Mink DeVille Biography
The foundation of this unit was guitarist and songwriter Willy DeVille (William Borsey, 25 August 1950, Stamford, Connecticut, USA). He arrived in London in 1971 to form a band but, unable to find the right musicians, performed as a solo artist before heading to San Francisco and assembling the embryonic Mink DeVille. The basic trio became Willy DeVille (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Ruben Siguenza (bass) and Thomas R. Allen (drums). Allen had previously played with various blues musicians. They relocated to New York and recruited Louie X Erlanger on guitar. The band, by this time a wonderful live unit, recorded three tracks for the Live At CBGB's compilation and then in 1977 released their debut album produced by Jack Nitzsche, which included the hit single "Spanish Stroll". The follow-up, Return To Magenta, was publicized by releasing "Soul Twist" on purple vinyl, but overall the album was an unhappy compromise between the group's original new wave sound and DeVille's more soulful ambitions. Like the debut, it included a Moon Martin cover version, "Rolene'. For the third album, Le Chat Blue, in 1980, the band comprised DeVille and Erlanger, plus Kenny Margolis (keyboards), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ron Tutt (drums) and Steve Douglas (saxophone). Although it featured co-writing credits by songwriter Doc Pomus (Joe Turner, Dion, Drifters), the album failed to spark. Savoir Faire collected the best of the three Capitol albums, after which the band moved to Atlantic Records. Unfortunately, Coup De Grâce also failed to signal a revival. Despite Nitzsche returning to produce, only the occasional song had Mink DeVille's previous edge. Things improved, however, with the release of Where Angels Fear To Tread which removed some of the over-produced clutter from their sound. Willy DeVille's new songs paid tribute to his soul heroes without affecting the band's new-found strength. Sportin" Life continued the improvement, although afterwards DeVille left to renew his solo career.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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![Spanish Stroll [Import] Boxart](http://oldies.cachefly.net/i/boxart/mid/67/724348673527.jpg?v=2)
