The Perlich Post: Ding-Dongs calling and Melvin Davis too!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Ding-Dongs calling and Melvin Davis too!

Another day, another Mark Sultan side project, right? This time our favourite turbaned drum thumper who is alternately known as BBQ has thrown in with fellow Montrealer, psychobilly rebel Bloodshot Bill last seen raising a ruckus in Berlin with King Khan as the Tandoori Knights. The gruesome twosome from the city of smoked meat are calling themselves The Ding-Dongs and they ain't messin' around. Well, a little. Evidently, the 13 unhinged tracks of trashy terror they waxed together proved a bit too rock 'n' roll for labels here in Canada ("We don't really get it – with a name like the Ding-Dongs, we were expecting to hear some glockenspiel").

However, it's just the sort of recklessly raunchy slop that Billy Miller and Miriam Linna have built their Norton recording empire upon so they jumped at the chance to release the Ding Dongs dandy debut which is available now on CD and LP at all right-on record retailers.
To help sell their hot new product, Mark and Bill took a camera out onto the snowy streets of Montreal and forced unsuspecting citizens to listen to a Ding-Dongs tune, then documented their puzzled/annoyed reactions for the info-mercial below. Watch for a cameo appearance by my pal Denis, very convincing in the role of the bemused owner cool Montreal record shop Le Pick-up (169 Avenue des Pins Est at Avenue de l'Hotel de Ville).

Melvin Davis comes crawling back

Also new from Norton is a 7-inch single from Detroit R&B swinger Melvin Davis which pairs an unreleased thriller I Won't Come Crawling Back To You recorded in 1962 at D-town's famed Fortune Records cinderblock studio on Third Avenue with his rare rookie brush-off belter for the Jack Pot label, I Don't Want You No More from 1961 – a very good production year. Fans of Davis' Detroit contemporaries such as Gino Washington, Nathaniel Mayer and Andre Williams should take note.

Even better news is that the 67 year-old Groovesville great is still active and will be celebrating the single release with a Detroit performance backed by the Party Stompers featuring former Detroit Cobras guitarist Jeff Meier at the Park Bar (2040 Park Avenue at West Elizabeth) on Saturday, May 15.
As an added attraction, Danny Kroha (of the Gories, Demolition Doll Rods and Rocket 454) will be introducing his new group with a lively opening set and the mayor of Downtown Soulville, Mr. Finewine along with Ann Arbor Soul Club members in good standing Brad Hales and Breck T. Bunce will be spinning an astonishing selection of vintage 45s you're unlikely to hear anywhere else. Advance tickets for this dyn-o-mite Detroit getdown are just $8 and available from The Crofoot (call 248-858-9333 or see link below). Seems like it could be time for a Motor City road trip.

I Won't Come Crawling Back by Melvin Davis w/The Party Stompers