My Life in the Cutout Bins: David Johansen/In Style

1979 was a halcyon year. Things were shifting in the world of pop/rock, bringing a tsunami of bright, new stars to the charts. At the same time, a number of well established rock acts produced meaty albums that cemented their places in the rock and roll firmament. Pink Floyd unleashed The Wall (for better or worse), Fleetwood Mac let go of Tusk (for better or worse), and ABBA managed to produce their most adult record, Voulez-Vous.

Among the newcomers were Elvis Costello with his masterful third album Armed Forces, Joe Jackson with the propulsive Look Sharp!, The Clash with London Calling, XTC's Drums and Wires, and the debut of the B-52s.

Sprinkled in, amongst the stadium acts and the New Wavers, were a handful of artists who had already been around long enough to be legacy acts but who occupied a special space by virtue of their influence on the current scene. These included Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and, NYC's boy wonder, David Johansen.

After the fall of the New York Dolls, David wasted no time, putting together a mid-level rock band that included former NY Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain. Together they penned the eponymous album's single, "Funky But Chic," the warmed over Dolls rocker "Girls," "Cool Metro" and the album closer "Frenchette," which became a popular song at live shows. By turns droll, funny, tough, and vulnerable, it was a solid album, and it was well received by the rock press. But it didn't sell.

The influx of new artists and sounds that occurred in the late '70s allowed an artist like David Johansen to retool and to investigate new sounds and styles that may not have been and obvious part of their original milieu. So Johansen put together In Style, an album that was ostensibly supposed to be more pop-oriented but which really emphasized the extent to which R&B, soul, and other African American musical styles had formed the basis of his rock style.

The album's opener, "Melody," isn't just a faceless Motown retread--it's very specifically a tip of the hat to The Four Tops, sounding every bit like a great lost side by the quartet. The pleading, the caged energy of David's vocal is the perfect mirror of Levi Stubb's greatest vocal performances. It's also a reminder of David Johansen's close rapport with the earlier, mostly African-American phases of rock music, including doo wop, R&B, and soul. Beneath the trash, glitter, and crunged up guitars, the New York Dolls served up a healthy dose of Black pop music history. Their second album, Too Much Too Soon, features four covers of songs by legendary Black writers and performers: The Jayhawks' war horse "Stranded In the Jungle," Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown (also covered by ELO), The Coasters' "Bad Detective," and blues icon Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talkin'".

That wasn't just Johansen's idea, but also the influence of the Dolls' 'other' guitarist, Sylvain Sylvain. Syl remained a strong songwriting partner with Johansen following the Dolls' split. His own solo records, 1978's Sylvain Sylvain and 1980's Syl Sylvain and the Teardrops, leave no doubt about the influence of early rock and roll and doo wop R&B on his work. This certainly formed a strong part of the bond between the two performers.

"She" is the only track on side one that is evocative of Johansen's New York Dolls days, and it grooves along pretty well, featuring a vocal call out backed only by drums ("Give me one good reason why you're hanging around...") At a high energy 2:21 it was definitely aimed towards the punk/new wave market. It's a solid rocker that reminds us of David's past without trying to recreate it.

Next up is the big ballad. Entitled "Big City" it is probably the weakest track lyrically, as Robert Christgau pointed out in his Consumer Guide review. But musically, it's a pretty tune that features some lovely piano by Ronnie Guy, about whom I could find no further information other than his participation on this album (he is also credited as co-writer on "Melody"), and some gorgeous eighties pop sax by Stan Bronstein, formerly of Elephant's Memory.

"Big City" reminds me of songs by Iggy Pop on New Values like "Endless Sea" and "Don't Look Down" where he croons softly in his best FM radio announcer voice. While Ig's numbers dig a little deeper, the bottom line is that they're more about the atmosphere they create, and that's true of "Big City" as well. Bronstein's sax and the track's overall sound create a bit of a Springsteen vibe and anyway the song is about falling in love with the 'Big City' (NYC) despite its flaws, a quiet, romantic gesture.

