This is FRESH air.
I'm Dave Davies.
David Johansen, a founding member of the legendary 1970s band the New York Dolls, died last week.
He was 75.
The New York Dolls never sold many records,
but the band had lasting influence, paving the way for punk rock.
He also performed in his Persona, Buster Poindexter, a pompadour wearing lounge lizard,
and he played the blues with his band, David Johanson and the Harry Smiths.
Johansson was the subject of a 2022 Showtime documentary co directed by Martin Scorsese
and David Tedeschi called Personality Crisis,
One Night Only.
Much of the documentary is built around Johansson's 2020 performance
as Buster Poindexter at the Cafe Carlisle in New York City.
The film also featured newly discovered and archival interviews with him and others.
Here's a clip from the documentary with English singer and songwriter Morrissey.
He says he was obsessed with the New York Dolls as a teenager
because they brought a sense of danger to rock.
Their music was loud and rough, but more than that.
So here were boys who were calling themselves dolls and they looked like prostitutes,
male prostitutes, which at the time,