Willy DeVille: Another Punk Icon Gone

I haven’t thought much in recent years about the rock singer Willy DeVille and his band Mink DeVille, names out of my music writing/selling days in the ‘70s and ‘80s. But I was still surprised and saddened to read of his death, at 58, of pancreatic cancer. As with so many rock passings, it came after years of living on the edge. But a little bit of your heart breaks when even a small part of your past goes away. DeVille was one of the pioneers of the New York ’70s punk rock scene, playing the legendary, now-defunct CBGB in the same era as bands that became considerably more popular, such as Blondie, Talking Heads and The Ramones. The latter became more popular in retrospect, but had a shocking mortality rate among its band members. And DeVille’s music was not straight punk rock, but in the words of the AP obit, a “blend of R&B, blues, Dixieland and traditional French Cajun ballads.” The official bio mentions his admiration for Edith Piaf. He worked with some stellar producers, such as the late Jack Nitzsche and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.  DeVille’s song “Storybook Love” from the film The Princess Bride was nominated for an Academy award. He was also prolific, recording a number of band and solo albums between 1977 and 2005.  For a personal, evocative appreciation of DeVille and his music, read Neil McCormick’s Willy DeVille: death of an icon, on Telegraph.co.uk. McCormick observes that DeVille drew on some of the same musical sources as Bruce Springsteen, who also began his recording career in the ‘70s. “Springsteen sounded like he was your friend in desperate times,” McCormick writes. “DeVille sounded like he couldn’t quite decide whether to serenade you or pull a knife on you.”