Thursday 30 May 2019

ain’t misbeheavin’

It’s with a heavy heart that we say good-bye to humourist and old-timey, Tin Pan Alley virtuoso Leon Redbone (RIP, *1949 – †2019).
Adopting the stage name for his first acts in Toronto in the 1970s, the Cyprian-born Dickran Gobalian cultivated his signature look of dark sunglasses, a Panama hat and a skinny black tie, Redbone gained mainstream commercial success, though a recipient of critical acclaim by those in the business for quite some time with a cover version of the now problematic Christmas ballad “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and performed the theme song for the 1980s television sitcom Mister Belvedere. Redbone announced his retirement from recording in May 2015, citing health concerns, his eclectic musical tastes and knowledge of past genres making him much older and wiser than his years attested to.