy Murcia.

-[audience applauding]
-And... Thank you.

Arthur said to me, "I
understand you're a singer."

I didn't really
expect that voice,

you know, to come
out of this Cossack.

I said, "Yeah, I like to sing."

He said, "Well, we're
trying to start a band

and we need a singer."

And I said, "OK, I'm in."

I mean, you know, I made
snap decisions in those days.

You know, like later on in
life you start thinking,

"Well, what's this gonna
be like in six months?"

You know?

This is like,
at that point like,

"What's this going to be like"
let me do the arithmetics.

Fifty years later,
you're still like,

"Oh my God, what was that?"

So we went over to 10th Street

where Johnny Thunders had
a very nice apartment.

The bathtub was in the bathroom,
you know what I'm saying?

Couple other rooms.

I think his mother
was paying his rent.

I mean, I'm not sure, OK?

-[band plays Lonely Planet Boy]
-So don't quote me on that.

[Kurt Loder] New York Dolls
guitarist Johnny Thunders

was found dead on the
floor of a guest house

in the French Quarter of New
Orleans on Tuesday afternoon.

The cause of death hasn't
yet been determined.

But Thunders, whose given
name was John Genzale,

had a longtime drug habit.

[David sings]
Our will is hard

Man, it's so hard

And it's a lonely
planet joy

When you bring a song
from your other boy

That's when I'm a
lonely planet boy

And I'm tryin'

For your love

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

You pick me up

You're out drivin'
in your car

I tell you where I'm going

You're always telling me

It's too far

But how could
you be drivin'

Down by my home

When you know

I ain't got one

And

I'm so all alone

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

All right.

Well, it's a
lonely planet joy

When you bring the song
from your other boys

That's when I'm a lonely
planet boy and I'm tryin'

Yeah, cryin'

Baby for your love

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

[piano solo]

Oh, yeah!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

Can't you hear me callin'

When I'm a thousand
miles away

I don't wanna stay

I'm thinking of
words I gotta say

'Cause I wanna be
there with you

I know what to bring you

I remember

From the days

I got over

Everything

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

Well, it's a
lonely planet joy

When you bring a song
from your other boys

That's when I'm a
lonely planet boy

And I'm tryin'

Yeah, I'm cryin'

Oh, can't you see
that I'm dyin'

Baby, for your love

Whoa, whoa whoa, yeah

Whoa, whoa, yeah

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah

[crowd cheering]

Let me tell you about
the time I met Mara, all right?

My life was going along
kind of like Groundhog Day.

I didn't really see
much reason to continue

and then I met Mara and
oh my God, you know?

[applause]

I don't believe it.

-I don't believe it.
-[crowd cheering]

I love you, Mara.

I love you.

-Always will.
-[applause]

It was a scandal.

Oh my God.

But... so worth it.

[laughter]

So anyway, I wrote this...

I wrote this lyric...
[kiss]

for my love.

[band plays Dancing
on the Lip of a Volcano]

Been cravin' more life

And more love

That lives in the soul

Of my heart

I don't wanna be

No artist

I'm a dancin', singin'

A work of art

Yeah, you lit my heart

With fiery aggression
and you showed me

This feeling of love

Of sex and affection
that ya owed me

Danger

And I ain't scared

In danger

I found the splendor there

I was dancin' on
a flamin' pit

Dancing

We are creating it

We're dancing

Right on the lip

Of a volcano

Nature with its true voice
cries out undissembled

Be as I am

Revealing its wildest
most generous incarnation

In danger

Devil may care

Danger

The fire's everywhere

'Cause we're dancing

Atop a flamin' pit

We're dancing

We are creating it

We're dancing

Right on the lip

Of a volcano

Oh yeah.
All right.

[guitar solo]

Yeah, man.
All right, man.

Oh, yeah!

[David] Oh!

In the center of action of
my psyche's need for love

I want liberation and joy

In a paroxysm
of intoxication

Inspiration ain't
no way to be coy

In danger

A blazing glare

Oh, yes!

In danger

I found the splendor there

Oh, yeah

Dancin' atop flamin' pit

Dancin', we're creating it

We're dancin'
right on the lip

Of a volcano

Volcano

A volcano

Thrown in the dance
with the mystics

It's burnin' us
up with his music

It's sensualistic

It's ritual

It's polytheistic

-[crowd cheering]
-Ye-heh-heh.

Whoa.

[Smokestack Lightning by
The Harry Smiths playing]

Oh, smokestack lightning

Shinin' just like gold

Oh, don't you
hear me cryin'

A-whoo-hoo

A-whoo-hoo

A-whoo-hoo

Oh, stop your tryin'

Let a poor boy ride

Oh, don't you
hear me cryin'

A-whoo-hoo

A-whoo-hoo

A-whoo-hoo

A lot of these are from
when I sang with Hubert.

A lot of Howlin' Wolf

Wang-Dang-Doodle and
things of that nature.

Oh, here's Blind Willie McTell
and his wife.

Apparently he shot his wife.
He only winged her.

But from what they say,
it may be apocryphal,

but they say that he stood
in the middle of the room

and just, like, swung
around rapid firing...

like a ballet dancer.

[interviewer] What's this one?

I don't know.

This is...

It says it's Buster's
big book, so...

let's see.

[Interviewer 2] Explain to
me your lyric book.

It's not just lyrics in there.

There's something else in there.

What's in that book that
I used for the show?

[Interviewer 2] Uh-huh.

There's a lot of, like,
devotional art in there.

There's millions of
Hindu gods, you know.

You ever go to, like,
Central Park

and there'll be a lot of, like,
Cuban guys and Puerto-Ricans

and they're all playing
congas and things like that.

Do they still have that there?

[interviewer] Yeah.

You know those guys that
are into, like, the Orishas?

So, like, say you
and me are playing.

'Cause you know, the rumbas
all have, you know, like...

saints that each beat is
dedicated to or whatever.

So they kind of just, like,

beam it up and then it
comes back down to you.

It's not like we're playing,
like, at each other.

[Interviewer 2] So when
you'll turn a page,

there'll be a
different image there

that's associated
somehow with that song.

It could be associated
with that song.

It's just something that reminds
me of what I'm there for,

you know.

Because it makes it a lot
more fun for me, you know.

Music to me is, you know, they
say playing music, you know.

They don't say
like working music.

You're supposed to be playing.

So...

If I don't do it as some
kind of a devotional thing,

it's gonna become
a grind for me.

[orchestral music plays]

You're in the Mansion Of Fun

with Sri Rama,

Poindexter, Johansen.

Where...

aestheticism

and eroticism...

are two sides of the same coin.

And unwillingness to see
this exacts a terrible price

in prudery, misery

and warped lives.

I'm just a bad boy

La la la la la la
la la la la la la

La la la la la la
la la la la la

All dressed up
in fancy clothes

I'm taking the trouble

To blow my bubble

Away

Bad boy

La la la la la la
la la la la la la

La la la la la la
la la la la la

Life is just
a bowl of cherries

I'm taking the trouble

To turn my night into day

You, were in the vanguard
of punk, new wave,

with the New York Dolls.

Legendary group.

Now, what made you
completely abandon

that kind of rock and
roll that you were doing?

I understand in Cleveland
you just decided

that you had enough of it.

Well, I'll tell you.

Contrary to popular
belief, you know,

because the Dolls
were such, like,

a shock kind of
troop battalion that...

I think a lot of people
didn't realize that

the Dolls music was...

built like basically, you know,

the roots of the thing was
really rhythm and blues.

And it was, like, a
classic rock and roll band.

What makes a classic
rock and roll band?

Big Fat Mamas
Are Back In Style.

And... uh Lavender Coffin?

Lavender... All I want is a
lavender coffin

and what I call pre-haze cold
rock and roll.

[interviewer] How did Buster
Poindexter become?

Well, basically, after
the Dolls, you know

I did the David Johansen
show for many years.

I was on the road for
like 250 nights a year.

And I had a lot of fun.

But after a while, you know,
you want to come back home

you want to kind of
establish relationships

and things like that.

So I came up with
this brilliant idea

to come up with an act that
could only play in New York.

There was a club in my
neighborhood called Tramps

and I thought I was gonna
do four Mondays there

because, it was a Blues bar

but they didn't have
acts on Mondays.

And so I thought I'd do, well,
since there's nobody there

on Monday, I'd try this
little cabaret thing

with, like, three
guys as a backup band.

And I started doing it and

it caught on and all of a
sudden I was making my nut,

so to speak.

And I wasn't going on the road.

I wanted to do a show that
would entertain my peers,

so to speak.

