“Looking for Johnny” is a new film about Johnny Thunders, directed by Danny Garcia (who also has “The Rise and Fall of the Clash” on his resume). Garcia interviewed various members of the New York punk scene and other musicians that worked with Thunders in this ninety-minute overview of the man’s life. Some of the primary participants in the documentary are Sylvain Sylvain, Marty Thau (who passed away in February of this year), Lenny Kaye, Bob Gruen, and Malcolm McLaren. (Oddly, McLaren participated via a phone interview instead of on film).
Thunders, whose given name was John Anthony Gonzeles, Jr., grew up in Queens with a doting mother, an older sister, and no father. He loved playing baseball as a youngster, but his interests changed after The Beatles hit the scene. He played in high school bands in the late ‘60s and fell into the unit that would become the New York Dolls while still a teenager. His aggressive take on the Chuck Berry/Keith Richards style of guitar riffing would become a major inspiration for ‘70s punk music. In look and demeanor, he was heavily influenced by Keith Richards’ stoned gypsy persona. He developed an unquenchable taste for drugs soon after joining the band. Regarding Thunders’ chronic need to overindulge, Sylvain notes that after the first night that Johnny smoked a joint, the next day he bought a pound of marijuana.
The movie quickly covers Thunders’ childhood and his time with the Dolls. Lenny Kaye and others describe how the Dolls reinvigorated the New York music scene with their highly charged music and shocking stage costumes. It was a chaotic time. While bassist Arthur Kane was often too drunk to perform, Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan became heroin addicts. After two brilliant but commercially unsuccessful albums, the Dolls were dropped by Mercury Records. Malcolm McLaren then swept in and gave the band a ridiculous Communist party image that thankfully died a quick and merciful death.
Shortly after the Dolls dismembered, Thunders and Nolan formed the Heartbreakers, who couldn’t get a major label deal due to their known drug problems. They recorded one poorly produced album (which included the quintessential punk rock tunes “Born to Lose” and “Chinese Rocks”), but could never get any commercial traction. The band would reform often over the next decade as an easy money gig in the New York area. Nolan and Thunders would alternate between behaving as blood brothers and fighting over band income.
In every clip and interview with Thunders, he seems hopelessly stoned out of his mind. His life and consequently this movie is more of a story about a drug addict than it is a musician. Thunders generated a boyish charm, but he was also a manipulating hustler. In one ugly piece of junkie reality, Bob Gruen relates that Thunders beat up his wife to take her welfare money and then felt victimized when he no longer could contact his children. During the ‘80s, Thunders lived in Europe for extended periods of time and even acted in a few films. By the end of the decade he was a very sick man and he passed away in New Orleans in 1991 at the age of 38.
Like most documentaries, this is a labor of love and director Garcia does a fine job at highlighting the key events in Thunders’ life. However, the limited ability he had for licensing is a shortcoming of the film – most of the music used in the film is clamorous stage footage that doesn’t adequately display Thunders’ skill as a songwriter. The movie would have benefited by participation from David Johansen and Richard Hell (both were contacted but chose not to be interviewed). A glaring oversight is the lack of genuine critical perspective – this is a movie steeped in facts, but almost bereft of any insight into Thunders’ artistic contributions as a guitarist or songwriter. Pardon me for being too cute in my conclusion: Garcia tried to put his arm around a memory, but instead spent too much time digging up Chinese rocks.
Grade – B
