Love: Signed D.C.

Remember the slightly spooky 'Tonight You Belong to Me' by Patience and Prudence from last Sunday?

The Ear Candy page I linked to has all sorts of speculation about what became of them in later life, most of it almost certainly fiction.

But two things are certain.

The first is that the sisters appeared on television in 1978 talking about their early fame (which they did not greatly enjoy).

The second is that Prudence, the elder sister, was the wife or partner of the drummer Don Conka, who played with Arthur Lee's band Love in its early days.

AllMusic describes his slightly mystical career:

The original drummer for Love - a classic West Coast psychedelic and folk-rock outfit of the '60s - as well as a Love drummer in several revived lineups of the band decades later, Conka appears on no recordings by Love or anyone else, wrote no songs, shows his face in no videos. 

His death circa 2004 was a reminder, however, that there are other ways to become part of a band's legacy besides participating in documentation and publishing enterprises.

Well, all good bands need a lost genius. And Dan Conka - D.C. - was also the inspiration for this bleak but beautiful song about addiction.

It was recorded only 10 years after Tonight You Belong to Me. A reminder, not just that girls grow up fast, but also of how quickly popular culture developed in that period.