Now your peers, you're
what, 36 now, about?

I'm 37.

-Thirty-seven now.
-For a few more minutes.

Really inching up there.

-"Inching up there," to where?
-Well, I don't know.

-To the end.
-The next thing you'll be 40.

-This is the big one.
-[laughter] Right.

OK, there's two
Yiddish hipsters.

It's a short joke.

Two Yiddish hipsters
sitting on a park bench

and one of them says

"Oy."

And the other one says,
"I'm hip."

OK?

[interviewer] Do you ever
write down, not jokes,

but, like, banter and
things you wanna say?

Banter?

Like things you wanna say
between songs that aren't jokes?

You mean that aren't funny?

-Yeah.
-No.

No.

I mean, you know, if I'm
playing in, like, a big place,

I'm not, like,
telling jokes because...

The David Johansen band
went on this whole tour

with Pat Benatar
and you know, she's great.

She can really belt out a tune.

But...

they would kinda look at me

like I was a bug a lot of the
times in those...

hockey rinks, you know?

[interviewer] Like you
were a little guy

or like you were a freak or...

Like a bug.
[laughter]

[interviewer] And what kind of
songs can Buster sing

that you can't sing?

Uh...

Everything.
I mean, you know,

I can sing, you know,
a lot of kinds of songs, but...

I think I already went
through this with you.

Like, Buster is just like,
I can do anything I want.

People aren't...

expecting something else.

They come because
it's unexpected,

what I'm gonna do, you know?

And they kind of trust
that it's gonna be good

and it's always good.
What can I say?

[Totalitarian State plays]

I woke up late one day

And turned on my TV

They said they'd
take it all

When I was asleep

Well they were
bringing down doors

They were purging
and burning

People just like me

Well I fixed a drink,
I switched around the channel

But that was
all I could see

Well it's such
a boring feeling

When you find that
you're fallin' to a

Totalitarian state

Well, I know what's left

It don't seem right

You just don't
feel so great

Well it seems
we're all camping

And the Mexicans
was laughing

Down at the
detention center

They didn't seem to care
that they were there

I couldn't find
one dissenter

I didn't feel communal

I was incommunicado

I couldn't see it
getting any better

I couldn't call no one

I wish I had a gun

I couldn't even
send a letter

It's such a boring feeling

When you find that
you're falling

To a totalitarian state

I know what's left

It don't seem right

You just don't
feel so great

When they came to get me

I'd hope they would
forgive me

I tried playing dead

I finished my drink,
assessed the situation

Put the covers
up over my head

I quit

[piano solo]

[drum solo]

[rock music]

Well, me and my friends

All hang out in a
non-litigious crowd

We're sensitive to
other people's needs

And on this we are proud

But this situation
really bites

I mean, for crying out loud

I don't know what to do

I feel like a fool

This time I'm gonna sue

It's such a boring feeling

When you find that
you're fallin' to a

Totalitarian state

You know what's left

It don't seem right

It just don't seem so great

-Oh!
-[crowd cheering]

Whoa.
Whoa.

Hey, hey.

Hey, hey.

Totalitarian State...
Baby!

[interviewer] It sounds like
you've never really been bitter

about the fact that

the Dolls never garnered
these huge wages,

whereas you could
look at bands like

Kiss and Aerosmith

and they made a
pretty good dime off

-Yeah.
-[interviewer] essentially a

watered-down version
of what you were doing.

Yeah, no. We, we were
a band's band, you know?

In a lot of ways.

And we influenced
a lot of bands

and a lot of kids
were influenced by us

who started bands, you know.

Take the Ramones.

The Ramones saw us and they,

they looked at each
other and said,

"Hey, if these guys can
do that, we can do that."

And to have influence
like that on people,

I think, is really good,
you know.

To give people the...

the idea like,

"Hey, I could do that."

[Piece Of My Heart
by Emma Franklin plays]

Wow, listen to
how sweet that is.

Didn't I make you feel

- Like you were the only man
-Whoo!

That's probably
Aretha playing piano.

- Didn't I give you
everything
-You know that?

That a woman possibly can

-Is this her sister?
-Yeah.

But with all the
love I give ya

It's never enough

But I'm gonna show ya, baby

That a woman can be tough

[interviewer] Is there any
music you just don't like?

Most, most stuff on
the radio. [laughs]

I don't even know
what I don't like,

because I just don't hear it.

