David Johansen
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David Johansen (born January 9, 1950) is an American rock, blues and pop singer, songwriter and actor.
Originally influenced by Mick Jagger and Rob Tyner of the MC5, Johansen began his career as the singer of the protopunk band, the New York Dolls, in the early 1970s. The bulk of the material was written by Johansen and guitarist Johnny Thunders, who left in 1975.
After the dissolution of the final Dolls lineup in early 1977, Johansen embarked on a solo career. His first album featured much Dolls material from the later part of the band's history. After flirtations with disco and a Bruce Springsteen influenced sound, Johansen would find his greatest commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter in the late 1980s, doing a mixture of jazz, lounge music and calypso and appearing as part of the house band on the television program Saturday Night Live. As Poindexter, he had a hit song "Hot Hot Hot," which, during an interview on National Public Radio he called "The bane of my existence" due to its pervasive popularity.
Johansen acted in several films during the 1990s. He is currently performing blues with his backup group, The Harry Smiths.