Arguably most recognized — the face, if not the name — for his turn as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Bill Murray's holiday perennial "Scrooged," David Johansen is primarily a singer and writer of songs (though not what you'd call a singer-songwriter). As the frontman of the influential if commercially unsuccessful band the New York Dolls; creator of the more successful, less influential tuxedoed Buster Poindexter; a solo artist with a rock band and a cabaret artist backed by a jazz combo, he's kept busy from the early 1970s into the early 2020s — well known in certain circles, but not widely famous.
Showtime's "Personality Crisis: One Night Only," co-directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, aims to close that gap. As a longtime chronicler of New York City cultures and characters, with several rockumentaries under his belt — "The Last Waltz," the Rolling Stones' "Shine a Light," "George Harrison: Living in the Material World," two Bob Dylan films, "No Direction Home" and "Rolling Thunder Review" — Scorsese would seem to be the man for the material. And he co-created the calamitous HBO music business series "Vinyl," in which the Dolls figure as cred-lending historical window dressing. And, of course, he's a longtime chronicler of New York City cultures and characters, fictional and non-, from Travis Bickle to Fran Lebowitz. He's on home ground.
It comes together in spades in the winning "Personality Crisis," and in the equally attractive person of Johansen, a nexus of Manhattan alternative scenes. It's the rare rock doc that includes nods to a cast as varied as this: folk archivist Harry Smith, opera singer Maria Callas, Warhol-orbit superstars, Abbie Hoffman, Milos Forman (Johansen auditioned for the film of "Hair"), topless avant-garde cellist Charlotte Moorman and Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company, where a young Johansen sometimes did lights or sound (when he was awake for the cues) and even appeared onstage.
