As a teenager, he had a band named Billy and the Kids. He moved to London looking to form a band, but was unsuccessful finding like-minded musicians. Eventually, he landed in San Francisco, where he formed a band with bassist Ruben Siguenza and drummer Tom “Manfred” Allen. The band played under the names Billy DeSade & the Marquis and the Lazy Eights before settling on the name Mink DeVille. Later, DeVille took the band to New York City, where they helped to pioneer punk rock music and were one of the original house bands at CBGB, the New York nighclub where punk rock music was born in the mid-1970s. The typical DeVille song — if any of his songs can be called “typical” — is filled with romantic conviction and yearning. Latin rhythms, Blues riffs, and strains of country music can be heard in DeVille songs. Spanish Stroll was a hit in the U.S. and the UK in 1978; Storybook Love (nominated for an Academy Award in 1987) is the theme song of the movie The Princess Bride. DeVille suffered from drug addiction for many years, which stifled his career. Among fellow musicians and songwriters, he is respected. Songwriter Doc Pomus said about Deville, “He knows the truth of a city street and the courage in a ghetto love song.” DeVille died of pancreatic cancer during the night of August 6, 2009 in a New York hospital. DeVille had homes in New Orleans and Mississippi. |
