Only inhuman monsters could dislike hearing Del's heartbroken shrieks. He's been one of my favorite pop singer-songwriters since I blew what was then a small fortune on Best Of compilations from Rhino Records' 1989 or '90 bigass catalog and discovered all the great old pop music that never gets any airplay on oldies stations. [See also: Isley Brothers, Drifters, Dick Dale, Zombies.]
One recurring theme in many of their comps was ending the album with the most kickass though obscure track in the subject's oeuvre. In Del's case, it was "Sister Isabelle," a psychedelic love letter to a young nun; let's see a Springsteen or a Dylan write that song. In a better world, women named Isabelle would have to humor people who insist on greeting them by bellowing their names as often as women named Bernadette have to endure now, because this song is great [ignore the demo track that starts around 2:45]:
I had no idea that Frank Black's first project after the Pixies broke up was to record a session for BBC icon John Peel with Teenage Fanclub as his backing band. One of the tracks they recorded was a surprisingly faithful and almost sedate but still rocking cover of "Sister Isabelle:"
Back to Del Shannon; I think it was Spurge who pointed out that Grant Morrison is clearly seen fruging during the Clavioline solo [1:17] of this "live" performance of Del's hit "Runaway:"
Do they even air teen dance programs on television anymore? If they do, I hope being able to dance in time to music is still not a requirement.
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