Regarded as one of the pioneers in a genre later dubbed power pop, Van Duren's lost career is a parable of the trials and tribulations of the music industry - an industry that leaves countless broken dreamers behind in its wake.
Waiting: The Van Duren Story is a love letter to the artist that should have helped define a generation.
Following the documentarys premiere at the Memphis Film Festival in November, and screenings at the Grammy Museum (LA) and Sound Screen (London), Waiting: The Van Duren Story hit Australian big screens this month. And to coincide with the screenings, the legend has announced his first ever shows outside of the US in Melbourne, Sydney and Katoomba.
Managed by Andrew Loog Oldman (The Rolling Stones) in the 1970s, Van Duren was tipped to be the next Paul McCartney but instead faded into obscurity. Forty years later, Australians Greg Carey (Manager of The Rubens, Urthboy) and musician Wade Jackson stumbled across the mysterious musicians lost album and set out to discover what went wrong.
They tracked Van Duren down on Facebook and, despite having never picked up a camera before, journeyed through North America to meet him, crossing paths with rockstars, Scientologists, con men and a host of talented musicians who never quite made it.
Duren released his first album Are You Serious? via Big Sound and Decca | London Records in 1978. Receiving rave reviews and heavy airplay on over 100 FM stations in the US, he travelled extensively to ecstatic crowds. His follow up album, Idiot Optimism, was completed in early 1980, but Big Sound, now morphed into a different struggling label, refused to release it.
In 2000, Air Mail Recordings in Japan finally licensed and released the album, 20 years after it was completed. Many music fans today consider Idiot Optimism to be a masterpiece of pop/alternative music.
Set to bring the recordings to life for the first time outside of the USA, Duren will perform at Katoomba's Baroque Room on Thursday, April 25 at 7pm. Tickets $30 at the door. The intimate show marks the dawn of an exciting new chapter in Durens complex musical career.
