Pop Music Reviews : Pop Cultures Collide in Buster’s Eclectic Mix

Taking his tres- hip cabaret act outdoors under the stars, Buster Poindexter spent nearly two hours Friday turning the Greek Theatre into the equivalent of a smoky, sophisticated, cafe-society joint.

Augmented by three female vocalists, the tuxedoed singer and his top-blowing nine-man band the Banshees of Blue charmed the half-capacity, older-than-the-usual-rock-concert crowd with the same eclectic mix of jump blues, half-forgotten soul tunes, torch songs and Latin-from-Manhattan numbers found on his ’87 LP debut. Think Cab Calloway. Think the King Louies (Jordan and Prima). Think snaking a conga line through the aisles while playing last winter’s tropical-flavored semi-hit “Hot Hot Hot.” Think pretty much the same show they did at the Roxy six months ago.

Along with a half-dozen new old songs, the remainder of the swangin’ soiree was given to Poindexter--formerly proto-punk rocker David Johansen, until he adopted this more profitable persona--sitting on a stool, dangling a cigarette and a martini glass, delivering fanciful, funny, show-bizzy stories in which 60 years of pop culture collided in a knowing wink. Buster, babes, yer fab- ulous! I can getcha two weeks workin’ the Big Room--but ya gotta get anudda rekkud out. . . .