You know?
It doesn't,

if I like something it stops in
the middle of my head

and it just rattles around

and if I don't like it it just
kind of goes through me and

I don't grab it.

You know, my show is not like

something that...

your average kid
would understand.

[interviewer] Why not?

Why not?

Because it's, it's
out of the ordinary,

you know, it's kind of like...

it's got, it's like peculiar
to my taste, you know.

[L'amour est un oiseau
rebelle (Havanaise) plays]

That Marilyn Horne version,
she gets right to the meat.

Did the folks play that stuff?

-How'd you get turned on to--
-Oh, you know, my old man,

he was an opera singer.

And it's like, all that we heard

had been classical
music when I was a kid,

-[woman] Oh.
-which used to drive me crazy.

-[woman] Mm-hmm.
-My old man would be like

wearing his army clothes,
paint in the house

and the Texaco Opera
on the Grundig

would be in the window,
blaring out.

And my friends would come by,

on Saturday and I'd be like
holding the ladder

and I'd be like...

[music continues]

[David] My old man would
be up there like

[loudly imitating opera singing]

[interviewer chuffs]

And now...

and now it's all
over your radio show.

[instrumentation peaks]

This next song, I wrote it to

a Lightnin' Hopkins song.

Texas Blues.

I gave the lyrics to Brian,

see what he wanted
to do with it.

And he came up with
this really great song

and we're gonna
sing it for you now.

So the only one who sounds
like Lightnin' Hopkins

in this version is me.

[audience laughs]

I give you that Eddie
Murphy smile, like...

[audience laughs]

[Wandering Spirit Prayer plays]

I keep watching
and wondering

Why a little bird
flies up to the sky

Only God knows,
maybe he don't

You know that holy
talk has been a lie

I keep praying
it's the truth

And I ain't got
no death to die

I ain't got no death to die

Yeah, I keep
hollering and prayin'

I don't have to be
such a hurtful bum

How could I
sometimes be so good

And turn around and
be so wrong to some

Ah, what's the use
of all this praying

When I don't know
the spirit from

The spirit from who
this prayer have come

That old eternal spirit

Always whispering in my ear

Radiance of the infinite

Seems to be everywhere

But my weary eyes can't see

And I'm afraid my
old ears cannot hear

Afraid my old
ears cannot hear

You've been a
consolation of my life

And you will be of my death

And I pray that
you'll have mercy

Moment of my last breath

I know these
words of weariness

Just don't make me wander
from death to death

Don't make me wander
from death to death

[audience cheers and applauds]

Beautiful.

[audience cheers and applauds]

[Ben Vereen] Now, our next guest
is truly a unique rock star.

I mean he's what you call a
free spirit, a knockout singer,

starting a heat wave right
here at the Waldorf-Astoria

singing Hot Hot Hot,
Buster Poindexter!

-[audience cheers]
-[Drummer] One, two, three!

-[Hot Hot Hot plays]
- Ole-Ole-Ole-Ole

Ole-Ole-Ole-Ole

That was like, the bane of my
existence, that song, you know.

I don't know how I
feel about it now.

I haven't heard it lately.

[interviewer] Would
you hear it like

all over the place like--

Oh, God, that's
ubiquitous, that song.

It was like, forget about it.

It's like, you know,

they play it at weddings,
bar mitzvahs. It's like...

[interviewer] Six Flags.

Six Flags! [laughs]

Hot hot hot

Hot hot hot

Hot hot hot

[David] They used to have a show
on VH1 called One Hit Wonders.

And I was on it
twice because I sang,

you know, like that Animals
medley thing as David Johansen.

And then I sang
Hot Hot Hot as Buster,

so I was a one hit wonder twice.

[interviewer] Did you
have like a vision for

what your life would
be like at this point?

[David] You can make plans
and they're fun to do,

but they're rarely...

What you want to do by
the time you get there.

I think I used to be like...

five year increments.

Where I'll be in five years
or whatever, when I was a kid.

[interviewer] Yeah.

[David] Somebody
said that some guy

who was a record producer,

he was a...
he was a millionaire.

And I thought,
"Wow, a millionaire."

He was 23, you know?

And I was like,
"Wow, a millionaire at 23.

That'd be great."

But I didn't...

I came to realize, well,
that's not really so good.

Because the guy, turned out,

he was a murderer.

[both laugh]

-Do I want to do like this?
-[Mara] Yeah.

Yeah. I like this.

[Mara] Get the oil
off your chest.

Just because I'm
not like responding,

doesn't mean I'm not in ecstasy.

[Mara laughs] I know that.
We're married.

Here you go.

[interviewer] So what
were you saying Mommy

about what we wanna make
sure we get in this?

[Mara] You spend a lot of
time putting on a show,

while you're keeping hidden
not just your interior life,

but a lot of other aspects
of your life, right?

-And--
-Yeah.

You guys see the pants?

[interviewer] I can see
the, the pants are yellow.

-That's good.
-[interviewer] But I can't

see like the whole
style of the pants.

That's OK.

[interviewer] You wanna
see what you look like?

I wanna see what
you're gonna shoot.

It's best to leave
an incomplete--

-[Mara] Yeah.
-picture of yourself.

[Mara] Can we have the, uh,

like can we have the
coquettes showing on the book?

[interviewer] I was
gonna have David

look at that book, actually.

[Mara] Oh!

I mean let's face it.
We've been very happy together.

We're very happy
and Leah is very happy.

That's like really
good because...

occasionally we have to
deal with like, you know,

I don't wanna use
the word crisis.

But you know, whatever.

-Something that's--
-[Mara] We've had some crises.

Yeah.

[interviewer] As we get
older, we accumulate ghosts.

'Cause, you know,
there's a lot more dead people

than there are the living.

I've lived through
like, Vietnam War,

the AIDS epidemic...

and so many things, you know?

And had people who I love

that have died from COVID
very recently, you know.

Put your sweet lips

A little closer to mine

You know, there's
Hal Wilner, for example.

[interviewer] Given
that you lost someone

in your band at 21,

was an early death something
that you yourself feared...

-when this--
-No.

No. I never learned my lesson.

[soft music playing]

You know, after I was
in the original Dolls,

the ones that there was a lot of
you know, catastrophic stuff.

I had a band called David
Johansen Band I made for...

[clapping]

We got in a van and
went back and forth,

across this country about,
I don't know, nine times,

opening for heavy mental
acts at hockey rinks.

Oh my God.

When I think of that...

It killed me.
It actually killed me.

These guys, they called
magazines, books.

[laughing]

OK.

So, what are you
readin' there, pal?

Viva.

My book.

I said, that's not a book.
That's a Viva Magazine.

You know what I'm saying?

Thank God they had, they'd
come out with Walkmans by then,

you know.

And of course gin, you know,
which they always had.

A one, two, three, four...

[plays Frenchette]

You call that love in French,
but it's just Frenchette

I've been to France,
so let's just dance

I get all the love
I need in a luncheonette

In just one glance,
so let's just dance

I can't get the kind
of love that I want

And I need

So let's just dance

You come on like it's
all natural darling

But you know

Oh it's really
only naturalette

It's just like all of
your leathers darling

They don't scare me

I know what's really
only leatherette

I could take it down
and wash it down

I scrub you on down
in any old launderette

I can't get the kind
of love, that I want

Let's just dance
and I 'll forget

I want you to
come in my kitchen

Not my kitchenette

I want you to come
in my dining room

Not my dinette

I can't get the
kind of love

So let's just dance
and I'll forget

I can't the kind of love
that I want and I need

So let's just dance

I can't the kind of love
that I want and I need

So let's just dance

Come on, boys!
So let's just dance!

[guitar solo]

Oh woah-wo-wo-wo-wo

Come on, every one join.

Oh woah-wo-wo-wo-wo

Remember how we marveled
darling, we was marveling

We were marveling
at The Marvelettes

Yeah we fell in
love with Veronica

And every last one
of The Ronettes

It sure got hot
when Levis Stubbs

He got burned boy

Messing around
with Bernadette

You call that love in French,
but it's just Frenchette

I've been to France,
so let's just dance

I get all the love I
need in a luncheonette

In just one glance,
so let's just dance

Let's just dance

Let's just dance now

Let's dance

Let's just dance

Going to take a
little roll with you, honey

Let's just dance

A little stroll with
you, honey

Yeah, let's just dance

Just dance

My doctor said to
take it easy, baby

So let's just dance

My doctor said to
take it easy, baby

Let's dance

Come on, let's just dance

Yeah, baby

Let's just dance

All right.

