Disgraceland Podcast Host (3:07)
Hey discos, need a little more Disgrace Land in your life? Just a touch to get you through. Yeah, me too. This is the podcast that comes after the podcast. Welcome to Disgrace Land. The afterpar. Welcome to the Disgraceland bonus episode. A little thing we like to call the After Party. This is the show after the show, the party after the party, the bridge to get you from one full episode of Disgraceland to the other, the backyard. To dig into the dirt on this bonus episode, we are talking about this week's episode subject, Dennis Hopper. We are also discussing two cultural giants that we lost last week, David Johansson and Gene Hackman. And we get into your voicemails, text, dms, emails, and as always, a whole lot of rosy all right, discos, let's get into it. So since the last time we talked, which was during last week's afterparty, we lost two giants. I think we can use that word, giants from the world of entertainment. David Johansson and Gene Hackman. Two men, two artists of immense influence. David Johansson, of course, as a New York doll, he was the last living New York doll as well, a band that he led. A band that directly influenced so many others. A band as exciting and thrilling and dangerous as the city that it represented. A band reflective of David Johansson's unique style and personality, which was tough, witty, funny, iconoclastic. If David Johansson never created the New York Dolls, it's doubtful. I really, truly mean this. This isn't hyperbole. It's doubtful that we would have had bands like the Stooges, the Ramones, and if we didn't have the Ramones, then we wouldn't have had the Clash or the Sex Pistols, and we definitely wouldn't have had without the New York Dolls, we definitely wouldn't have had Kiss or Motley Cruel. At the very least, Motley Crue would have been a hell of a different band. If the New York Dolls never made it into Nikki Sixx's record collection. I didn't grow up a New York Dolls fan. They were before my time. I came to them late. I came to them actually through Johnny Thunders solo stuff. So I wasn't there obviously when they started, it was before I was born. But in the research I've done, both on the New York Dolls and on bands like Blondie, especially In reading Legs McNeil's book, please kill Me, you really get sense of the stir, the unique stir, the unique energy that the New York Dolls, the excitement that the New York Dolls created in New York City at their spark, at their beginning, specifically around the early 70s shows and the Mercer Arts center shows that were depicted in. Oh God, what was that movie? No TV show on HBO Vinyl. These shows were the coolest of the coolest shows by every estimation. This whole scene that the New York Dolls had kind of built and that. That had sprung up around them, around the creation of their band, it was felt all over the city. I mean, from a young Jeffrey Ross Hyman, AKA Joey Ramone, to Bette Midler. I've. I've even read accounts of, Of John Lennon, if not, you know, being a fan of the New York Jaws, at least being interested or aware of what was going on at the time. And like I said, Bette Midler was hanging out down there. I. I read it wasn't true. I checked it this morning. I read that Hendrix was at a New York Doll show. But I checked that out and he died, I believe, the year before they. They came to be. So if you read that, that's not true. But of course, Joey Ramon, Bette Midler, a host of others who went on to become famous. Debbie Harry, Too Many Dimension. The Dolls were the hottest thing in New York, unquestionably. And they were one of those bands that of course, didn't sell a lot of records, but whose influence is still being felt in our culture 50 years later, even beyond music with style, with filmmaking. I actually have a film on in the background right now. It's called Smithereens. It's just playing on Criterion Channel. It's set in the 80s, early 80s, I believe, in Manhattan. And just from the look of it and the feel of it and the sound of it and all of it, you can feel the influence of the New York Dolls in this little indie movie. David Johansson was a star for sure, despite the band not selling a bunch of records. So even as a star, though, it's hard to even explain the type of star that David Johansson was in the New York Dolls. I mean, he's an everyman tough guy, but he's in lipstick and high heels and he's got this androgynous image that he's projecting while he's fronting the New York Dolls. But he's still, like I said, tough, fast talking, the scrappy New York cab driver. All that worked in contrast with his band Personas somehow. And it just all added up to this certain brand of icon. David Johansson was the best type of rock star. He was many things at once, just like New York City. Okay, I've said that about New York City in the past, it's obvious, but David