BUSTER POINDEXTER
''BUSTER POINDEXTER''
1987
32:23
1 Smack Dab in the Middle (Chuck Calhoun, Michael Mains) 3:52 Singing Ethel Merman in the Background
2 Bad Boy (Avon Long, Lil Hardin Armstrong) 3:07
3 Hot Hot Hot (Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell) 4:07
4 Are You Lonely for Me, Baby? (Bert Berns) 3:38
5 Screwy Music (Jimmie Lunceford) 3:17
6 Good Morning Judge (Louis Innis, Wynonie Harris) 3:37
7 Oh Me, Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby) (Jim Doris) 3:52
8 Whadaya Want? (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) 2:44
9 House of the Rising Sun (Traditional; Credited to Josh White; Terry Holmes) 3:40
10 Cannibal (David Johansen) 4:45
11 Heart of Gold (David Johansen) 4:40
Buster Poindexter/Vocals
Patti Scialfa/Backing Vocals
Crispin Cioe/Alto & Baritone Saxophone
Joe Delia/Organ, Piano
Bob Funk/Trombone
Tony Garnier/Bass Guitar
Carl Hall/Backing Vocals
Arno Hecht/Tenor Saxophone
Paul Litteral/Trumpet
Brian Koonin/Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin
Lisa Lowell/Backing Vocals
Tony Machine/Drums
Louise Bethune/Backing Vocals
Fred Wolcott/Percussion
Larry Poindexter/Accordion
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann/AMG
After two albums as lead singer of the punk rock New York Dolls and five as a power pop solo artist, David Johansen surprised his fans by woodshedding in a bar off Irving Place in New York City, toying with a new musical persona he called Buster Poindexter, a tuxedo-clad lounge lizard leading a horn-filled backup band called the Banshees of Blue. The question "Is he kidding or what?" was inevitable, but the repertoire he developed and the group's approach to it demonstrated that this was more in the realm of an affectionate pastiche than a parody. With his cavernous bass-baritone and outsized personality, Johansen always had at least an implicitly humorous side, especially when he was camping it up with the glitter and glam of the Dolls' heavily costumed look. There was perhaps more of a wink and a tongue in cheek with Buster Poindexter, but that didn't mean that the music was outright comedy. Rather, Poindexter and the Banshees took as their antecedent an act like Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5, presenting songs in a good-humored, if not laugh-out-loud kind of way. And the persona allowed for several different styles, from the jump blues of "Smack Dab in the Middle" and "Good Morning Judge" (which led off the two sides of the LP) to the Caribbean carnival fun of "Hot Hot Hot" and "Cannibal." Given his voice, Johansen/Poindexter was a natural to try his own version of "House of the Rising Sun" with a nod to Eric Burdon and the Animals, and there was even room for the ballad side of David Johansen himself, such as on the remake of "Heart of Gold," which had appeared on the 1981 Johansen album Here Comes the Night. This first Buster Poindexter album allowed Johansen to make a comeback as part of the 1980s' retro wave that encompassed everything from the Stray Cats to Linda Ronstadt's albums with Nelson Riddle. And it was more enjoyable than most such efforts, precisely because it didn't take itself too seriously.
BIOGRAPHY
By William Ruhlmann/AMG
Buster Poindexter was the pseudonym rock singer David Johansen adopted in the mid-'80s for a semi-comic nightclub singer act he began to perform. Eschewing his hard rock solo career -- which followed a stint as lead singer of The New York Dolls -- Johansen turned up at the New York club Tramps in a tuxedo, with a band he dubbed the Banshees of Blue, and sang pop standards, jump blues, and various novelty material. Eventually, the act won him a record contract with RCA, but it was basically a live attraction. In addition to reviving Johansen's career as a musical performer, Buster also renewed his long-dormant acting bug, and he was tapped to co-star in the 1988 features Married to the Mob and Scrooged. The character remained Johansen's focus in subsequent years as well, as evidenced by the albums Buster Goes Berserk in 1989 and Buster's Happy Hour in 1994, and by Buster's live appearance in the Catskills in the summer of 1992. After the turn of the millennium, however, Johansen put the Buster persona to rest as he began performing and recording with his country blues outfit David Johansen & the Harry Smiths and with a 21st century version of The New York Dolls.
