| "I’m feeling rather… sedate," rumbles David Johansen, raspy and unhurried. He’s choosing words carefully. "I’m sitting here sipping tea with my pinky out."
Maybe he’s not.
Are you sure this is the David Johansen, infamous front man for seminal rock ‘n’ rollers the New York Dolls? The man whose mascara-laden face, hooker boots and fiery hair established and defined the world of glam rock, cementing it in an obscene use of gaudy women’s fashions and trowel-applied makeup? Sipping tea British-style? My, how three decades change a man.
It doesn’t matter. On this day, Johansen isn’t interested in justifying his morning ritual or reflecting on his historical poignancy as glam rock’s granddaddy. The story of the New York Dolls’ early-’70s deterioration to a torrent of drug use and mismanagement is legendary and has been well documented. No, these days the Dolls are about the present… as the release of their full-length effort (first in 25 years) One Day it Will Please Us to Remember Even This finds them reunited, recharged and ready to remind the world exactly what primal, pelvic rock ’n’ roll is all about.
"We didn’t know what we were doing when we were doing it," chuckles Johansen. "Not back then, not when Morrissey urged us to reunite for a show a couple of years ago – not even now. We did one show that was well-received and the calls started coming in. We didn’t expect to keep going after that show, but we were having so much fun that we decided to keep having fun. Eventually we’d written songs and put them in the live set. After we had a few, we recorded them and liked it –we kept writing. There wasn’t a lot of thought involved in getting the band or the record together. We forgot to think, but that’s what makes great rock ’n’ roll."
For as much as Johansen tries to play nonchalant about the band’s return, he betrays himself when discussing the album title. It’s a deliberate albeit subversive "fuck you" to detractors and bandwagon jumpers the band has been subjected to for years.
"(The title) is applicable to almost everything. You can say the world is going to hell today but in five years you say these were the good old days. When the Dolls first came out, we sounded so startling because we were putting passion into the music. We were distanced from other people. A lot of people threw rocks at us for that, but today they say, ‘Oh, I’ve always loved the Dolls. I was a big champion of them when they first came out.’"
Regardless, it’s the only negativity one will find on the album, an otherwise classic romp replete with all of the classic Dolls elements – sleazy guitar riffs, upbeat party anthems and borderline punk rock fury.
It also sees original members Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain–the other Dolls have passed away over the past 30 years – joined by the tight, imposing lineup of Steve Conte (guitar), Sami Yaffa (bass), Brian Koonin (piano) and Brian Delaney (drums). The new New York Dolls is an infinitely more accomplished, mature and wise band than it was in the ’70s. The band and album are tight and aggressive while still being slinky and fun. With a throaty snigger, Johansen notes that this incarnation of the band has been together longer than the original. He also hopes its output will be no less poignant despite uncertainty to its longevity, declaring that as long as the primal passion exists, so will the New York Dolls.
"There’s no planning here. It’s just a fun celebration of the arts," Johansen says. "We’re musicians. Musicians don’t work music – they play it. I just want to play music that swings – that rocks and rolls. The whole point of making records and doing interviews is to get onstage with the guys, make this glorious racket, beam it up into the universe, let it sprinkle down on the audience. When everybody gets that synchronicity going, the whole place lifts off the ground and you’re breathing a rarer air. That’s the quest. It doesn’t happen every night but you always keep trying. When it comes together, that’s what makes life worthwhile." |
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