Johansen re-recorded the track "Heart of Gold" as Buster Poindexter, which originally appeared on Johansen's 1981 solo album Here Comes the Night.[1] The song "Hot Hot Hot" was a Billboard single and received heavy play on MTV.
Around 1982,[2] Johansen began performing under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter in a small club in his neighborhood.[3] He adapted the pseudonym to avoid fans of his music from coming to the shows, and asking for his music. The Shows grew in popularity, and gradually the original three piece band with which he performed grew in size to the Banshees of Blue, accompanied by The Uptown Horns.[4] They achieved moderate commercial success, performing jump blues, traditional pop, swing, and novelty songs.[5] Shortly before the album's release, Buster began appearing as part of the house band on the television program Saturday Night Live.[6]