Johnny Thunders - RIP, April 23 1991

I was devastated 19 years ago when I heard than Johnny Thunders had died, though I guess I wasn't surprised.

The first time I ever say Johnny Thunders was at a movie taping at the Mudd Club, for a film to be called Gringo (about a notorious lower east side junkie). It was one of the first times I'd ever even been in a rock club - it might have been the first - and the first time I realized rock and roll could really be dangerous. I remember it like yesterday, particularly the moment, captured on film, when Gringo taunted Johnny and slapped him. Johnny responded by swinging his guitar smack at Gringo. Fun times: