The long list of musical artists who have passed away in 2025 includes one you may have missed.

David Johansen died in March at the age of 75–a victim of cancer.

It’s interesting to note that David was a double icon: as a member of the seminal Punk/Glam Rock group The New York Dolls…AND as his “Calypso/Dance Rock alter ego: Buster Poindexter.

The New York Dolls were never really commercially successful, but they certainly influenced a number of punk bands over the years (Motley Crue, for example).

As Buster Poindexter, however, David will forever be known as the party animal behind the 1987 hit “Hot! Hot! Hot!” which climbed to #11 on Billboard’s Dance Club Chart.

The song was a cover of the 1983 original by an artist named Arrow (from the island of Monserrat)…and Buster’s version was a crazy jazzed-up calypso version that was not only bilingual, but tri-cultural…

because, for some reason, the video was filmed in one of New York’s many Chinatowns!

Fun Fact: David also appeared in a number of movies over the years, most notably as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Bill Murray’s “Scrooged.”

“Hot” Hot! Hot!” by New York Doll David Johansen, aka Buster Poindexter: an all-time Great Dance Song from 1987!

Click here, and let the heavenly party begin!

–Mike Cook