Mink DeVille

Mink DeVille
Members of Mink DeVille in 1977; Louis X. Erlanger (left) and Willy DeVille (right)
Background information
Also known as	The Mink DeVille Band
Origin	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres	Roots rock, punk rock, soul, rhythm and blues, blues, Cajun, Latin rock
Years active	1974–1986
Labels	Capitol, Atlantic, Polydor
Past members	Willy DeVille (deceased) Rubén Sigüenza Thomas R. "Manfred" Allen, Jr. (deceased) Fast Floyd (Robert McKenzie) Ritch Colbert Louis X. Erlanger Bobby Leonards Allen Rabinowitz Vinnie Cirincione (deceased) George Cureau Jr Paul James Joey Vasta Kenny Margolis Louis Cortelezzi Thommy Price Ricky Borgia Shawn Murray Bobby Curiano

Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, after which it disbanded the next year. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played only on the first two albums (Cabretta and Return to Magenta). For the remaining albums and for tours, Willy DeVille assembled musicians to play under the name "Mink Deville". After 1985, when Willy DeVille began recording and touring under his own name, his backup bands were sometimes called "The Mink DeVille Band", an allusion to the earlier Mink Deville name.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriter Doc Pomus said about the band, "Mink DeVille knows the truth of a city street and the courage in a ghetto love song. And the harsh reality in his voice and phrasing is yesterday, today, and tomorrow — timeless in the same way that loneliness, no money, and troubles find each other and never quit for a minute."^[1]