David Johansen wasnt an easy sell on a documentary about his music, even from director Martin Scorsese.
Now, hes happy with the result relatively.
I do live shows, they go up into the ether and theyre gone.
So this is like a document of who I was at that moment.
Ive always been impressed by the lyrics, Douglas said.
This band musically was more professional so they supported the lyrics.
We had some guest stars come in every once in a while.
Johansen said the New York Dolls formed for one show only but then continued to perform.
I just got tired of singing the same songs over and over, he said.
I said, If were going to keep doing this, we have to make new songs.
We made new songs and then Jack produced it.
Its a beautiful record.
He acknowledges he was more present with Scorsese and co-director David Tedeschi forPersonality Crisis: One Night Only.
He has only fleeting memories of recording with the New York Dolls.
It was very pretty, Johansen said.
This time I was a little more corpus mantis you might say.
Douglas also recalled a funny anecdote about Johansen telling off producer Todd Rundgren in the studio.
He goes, Harmony?
Are you accusing me of having melody?
Check out the panel video above.