Johansson was more than just the front man of the New York Dolls. Of course he was. He was the Buster Poindexter character, that monster hit from the 80s. Hot, hot, hot. He was an actor, most notably as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Bill Murray Scrooge. And I'm sure there's a host of other roles that I'm not thinking of right now that are more indicative of just how awesome David Johansson was. I had a brief, very brief personal exchange with David Johansson about five years ago, and I was fully aware of the legend that he is. And I found him just in that moment to be gentle and kind, and he just projected this ease about him that was just beyond cool. That's how I would describe it. So rest in peace, David Johansson. There's been a gazillion obits about him and tributes, and a lot more eloquent than what I just laid out to you. And I just tried to give it to you raw and sort of semi off the cuff of how I felt, how I feel, I should say, about David Johansson's place in rock and roll history. And I think if you asked all the greats, they'd give you something similar to what I just gave you. David Johansson was a one of a kind artist who broke the mold and he will forever ever be missed. We also lost Gene Hackman, and like David Johansson, Gene Hackman was immensely influential, though in ways that are harder to qualify. I think, where Johansson was sort of over the top and burst into our cultural consciousness. And these brief, impactful moments, leaving a loud mark on music and film. Gene Hackman, to me, anyway, was so good and so consistent that it's almost like we took him for granted. Yet there he was, he's in all these great roles year after year throughout my childhood, you know, from before my childhood, you know, into my adulthood. Gene Hackman just kind of always There, always pumping out great role after role after role until he suddenly wasn't. And when he stopped making movies and retired from the public eye about, I guess, what, a decade ago, two decades ago, how many of us even really noticed? I know I didn't, I'm ashamed to say, and I say this because a couple of months ago is when I realized this, when these paparazzi photos of a gaunt looking Gene hackman in his 90s were released. He doesn't look anything like we remember him as. And it was at that moment that I realized that he was still around. And I don't know what that's about. Talk about fading away instead of burning out. But again, there's something really interesting there to me about an artist who's just so good and so consistent and so prolific that we take them for granted and we don't really give ourselves the time and the moments to celebrate them and to really dig in and shout about them and geek out on them. And Gene Hackman was just always there. His filmography is as impressive as almost any other great 20th century actor. I mean, these movies are incredible. French Connection, Hoosiers, Bonnie and Clyde, Royal Tenenbaums, the Firm. The Firm's great. I know, I know there's going to be cinephiles out there who are like the Firm. What are you talking about? The Firm's fucking awesome. And he is tremendous. And Unforgiven, even Superman, Mississippi Burning, Young Frankenstein, and of course the Conversation. Hackman is so good, so, so consistent and so Gene Hackmany and all these films, like I said, we take him for granted. At least I do. That's my take. I don't know if you guys feel that way. There's just something to be said about that greatness that is so steady that it goes unnoticed. And that's what I believe Gene Hackman had. And I believe that he had a career that most actors in Hollywood would die for. And that's actually something we need to talk about, is how Gene Hackman himself died. We're still figuring it out. David Johansson died from cancer. Gene Hackman's death, alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, is still very much under investigation. If you're unaware of what happened, their bodies were found in different parts of their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Autopsy and toxicology reports are still pending. There were pills scattered around the body of Hackman's wife, but not around Gene Hackman himself. Both are believed to have been deceased for as long as a week, possibly a little bit longer, before they were discovered when this happened last week. The fact that their dog was found to be dead as well led everyone to believe that or to speculate, I should say that this was carbon monoxide poisoning and that's what was to be blamed. But apparently that's been ruled out. There are no signs of trauma to the, to their bodies. If we're to believe what's been reported, there's no signs of foul play. But both these deaths are strange. Hackman was 95. Okay. Obviously no spring chicken. His wife though was 65. How did they both die at the same time in