Music DVDs

Looking for Johnny: The Legend of Johnny Thunders

"Johnny was the best songwriter that ever lived," declares New York Dolls guitarist Syl Sylvain of his former bandmate two minutes into director Danny Garcia's (The Rise & Fall of the Clash) superb documentary of the glam guitarist and punk icon. NYC cultural maven Lenny Kaye then dubs him "the essence of rock & roll." No mere hype for a fallen comrade, either: For every thrilling tale told by friends, colleagues, and fans of the cell-altering Dolls or Thunders' Heartbreakers and later solo work – for all the praise his gutter-Keef guitar work generates – there's as many woeful gasps at his junkiedom. Garcia actualizes neither gloss nor a sleaze trawl, his Thunders portrait sympathetic, affectionate, and balancing the artistry with the not-always-great decisions heroin addiction inspires. There's ample archival footage and photographs, much raw, glorious rock & roll, and lots of testifying. Sylvain even notes Bob Dylan expressing envy of Johnny Thunders' having written "You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory."