“Daron got that Dough” or Darondo for short

This guy’s story almost sounds too bizarre to be true. In a nutshell Darondo cut an album’s worth of material in the 70s and even opened for James Brown but his career was short lived as the distribution of his material fell short of what was needed to sustain his musical career. He turned to being a pimp for rest of the decade before cleaning up in 1981 to host a series of local Bay Area cable television showcases including Darondo’s Penthouse After Dark, Doze Comedy Videos, and the children’s program Tapper the Rabbit. After spending the late ’80s on the Fiji Islands, Darondo returned to Berkeley and studied physical therapy. A few years ago DJ Gilles Peterson featured one of Darondo’s rare 70s releases on a compilation which earned him instant cult status. A year later in 2006, a record label reissued all three of Darondo’s singles as well as some previously unreleased songs. I just got it a few weeks ago and it’s my album of the year so far – just a brilliant release.  He performed at SXSW which is where I heard of him through one of those showcase spotlights.  I didn’t get to see him, but I remembered I wanted to pick up the disc next time I was in a record store.  So I highly recommended his album if you like Shuggie Otis & Al Green….also be sure to check out all of Luv N’ Haight’s releases.

Wish You Were Here by Darondo – this is taken from his 80s public access show. He looks like a character Dave Chapelle would have come up with.  Check youtube for more – there are probably a dozen of these up there – all pretty outrageous.

I Want Your Love So Bad by Darondo – He’s amusing as a personality, but as a musician he’s magical.