In the ’70s and ’80s, there came a time in every young man’s life when he became convinced, often by his friends, that signing up with a record “club,” such as Columbia House Records, is going to pay off. This is always incorrect, but we wanted to believe so much that some of us were fooled several times.
You would get eight albums for a penny! You just need to buy 8 more in three years, or whatever the deal was in any particular year. Yes, those would be full-priced, but it was still like getting a whole bunch of discs at half price, wasn’t it?
The problem, of course, was the selection, especially for someone who was mostly looking for stuff a little out of the mainstream. I finally gave in sometime around 1987, when I was going to grad school and funds were going to be quite limited, and LPs were more of a bargain than the still quite expensive CDs that I preferred. I decided to take the plunge and invest my penny, and was immediately struck with a challenge of picking out eight records for that initial commitment. Some of them I still have, but many were discarded not too long later, and my lesson was learned. As soon as I met the commitment, I was done. (Or maybe I didn’t, and it went on my permanent record.)
This initial Buster Poindexter release was part of that first order, and one of the few that I held on to. I was well aware of what an odd turn it was for David Johansen to move from the groundbreaking New York Dolls to what seemed like a sincere parody of a lounge act, but it also opened my eyes to the concept that a showman is a showman – and some of the most influential punks were certainly showmen.
This was a big album when it was released in 1987. A retro, big band sort of aesthetic wasn’t entirely new for the ’80s, but this outfit (including the now legendary Uptown Horns) really hit it with a playful approach and fun songs that fit Johansen’s new stage persona. “Hot Hot Hot” because ubiquitous, used endlessly in advertising, but there are a bunch of other real solid tracks here, with a couple of novelties thrown in. This got a lot of play during my last couple of years in Syracuse, but it didn’t fit much else in my collection so it became more of a memory after I moved in 1989. Still, I dig it out now and then for the nostalgia, and it’s still a fun little romp.
Have you watched the Scorsese-produced “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” documentary/concert film that came out earlier this year? Quite good, interesting to hear David’s perspective on Buster all these years on, and also to hear him and his current band reinventing a variety of Buster and Dolls tunes to good purpose.
No, didn’t even know about it! I’ll have to check it out.