different parts of the house? And what's up with their dog being dead? 12 year old dog found dead on the scene as well. Anyways, we'll find out and we'll do something a little more fully on Gene Hackman in the future. And of course we have a New York Dolls episode, what that gets into. You know, obviously David Johansson fronted that band, so we do a lot on David Johansson there. But I think there could actually be a, some sort of David Johansson tribute episode in the future. There's more to that guy's career than we obviously get into in the New York Dolls episode. And I'm just frankly fascinated by the guy. So I'd love to stick my head and stick my head in that wormhole for a couple weeks and come out the other side with something cool for you guys to listen to. So maybe we'll do that in the future. And yeah, Hackman, David Johansson. Two deaths in the past week. Heavy stuff. One death mysterious. One death rather uneventful. Both sa but two lives well lived with massive contributions to our culture. Both men will be missed by millions, including of course, those of us here in Disgraceland. Speaking of disgrace, about Sean Combs and that lawyer who quit the TikTok rumor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the rumor mill will not quit. And what's being bandied about as the reason why Diddy's attorney bailed. It's so disgusting. It's so grotesque. I can't repeat it here in this space, but if you want to know my thoughts on it, you can hit me up in the Patreon chat. We can talk about it over there in private like proper degenerates behind closed doors. Privacy of our own digital digital home. Related news to Diddy. Jay Z is suing the accuser who brought a lawsuit against him through Tony Busby. Jay Z suing that accuser for defamation. And as I say, if you go for the king, you better not miss. They missed. And here Comes Jay Z. Speaking of kings, we got some Dennis Hopper, we got some Stevie Ray Vaughan. Dennis Hopper, of course. This week's full episode of Disgraceland, Stevie Ray Vaughan, last week's exclusive episode for our All Access members. We're going to be talking about those guys in this here after party. Before we get to that, I want to talk about what's coming up in Disgrace. And next in your feed are our rewind episodes on Tupac Shakur. And these have particular relevance right now because of Sean Combs as we get ready to go into this Sean Diddy combs trial in two months. That's right, two months. May 5th, still on the books. Okay, so we got to bone up. Got a bone up on our 90s hip hop true crime. There's really five episodes on the whole Tupac and Biggie saga. When I started Disgraced on the first season, there's a joint episode on TUPAC and Biggie, 30 minutes. And then about two years after that, I released two two part episodes, one on Tupac himself and one on the Notorious B.I.G. that bookended a season of Disgraceland. I think they did. I think they bookended it anyways. They all came out around early 2020. But this Tupac episode, if you have not heard it, this two part Tupac episode, you are in for a treat. And like I said, if you have heard it, time to listen again. Time to bone up and get ready for this trial that's coming on Sean Combs in a couple months. And plus, you know, with everything that we've learned about Sean Combs and about Tupac's murder in the last few years, I want to know what you guys think about Tupac's murder. I want to know what you guys think about how I depict it in these episodes and what else is happening. Oh, yeah, next Tuesday, St. Patty's Day. I know people hate when I say St. Patty's Day, but I don't care. I grew up in Clinton, Massachusetts. You could not be more Irish. You could not be more Catholic. And I know there's purists out there who say that the Irish, the true cat, the true Irish, the true Catholics don't say St. Patty's Day. Well, I grew up amongst. I'm Catholic myself. I grew up amongst Catholics and we said it. So I'm not going to stop it. Okay? I'm not St. Patrick's Day. There, I said it for you. For St. Patrick's Day, also known as St. Patty's Day, we have a Thin Lizzy episode that's coming up that's on Tuesday. That's for you guys to hear. When you're listening to this Thin Lizzy episode, I want you to be thinking about the greatest Irish bands of all time, okay? You can. You can tell me Drop Kick Murphy's and I'll take it. All right, I'll accept it. They're great. I love them. They're amazing. But you're gonna get bonus points for Irish bands, okay? There ain't that many of them. Speaking of Catholics, my priest went to high school with some of the guys from U2. How cool is that? So I know what his answer is. But I want to know yours. Who is it? Let me know. Be thinking about that when that Thin Lizzy episode pops next week. I'll be back in a flash right after this with your voicemails, your texts, your DMs, emails and more.