Was it supposed to woo the wine bar and Michael Franks crowd and maybe garner FM airplay? Yes, absolutely. Does that make it a non-starter? Nope.

In Style is a bit of an in house, family affair, which helps account for its swerve towards a slightly different audience than might have been attracted by his NY Dolls days or even his first solo record. Johanson's Columbia albums were released under the Blue Sky Records custom label created by Steve Paul. Paul managed the acts whose records were released under the label. Besides Johanson these included Johnny and Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Dan Hartmann, and Muddy Waters.

Dan Hartmann, who had been with the Edgar Winter Group, writing and singing their hit "Free Ride," plays bass and does some backup vocals on In Style (the sleeve credits musicians but in few cases does it specify what tracks they play on). So there was a big Steve Paul influence and obviously he would like to score a hit for an act that he manages.

David closes out Side One with two more songs in Black musical styles. "She Knew She Was Falling In Love" is reggae-influenced, and it also has traces of early rock and roll rhythms informed by what Jelly Roll Morton referred to as 'the Latin tinge.' The song had been around for awhile, even performed by Johansen and Sylvain in the waning daze of the Dolls, when they were the only two original members left. Ronson's production decision to give a big, boomy drum echo at the end of every sixteen bars is a bit of foreshadowing to the coming predominant drum sounds in the dawning decade.

"Swaheto Woman" is the kind of track that every artist of the day wished they could pull off, a piece of club-bound, aspirational disco that could get them up on the floor at Studio 54 while exhorting its protagonist, the Swaheto woman of the title to 'dry your eyes' and tells her 'you will be free.' Reportedly Johansen had written the song after reading about women in Soweto township in South Africa during the years of apartheid, but he mispronounced Soweto as 'Swaheto' and by the time it was realized, it was recorded and the jacket and label were printed. There was discussion about whether to reprint them, but in the end it was released unchanged. Johansen later said that it was better, because it made the song that much more universal: 'Swaheto Woman' simply meant any woman who was overwhelmed, undervalued, downtrodden, or oppressed in any way. The song certainly motivates you, making you eager to flip the record and see what's in store on Side Two.

'Justine' arrives somewhere between Bringing It All Back Home-era Bob Dylan and Ronnie Spector doing spot on vocals on a Brill Building masterpiece. It's a solid piece of songwriting, but ends up kind of soft selling what is otherwise a very strong side of vinyl. I vaguely remember (do I?) seeing radio station copies of the album later with stickers that proclaimed this to be one of the singles from the record. And given the time frame, that would make a lot of sense.

The album's title track arrives next, touting some arena style guitar lines and half time tempo as an opening before the song kicks into gear at a faster (but not fast) tempo. It has all the grungier qualities of some of David's NY Dolls work, and chugs along at a steam engine's pace that nonetheless picks it up until it magically becomes "Subway Train's" first cousin.

Next we are treated to "You Touched Me Too" as inconsequential of pop number as David could probably muster and, frankly, one too many invocations of his sincere lover guy avatar. "Wreckless Crazy" is In Style's closest thing to Johanson's NY Dolls glory days, with Syl Sylvain in tow.

On In Style's final track, "Flamingo Road," Johansen pulls out the stops. In a 1979 piece for Time magazine, Jay Cocks wrote "Flamingo Road is a place where many of Johansen's obsessions--fashion, high romance, lowlife--all meet and rebound off one another until they form dead ends. Flamingo Road is the street where love is lost and where dreams die." ('Burning Down the Dollhouse', Jay Cocks, Time, August 20, 1979)

Of course David would be familiar with the Joan Crawford film of the same name wherein Crawford, as a dancer stranded in a small town when the carnival leaves, starts a romance with the corrupt sheriff's feckless son. The sheriff destroys his son, who commits suicide during a run for governor, and Joan ends up married to the guy who's crusading against the corrupt lawman. They live on Flamingo Road, the most exclusive part of the Podunk California town they are in.