Let's just dance

Come on, let's just dance

I can't get the kind
of love that I want

And I need

So, let's

Just

Dance

[audience clapping]

Oh, hi...
[chuckles]

You know, when I was a...
a kid,

I was probably like,
not a kid.

I was probably like almost
30-years-old or something.

Maybe I acted like a kid.

I... went to...

see Milos Forman

to audition for a...

a part of one of the two,

like lead guys in Hair.

In the movie Hair.

You know, I figured,
an actor, what is that?

So, I think I have
all the prerequisites,

completely irresponsible,

drunk a lot.

Hey, I can go on and on.

But...
I fit the bill.

So I went to see Milos and...

I didn't even do the audition.

I mean, we got along
like a house on fire.

I mean, "Oh God, David.
David, I love you."

And we were drinking schnapps

and we were smacking
each other on of back

and we were having a
gay old time, OK?

Oh my God, it was so great.

So then he calls
Twyla Tharp and he says,

"I got, I got the guy.

This is the guy.
I'm gonna send him over.

You see if he can dance."

In order to get this part,

the... one of the major parts
that you had to pass.

Milos, Twyla...

and Galt MacDermot,

who wrote the music.

So I went over to Twyla Tharp's.

I was...

dancing... like Nijinsky.

I mean, I was like...

like a gazelle.

Back and forth

with the whole troop back and
forth, like throwing flowers.

I mean imaginary flowers,
but still.

Twyla calls up Milos,

"He's, he's great.
He's a natural. He's great."

I'm thinking, you know,
"Hollywood, here I come."

I'm like picking
out real estate,

you know what I'm saying?

Next day I go to
see Galt McDermott.

It's up on one of those
Broadway rehearsal rooms,

you know, at the piano and
everybody's standing around.

He's got the piano
and I come in

and I decide to
sing the song Hair.

I figured, you know,

I hadn't really prepared.

You know and...
but Galt McDermott stood up.

He shut the... the...
the lid of the keyboard

and he said,
"This guy can't sing!"

I was like, "Wait a
minute, wait a minute.

I don't, I don't act.

I don't dance, but I'm a singer.

You know, I, that's
what I do. I'm a singer."

I didn't get the part anyway.

My dreams were crushed.

But I only had those
dreams for three days.

So it wasn't like a lifetime.

You know, years later...

I saw...

Galt McDermott
at an awards ceremony.

We were both getting a
medal for something and...

he was in his dotage.

And... we shook hands
and the whole thing.

He didn't remember me from,
from that day.

But, I didn't remind
him I didn't mention it.

You know, I didn't mention it.

I'm not that kind of guy.

[audience laughing]

[Maimed Happiness plays]

This is nice.

It's a maimed happiness

I keep trying to acquiesce

It's like a
tempestuous child

You play with
and humor to keep

Quiet as you possibly can

'Til finally
it goes to sleep

Life takes a lot of finesse

It's a maimed happiness

I keep myself to every way

Both refined and uncouth

Then maybe once in a while

I can be with the truth

Don't know

If there's that
much to be said

I thought this world
and all the time

That we spend

Still I think

I want to live

This crazy life over again

Yeah, I've been
to the doctor

He said there ain't
much he can do

Said you got the
human condition

Boy, I feel sorry for you

There's a sorrowful joy

I know it since I was a boy

Joyful sorrow, I guess

It's a maimed happiness

[audience clapping]

Beautiful!

You guys have been great.

Thank you.
Thank you.

[music begins]

My friends.

[interviewer] Maimed Happiness.

I feel like that could be
your thesis for the show.

Yeah. Mara, what's that...

Those two brothers,
they were writers,

but one was a philosopher.

[Mara] Henry James
and William James?

[David] Who wrote that book?

[Mara] Well, Henry James
was the novelist.

Right. So it was William
James was the philosopher.

-Right.
-[Mara] Yeah.

I was reading that
William James

Variety of Spiritual
Experiences,

I guess it's called.

At one point he used the
expression "maimed happiness."

"It's kind of like a maimed
happiness," whatever he said.

And it just stuck in
my mind, you know.

It's just, existence is...

maimed happiness.

[Freddy] Happy birthday, man.

-Freddy.
-A lot more energy tonight.

Yeah, I slept like
10 hours last night.

You are not today who you
were when you were 17.

So...

-you were this innocent...
-Hmm...

Listen, sorry.

You were spinning around

on the parking meter
in front of Gem Spa.

