Song of the Day: 'Rebel Rebel' by Donna Destri

If Rhoda Morgenstern had grown up with a New York Dolls-loving older brother instead of a New York cheesecake-loving little sister, she'd have been Donna Destri. The wisecracking kid sister of legendary Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri, Donna spent her teenage years hanging out -- and later working -- at Max's Kansas City during NYC's legendary late '70s and early '80s artistic heyday, before eventually getting involved in the music business herself (working with Klaus Nomi, