Mink Deville

Even though Mink Deville emerged during 1975 a part of New York's CBGB's scene, mainman Willy DeVille stood out from the crowd with his sharp West Side Story threads and chiseled Pacheco looks, and for once there was no arty subtext. His one ambition was "to play music that would make the glasses dance on the bar" and, with Spanish Stroll, he achieved just that - an effervescent cocktail of Lou Reed and Ritchie Valens, with a Rock & Roll swagger Springsteen would die for.

The Jack Nitzsche-produced debut album, Cabretta, owed more to The Drifters and the Brill Building than anything approximating New Wave and 1977's Rolling Stone Critics Poll awarded it the 'Most Promising' award.

The world looked to be Willy's oyster but a descent into heroin and ignominy followed.

Recent albums - especially 2005's Crow Jane Alley, seem to confirm him as clean and creative once more.