Backstage with...David Johansen

Time Out New York: Last year, you reunited the New York Dolls at the behest of Morrissey. I'd imagine that people have been trying to talk you into this for years—what made Morrissey so convincing?

David Johansen: We were always hoping to be persuaded by what you might call stubby-fingered vulgarians. Then Morrissey called me out of the blue. He was doing that [Meltdown] festival, and said it would make him so happy if we played. I asked Morrissey if he would do it with the Smiths, and he said, "Absolutely not." [Laughs] I was like, "Well, how do you expect me to do it?"

TONY: What changed your mind?

DJ: I was going through this phase of evaluating my ways—one of the things I had been working on was not dismissing things out of hand. I started to project myself into the situation. I decided to go into it and have the most fun I possibly could have. And I ended up having more fun than I'd even imagined.

TONY: When the Sex Pistols reunited, John Lydon ran around telling everybody he was in it for the money. It seems like you're on a different page.

DJ: You know, I've had a lot of money and I've had no money, and then I've had money again. Sometimes when you have money, life's more of a pain in the ass than when you don't. You get all this stuff and then you've got to take care of it. I want to spend my life doing things that I enjoy—it's really the way I've been since I was a kid. I've never really done anything for the money.

TONY: Not even your performances as Buster Poindexter?

DJ: I started doing the Buster thing because I was listening to all this [Caribbean] music and thought it would be fun to perform it. As Buster, I got into all these enclaves where I had never been before. I got to be a fly on the wall and play at, like, World Bank parties for country-club people. It felt subversive, as opposed to having been preaching to the choir for so long. It was pretty fascinating.

TONY: Many of the people going to see you at Across the Narrows have never been to Staten Island before. Having grown up in the borough, what are your thoughts on what they'll encounter?

DJ: Staten Island is the best-kept secret in New York! They pretend they're provincial out there, but really it's a big think tank for the most forward-thinking intelligentsia. [Laughs] They'll probably be running the new ferries that day. They have the Shaolin vegan café, the spa with aromatherapy, the duty-free shop.… They're mad snobby in Staten Island.

TONY: Bassist Arthur Kane passed away soon after the Dolls' reunion. A lot of people were surprised that you and guitarist Syl Sylvain chose to carry on.

DJ: It was a huge shock—nobody even knew Arthur was sick. But I've always been a show maker. I've done shows with the flu. I've done shows with leprosy. It's kind of an ethic of mine.

TONY: The Dolls' history is pretty morbid—it's almost as if death is trailing your band.

DJ: I just hope I'm not next! Of course, then I'm saying that Syl is next. And that is pretty selfish.
—Jay Ruttenberg

The New York Dolls play Across the Narrows at Richmond County Bank Ballpark Saturday 1.