Search - David Johansen :: Live at the Bottom Line

A Classic CD

R. Walker | 08/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone interested in the Punk rock movememnt, or simply appreciates good solid rock and roll should buy this CD. David Johansen is an underrated singer and lyricist who played an important part in the New York music scene in the 70's. Classic songs like Cool Metro and Frenchette sand out . Enjoy the music. Enjoy the fun."

The Sound of the Planets Aligning

Otto Luck | Detroit | 08/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After years of transgender frippery, the bare headshot of David Johansen staring out from the cover of his harrowing, funny, desperate eponymous solo album was hardly recognizable without all the war paint and poofed-up hair, but once the music came up, his trademark baying, brawny bellow was unmistakable.



And sweet Jesus does the music ever come up on this once promo-only set recorded at New York's Bottom Line, Johansen taking the album for a spin in front of a drooling, enthusiastic crowd practically down on its knees in homage to a guy who'd simply been away in the wilderness for too long, an aristocrat in exile trying to figure out just what happened to the goldbrick, Big-Apple dreams of the New York Dolls, the brain cells of Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane, and Jerry Nolan, and Sylvain Sylvain's white Gibson Les Paul Custom. By this point in his career, he was well aware that life was a game and the deck had been marked so he might as well laugh and if he could make a few bucks along the way, well, so much the better.



Even without props from a thousand clammy club gigs like lipstick, eye shadow, sequins, and platform shoes, Johansen's charisma shines on undiminished, battered, bloody but triumphantly unbowed and when he screams "I feel cool" on "Cool Metro," only a fool would doubt him. No small feat from a guy who has the temerity AND [i]poissonality![/i] to have a go at Bonnie Tyler's "It's a Heartache," changing a sad song into an act of affirmation.



From a front man's perspective, it's hard to imagine a better band watching your back than the swarthy, tonsorially-splendid David Johansen Group (guitarists Johnny Rao and Thomas Trask, bassist Buz Verno, and drummer Frankie LaRocka - with late addition Sylvain on third guitar), the quintessential perfect package, a walking repository of rock and roll and R&B tricks, just as comfortable serving up the buzzing glam wreckage of Dolls' chestnuts like "Looking for a Kiss" and "Personality Crisis" as the greasy swing in covers of "Build Me Up Buttercup," "I Found a Love," "Reach Out (I'll Be There)," and "Love Child." I've raved about these guys so much over the years that it's one of life's great imponderables how I never wound up working PR for them, but they were just that good.



When Thunders materializes from the shadows for set-closer "Babylon" amidst swirling, dangerous drug rumors and tales of kamikaze self-destructiveness, he provides not only a thyroid burst of energy to the proceedings but another link to Johansen's and his own jaunty, raunchy-elegant past, culminating in a grand payoff.



As great as this album originally was on vinyl, this CD upgrade, which restores the entire 18-song performance of the original July 21, 1978 WNEW-FM simulcast, deposits it squarely on hallowed ground. On a short list of gigs I'd gladly sacrifice my soul to have seen, this one has to be at or near the top, the entire set bursting from the speakers in a spray of sweat, tales of past and future glory, and the glorious, unfettered, indefatigable sound of a bunch of Joe Six-Packs who still believe in the redemptive power of guitars, drums, and amps."

Where's the screaming guitars?

C. BOYLAN | staten island, new york United States | 05/07/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This would be an unbelieveable cd except the mix is terrible. I saw David Jo around this time and believe the guitars were loud..As they should be for a ROCK N ROLL BAND!..With all the modern technology the record company couldn't adequetely remix this show by providing some audible..less MUDDY + MUFFLED guitars! It sounds no better than the six track album sampler released in 78. (For those new to DAVID JO, BLUE SKY RECORDS RELEASED SIX TRACKS FROM THIS SHOW ON VINYL IN 1978) The band gets an A for effort...The RECORD COMPANY GETS AN F FOR A BAD REMIX!!!

PS DOES ANYONE HAVE THE DAVID JO LUNCHTIME SHOW FROM 1981 BROADCAST ON WNEW FM ?



SINCERELY,



CHARLIE"