Rising from New York's legendary punk scene in the mid-70s, Mink DeVille were a unique collision of rockabilly attitude, soulful doo-wop romance and Latin flourish, but could never quite fit in or find the success enjoyed by their peers The Ramones, Talking Heads or Television.
Front man Willy DeVille had originally run away from home as a teenager and learned his trade by hanging out in Greenwich Village, New York in the late-1960s, before wandering to London and San Francisco in search of a break. Back in New York in 1975 he put together Mink DeVille, who became the regular house band at CBGB's, and soon the dingy East Village biker bar was becoming a haunt for art school drop-outs and recognised as the birth place of punk. DeVille hated the term 'punk' and was genuinely trying to create a soulful, eclectic R&B band, but fed off the ragged energy and oddball diversity and the band landed a deal with Capitol Records. They worked on shaping their sound with producer Jack Nitzsche who had previously been an engineer for Phil Spector, and their debut album 'Cabretta' gained a cult following in Europe with single 'Spanish Stroll' reaching number 20 in the UK Charts.
New Orleans jazz favourite Dr John played on the follow-up 'Return to Magenta' in 1978, but DeVille sacked most of the band and headed to Paris to record 'La Chat Bleu' where he sought to mix sweet doo-wop melodies with Cajun rhythms and the drama of French chanson singers. Despite being named as one of 'Rolling Stone' magazine's albums of the year, the record company didn't know what to make of DeVille and, amid spiralling drug problems, he was dropped. Later albums 'Where Angels Fear to Tread' and 'Sportin' Life' continued to celebrate a wide range of Americana styles, but DeVille officially ended the band and turned solo in 1986.