I was spinning around on
the other parking meter.

[David] It's the
Mansion of Fun show

where we do our thing and we
don't worry about the outcome,

because we recognize
sorrow as of the essence.

Because when there's
time, there's sorrow

and we can't rid
the world of sorrow,

but we can choose
to live in joy.

[Man] Look how beautiful.

[Mara] Hi, baby.

Long time no see.

[interviewer] Like
when was the first time

you felt like your sadness

kind of connected
you to the world?

Oh.

[L'elisir d'amore:
Una furtiva lagrima
by Luciano Pavarotti plays]

Yeah, in 3D.

[sighs] Oh, man.

Then the ostrich comes out.

People think I'm
so young, right?

And I'm sure people say that
to you, "You're so young."

'Cause it took us
so long to grow up.

Like we hit every crack.

We had to be...

we fulfilled the
premise of becoming.

-That's right.
-We fulfilled it.

-What's the rush?
-What's the rush?

[David] There's a lot of
different things that

you can hear or see,

you know, people
overcoming obstacles.

Surviving.

[L'elisir d'amore:
Una furtiva lagrima
by Luciano Pavarotti plays]

[band plays Personality Crisis]

Come on!

Wow!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah baby no

Go baby yeah

Yeah, no, yeah, yeah

Wow

Wah-hah!

We can't take it this week

And her friends don't
want another speech

Hoping for a
better day to hear

What she's got to say

All about that
personality crisis

You got it while it was hot

But frustration, heartache
that's what you got

I gotta say about
the personality

Yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Now you're trying
to be something

Now you gotta do something

Wanna be someone
who cow wow wows

But you thinking
about the time you did

They took every ounce

Well it's sure
gonna be a shame

When you start to
scream and shout

Wow

You contradict all the time

You were butterflying about

Butterfly

But that personality crisis

You got it while it was hot

It's always hard to
know when frustration

Heartache that's
what you got

It's just a song
about personality

We are

[guitar solo]

[applause]

And you're a
prima ballerina

On a spring afternoon

Turn into a wolfman
howlin' at the moon

Yahoooooooo

With a personality crisis

You got it while
you was hot

It's always hot.

Frustration, heartache
that's what you got

Oh, I'm talking about
your personality

Now with all the
crossin' fingers

Mother Nature said

Your mirror's
getting jammed up

With all your friends

Personality

It was just
starting to blend

It ain't like one.

With the personality

When your mind's
going to bend

Personality

Glad you know a friend,
of a friend of a friend

Friend of a friend

Personality

One that has
celebrities ever mend

Lookin' fine
on television

Personality crisis

Yeah, you got it
while it was hot

It's frustration, heartache

It's what you've got

All right.

Personality crisis

Please don't cry

A personality crisis

Please don't stop

Because you walk
with personality

You talk with personality

Yeah.

Yeah, baby.

That's what I'm talking about.

Personality.

Yeah.

[audience applauds and cheers]

You know, Plastic Bertrand
goes around saying he...

invented punk rock,

but I think that
one was really good.

[audience cheers]

You know what I always say?

Nothing recedes like success.

[laughter]

Am I...

[audience claps]

[plays Heart of Gold]

You think I'm a whore

But I got a heart of gold

You're lockin' your doors

You're leavin' me
out in the cold

Well I've been
bought and baby

I've been sold and I

I need protection
from the cold

You may think
that my humanity

Has been the cause
of all this insanity

This whole damn world's
got so much uncertainty

I sure wish you'd
see something in me

You think I'm a whore

But I got a heart of gold

You're lockin' your doors

You're leavin' me
out in the cold

Yeah, I've been bought,
baby

I've been sold and I

I need protection
from the cold

[audience applauds]

[soft piano music]

[slow bass guitar solo]

[audience applauds]

Happy birthday, boss.

[audience cheers]

And many more.

Oh, baby.

[band continues playing
Heart of Gold]

You may think
that my humanity

Was the cause of
all this insanity

Hm-hmm.

This whole damn world's
got so much uncertainty

I sure wish you'd
see something in me

You think I'm a whore

But I got a heart of gold

You're lockin' your doors

You're leavin' me
out in the cold

I've been bought and baby

Yeah, I've been sold and I

I need protection
from the cold

Yeah, man.

I need protection
from the cold

All right, baby.

I need protection

From the cold

[audience applauds]