''BUSTER POINDEXTER''
1987
32:23
1 Smack Dab in the Middle (Chuck Calhoun, Michael Mains) 3:52 Singing Ethel Merman in the Background
2 Bad Boy (Avon Long, Lil Hardin Armstrong) 3:07
3 Hot Hot Hot (Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell) 4:07
4 Are You Lonely for Me, Baby? (Bert Berns) 3:38
5 Screwy Music (Jimmie Lunceford) 3:17
6 Good Morning Judge (Louis Innis, Wynonie Harris) 3:37
7 Oh Me, Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby) (Jim Doris) 3:52
8 Whadaya Want? (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) 2:44
9 House of the Rising Sun (Traditional; Credited to Josh White; Terry Holmes) 3:40
10 Cannibal (David Johansen) 4:45
11 Heart of Gold (David Johansen) 4:40
Buster Poindexter/Vocals
Patti Scialfa/Backing Vocals
Crispin Cioe/Alto & Baritone Saxophone
Joe Delia/Organ, Piano
Bob Funk/Trombone
Tony Garnier/Bass Guitar
Carl Hall/Backing Vocals
Arno Hecht/Tenor Saxophone
Paul Litteral/Trumpet
Brian Koonin/Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin
Lisa Lowell/Backing Vocals
Tony Machine/Drums
Louise Bethune/Backing Vocals
Fred Wolcott/Percussion
Larry Poindexter/Accordion
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann/AMG
After two albums as lead singer of the punk rock New York Dolls and five as a power pop solo artist, David Johansen surprised his fans by woodshedding in a bar off Irving Place in New York City, toying with a new musical persona he called Buster Poindexter, a tuxedo-clad lounge lizard leading a horn-filled backup band called the Banshees of Blue. The question "Is he kidding or what?" was inevitable, but the repertoire he developed and the group's approach to it demonstrated that this was more in the realm of an affectionate pastiche than a parody. With his cavernous bass-baritone and outsized personality, Johansen always had at least an implicitly humorous side, especially when he was camping it up with the glitter and glam of the Dolls' heavily costumed look. There was perhaps more of a wink and a tongue in cheek with Buster Poindexter, but that didn't mean that the music was outright comedy. Rather, Poindexter and the Banshees took as their antecedent an act like Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5, presenting songs in a good-humored, if not laugh-out-loud kind of way. And the persona allowed for several different styles, from the jump blues of "Smack Dab in the Middle" and "Good Morning Judge" (which led off the two sides of the LP) to the Caribbean carnival fun of "Hot Hot Hot" and "Cannibal." Given his voice, Johansen/Poindexter was a natural to try his own version of "House of the Rising Sun" with a nod to Eric Burdon and the Animals, and there was even room for the ballad side of David Johansen himself, such as on the remake of "Heart of Gold," which had appeared on the 1981 Johansen album Here Comes the Night. This first Buster Poindexter album allowed Johansen to make a comeback as part of the 1980s' retro wave that encompassed everything from the Stray Cats to Linda Ronstadt's albums with Nelson Riddle. And it was more enjoyable than most such efforts, precisely because it didn't take itself too seriously.
BIOGRAPHY
By William Ruhlmann/AMG
Buster Poindexter was the pseudonym rock singer David Johansen adopted in the mid-'80s for a semi-comic nightclub singer act he began to perform. Eschewing his hard rock solo career -- which followed a stint as lead singer of The New York Dolls -- Johansen turned up at the New York club Tramps in a tuxedo, with a band he dubbed the Banshees of Blue, and sang pop standards, jump blues, and various novelty material. Eventually, the act won him a record contract with RCA, but it was basically a live attraction. In addition to reviving Johansen's career as a musical performer, Buster also renewed his long-dormant acting bug, and he was tapped to co-star in the 1988 features Married to the Mob and Scrooged. The character remained Johansen's focus in subsequent years as well, as evidenced by the albums Buster Goes Berserk in 1989 and Buster's Happy Hour in 1994, and by Buster's live appearance in the Catskills in the summer of 1992. After the turn of the millennium, however, Johansen put the Buster persona to rest as he began performing and recording with his country blues outfit David Johansen & the Harry Smiths and with a 21st century version of The New York Dolls.
No comments :
Post a Comment