The story of someone, particularly a woman, who works their way from poverty or some other kind of otherness to the swanky world of politics, passion, wealth, and beautiful things but loses their soul in the process is a mainstay of film noir and Hollywood melodrama. But Johansen was likely also inspired by a specific woman named Cyrinda Foxe.

Foxe was part of the art world and became a Warhol superstar, appearing in Andy's play Pork as well as Andy Warhol's Bad. She also caught the attention of David and Angela Bowie. Hired to work with Tony DeFries' MainMan management company, she appeared in Mick Rock's film video for Bowie's single "Jean Genie." Bowie said that he wrote the song in Foxe's NYC apartment for her amusement; in her memoir Dream On, Cyrinda recalled that she requested him to write something that sounded like the Yardbirds.

David Johansen and Foxe met at Max's Kansas City and, after a short period of dating, were married in 1977. Their marriage ended after less than a year when Cyrinda began dating Steven Tyler of Aerosmith in 1978. Foxe and Tyler were married that same year.

Against a backdrop of piano chords played by Ian Hunter, Johansen sings:

'When she came to town

She didn't have a dime,

She had to fall in love

or turn to crime"

There is a strong emphasis on clothes as barter for her affections, as Johansen refers to 'all your leather pants' and 'all the clothes in France.' There is the idea that anyone in need of clothing is in a vulnerable position, but for David the clothes stand for status, a place in society, just as living on the mythical Flaming Road does:

"Flamingo Road is such a lovely street.

People walking 'round with hundred dollar shoes on their feet

They're so demure, and they're so sweet

They got so much in common 'cause they

all are cheats..."

Near the end of the song David breaks into a monologue, telling his leatherette betrayer: "You better put on your fur coat when you go out tonight. 'Cause the north wind is gonna BLOW." It fades slowly with a group of male falsetto voices singing backup 'ooohs.' But Johansen has abandoned the microphone, his message delivered.

Hunter's piano, now supported by bass, guitar, and a funereal drum cadence, emphasizes the dramatic, epic nature of the track, and Johansen sings this one beautifully, a soulful wail with an Eric Burdon edge. And, inescapably, the ghost of Bruce Springsteen's narrative voice on songs like "Meeting Across the River" and "Backstreets."

Being a fan of Johansen at the time, I found myself listening to In Style frequently, perhaps even more than his solo debut, and I felt like it got decent reviews at the time, but in retrospect the album has been subjected a great deal of abuse by some Johansen fans. I mentioned New Values earlier; I would offer a series of similar albums from this time period: Ian Hunter/You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic, Garland Jeffries/Escape Artist, Graham Parker/Squeezing Out Sparks. These records all bear the imprint of Bruce Springsteen. Not so much in their sound, though recordings with both acoustic piano and organ as well as frequent saxophone solos became more common post-Springsteen, but rather the fact that they were unabashedly playing rock music without frills. For the most part, these were the biggest records of the decade by these artists. They continued to record, in many cases, and to tour, but the hyped-up studio sounds (Linn drums, primitive polyphonic synths) of the mid-eighties were not kind to the brand of rock they excelled in.

John Rockwell accurately stated that In Style 'represents an extension, rather than a denial, of his (Johanson's) past.' That makes it a success, because he committed to this record completely, providing strong vocals and a mostly first rate group of songs. Producer Mick Ronson seems to have helped keep David focused and expanded the musical palette of the band without resorting to any grandiose studio tactics.

Because we're in the cutout bins, you already know that In Style didn't sell very well, though it was an improvement over his solo debut. His next record, Here Comes the Night and the live album Live It Up kept him bobbling around the water cooler of public attention, but he wasn't able to break through in a significant way despite the quality of these albums until his mid-eighties reincarnation as Buster Poindexter, lounge lizard extraordinaire.

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