How cool is Buster Poindexter? The alter ego of David Johansen of New York Dolls fame, Poindexter is VERY cool. A seasoned lounge singer, he sports a pompadour, a wavecrest that may stand erect using a formula once shared by Bello the Clown: a mix of Rogaine and Viagra. A pencil thin mustache grazes his upper lip a la John Waters, but he makes it his own as he shimmies, sashays, and rhumbas his way around the Carlyle stage, his pelvis moving to Presley precision. His show -- only five nights -- is a tongue-in-cheek medley of genres: doo-wop, country, rock, his wit evident throughout, opening with "Viper" ("I had a dream about a reefer five feet long"), and "Bad Boy" ("I've taken the trouble to turn my night into day."). After four songs, he predicted his own review: "Did you see Poindexter the other night?" "How was it?" "Good. But he was crazy."
With his band featuring Brian Koonin on guitar, Clifford Carter on piano, Richard Hammond on upright bass and a theatrical Ray Grappone on drums, by the time they got to his signature "Hot Hot Hot," a mainstay of every bar mitzvah since the 1980s, the audience on opening night was so blissfully whipped up we could have joined his conga line. Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole.
A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.