In the song “Downtown,” John sings a line that says “Johnny Thunders on the radio.” Is Johnny Thunders a real guy or is John referring to himself?
A. Johnny Thunders was the guitarist for the 70s glam rock band The New York Dolls. He’s one of John Waite’s idols and played guitar for John on the song “No Brakes” off of Mask of Smiles. “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” was a song that Thunders wrote and recorded on the So Alone record of 1978. Johnny Thunders died in 1991 of a heroin overdose.
