16 July 1980
Don McLean: making every day The Day The Music Died. I can’t say I like this maudlin sob-fest in any of its variants, but at least Roy Orbison’s quivering voice and stock-in-trade of black velvet melodrama gives his version a bit of tension and stakes; we can well believe that this is the most heartbreaking day in poor ol’ Roy’s life, at least until tomorrow.
McLean, an American Val Doonican but without the dignity or danger, is just using this song as a convenient delivery mechanism for shallow cabaret gloop: schmaltzy strings, infantile acoustic guitar picking, falsetto showboating. If we play along and believe he’s genuinely crying over you, pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
