Donovan
By:
May 10, 2009
Unfairly dismissed by Sixties rock critics as a fey and twee Dylan wannabe, DONOVAN (born 1946) was clearly the unacknowledged legislator of all things fey and twee. Cat Stevens and Marc Bolan carved their entire careers out of tiny corners of his vast and misty mountained realm. You want gorgeous melodies, unbeatable pop hooks, restless musical innovation, and fantastic (tremulous) vocals? Check out Donovan’s namedropping hipster’s anthem “Sunny South Kensington,” or his overlooked masterpiece, the early Seventies’ children’s album HMS Donovan.
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On his or her birthday, HiLobrow irregularly pays tribute to one of our high-, low-, no-, or hilobrow heroes. Also born this date: Olaf Stapledon, Sid Vicious, Fred Astaire, Marcel Mauss.
READ MORE about members of the Blank Generation (1944-53).