In 1996, Jon Bon Jovi and Willy DeVille combined for a moving duet on “Save the Last Dance for Me.”
In March 1996, Jon Bon Jovi and Willy DeVille appeared on television in Paris, singing the classic song, “Save the Last Dance for Me.” Bon Jovi was a popular artist still riding high from his band’s music and solo work, having recently released These Days (1995), which did even better in Europe than in the U.S. DeVille, an influential singer-songwriter who had been recording for decades both with his band Mink DeVille and as a solo artist, was going through a period where he was more popular in Europe than in the U.S.
Bon Jovi was in his early 30’s, while DeVille, due to a heroin habit he would eventually kick, looked even older than his age of 45. But here, across the generations, the pop star and the independent underground legend created magic out of a hit song written before Bon Jovi was even born. First made famous by the Drifters in a 1960 release, “Save the Last Dance for Me” also had a fascinating back story behind the song and its writer Doc Pomus (who also worked with DeVille several times throughout their careers).
In the Paris TV performance, Bon Jovi and DeVille and the song join for an odd combination that should not work. But somehow they create some magic. Check it out.
You can dance every dance with the guy Who gives you the eye, let him hold you tight; . . . But don’t forget who’s taking you home, And in whose arms you’re gonna be; So darlin’, save the last dance for me. — Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman, “Save the Last Dance for Me”
CBS Sunday Morning recently featured a story about divorce attorney Raoul Felder, which surprisingly revealed a touching story about the co-writer of the song, “Save the Last Dance for Me.” The song became a number one recording by The Drifters with Ben E. King on October 17, 1960. Later, it would be covered by others, including Michael Bublé and Dolly Parton.
Doc Pomus
Raoul Felder’s brother was Jerome Solon Felder, who became better known as a songwriter under the name Doc Pomus. Pomus, who was born in 1925, developed polio when he was 7 years old so had to walk on crutches and later rely on a wheelchair. Starting in the 1950s, Pomus wrote several hit songs with pianist Mort Shuman.
Pomus’s Wedding
Pomus wrote the lyrics to “Save the Last Dance for Me” as he looked back on the day he married Broadway actress and dancer Willi Burke in 1957. The song recounts a memory from their wedding reception at the Waldorf Astoria.
The wheelchair-bound Pomus wrote the from the bittersweet perspective of a man who cannot dance with his new bride, so he can only look on as she dances with other men. But he reminds her that they are going home together at the end of the night.
Someone today may try to say the song sounds a little sexist. But the story behind the song gives it a deeper context. Also, some different sources disagree slightly on whether Pomus wrote “Save the Last Dance” on the wedding day, looking back on that day, or after another dance. But the most reliable ones connect it to the wedding reception. And all agree that the song was influenced by a real event as Pomus watched other men dance with the woman he loved.
Ben E. King’s Emotional Recording
A related story may explain the great vocal by Ben E. King on the song. As The Drifters prepared to record “Save the Last Dance for Me,” Atlantic owner Ahmet Ertegun told King how Pomus came to write the song.
After hearing the story, King fought back tears as he prepared to lay down his vocals on the song. And then he gave one of his most moving performances that captures the joy and sadness in the lyrics. (Hear an interview with King about the song on WNYC.)
Below is the wonderful recording of “Save the Last Dance for Me” by Ben E. King and The Drifters.
Life After “Save the Last Dance for Me”
Pomus and Shuman wrote several other classics, although it is hard to imagine one as personal as “Save the Last Dance for Me.” The team’s hits include “A Teenager in Love,” “This Magic Moment,” “Turn Me Loose,” “Little Sister,” “Surrender,” “Viva, Las Vegas,” and “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame.”
Pomus also wrote songs with Phil Spector, Dr. John, Willy DeVille, and others. Others, like Bob Dylan and Pomus’s friend Lou Reed, wanted to write with Pomus.
I could not find any details, but it appears it was not true that the singer in the song “Never, never” let the dancer go. Unfortunately, Pomus’s marriage to Burke did not last. Although it is too bad for them, the rest of us got a great song from the relationship.
