Really sad to hear about the death of Willy Deville.
I only recently got a DVD of his on Amazon and was delighted to see that he was still on form musically and a spiky character offstage.I got into some great music through listening to Mink Deville and am proud to say that I caught them do two unforgettable shows at long gone Venue in Victoria.I actually hid in the toilets to catch the second set.That,I must add,wasn’t much of a chore because I was accompanied by a sack of industrial strength speed.My equally late,great comrade Giovanni Dadomo regaled with some great tales of the Devil Deville.And I also met a lady in New Orleans who took care of him there and explained why his tenure in the Big Easy was so short leading him to get drummed out of town (an amazing feat when you consider at the time I was there one of the Mayors was found dead from a drug induced heart atack in a brothel).
Willy loved Europe and we loved him back.Whenever a favoured talent dies I conjure up a list of less capable so called stars who I think should have gone in his place.It;s long and wide reaching.
I’m happy to say without caring how corny I sound that we still have the music and I shall be having day of it tomorrow to commerate the Minks sad demise.
God rest his soul…..
One Response to Willy Deville RIP
I too was at that Venue gig and adored every glorious minute. I particularly recall charismatic axeman Louis X. Erlanger beetling about the stage in a white suit that I, in my jeans and leather jacket, secretly envied. The life-affirmingly effervescent Spanish Stroll and the edgy Cadillac Walk still stand out as musical highlights.
Willy De Ville’s drug habits, however, I regarded then and now as tragic.
Willy was one of the major reasons why New York New Wave always meant so much more to me than English punk. Frankly, I had difficulty distinguishing between the sub-Ramones thrash of most of our homegrown punks, but the New York bands were all utterly individual.
Where, except in their spirit of intelligent adventure, was the common musical ground between The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Talking Heads and Mink De Ville? And that’s why I loved them. They were all unique, all individual spirits.
Willy De Ville, of course, was the the one with the romantic heart. While hard rockers the world over were thrusting their penis guitars up from between their spandex-wrapped thighs, Willy sang of his wish Just To Walk That Little Girl Home.
Most of The Ramones are gone, and now Willy. It makes me think of Jim Carroll’s agonising People Who Died. “They were all my friends, but they died.”
For Willy, though, perhaps the most fitting epitaph is, “It’s closing time, in this nowhere cafe…” It certainly feels that way.