Johansen was born in the New York City borough of Staten Island to a librarian mother, Helen, and an insurance sales representative father, who had previously sung opera.

The studio releases Here Comes the Night (which includes a signature number, "Heart of Gold") and Sweet Revenge again showcased his strengths as a writer of new material and featured a guest appearance by jazz saxophone player Big Jay McNeely.

In 1982 Johansen was the opening act for The Who at several U.S. East Coast concerts, including Shea Stadium in New York City and Capital Centre near Washington, D.C.

In the late 1980s, Johansen achieved moderate commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter,[9] accompanied by The Uptown Horns, performing jump blues, traditional pop, swing and novelty songs.

Johansen went on to issue Buster's Happy Hour, an album of songs thematically linked by their subject matter: alcohol.

Among his more prominent roles are that of the wisecracking Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged (1988), which starred Bill Murray[9] as well as the part of "Looney" in the movie Let It Ride (1989), playing opposite Richard Dreyfuss.

He starred opposite Hulk Hogan and Sherman Hemsley in Mr. Nanny (1993) and co-starred with John C. McGinley in the movie Car 54, Where Are You?

He can be seen in the Jim White documentary film Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus in which he sings a version of Geeshie Wiley's "Last Kind Words" while in a motel room.

He also played Halston (a hired hitman) in the anthology film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), in the segment "The Cat from Hell".

The group was named as a tribute to Harry Everett Smith, who compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music, several songs of which were covered by the band.

Johansen's opus, a cinematic and unabashedly romantic Adagio scored mostly for strings, is called "Mara Dreams the Moon Gate of Uncommon Beauty".

In addition to his own albums, Johansen contributed songs to the soundtracks of the films Times Square and The Aviator ("Flowers in the City" and "Ain't Cha Glad" respectively) and guests on About Them Shoes, a CD by veteran blues man Hubert Sumlin.

Another non-album track of his, "Johnsonius", appears on the 1984 compilation A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse and "The Rope (The Let Go Song)", a track originally recorded during the sessions for his eponymous first album and published on the B-side of the single, "Funky But Chic", a song that was performed by the original New York Dolls before their break up.

Johansen has worked consistently with Sylvain Sylvain, drummer Tony Machine – formerly an agent who worked for Leber & Krebs, a member of the New York Dolls in 1975–1976 and a fixture in many David Johansen groups and throughout the Buster Poindexter period – and Brian Koonin, guitarist and banjo player with Buster Poindexter and The Harry Smiths as well as keyboard player with the New York Dolls for the first reunion engagement and the One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This CD and tour.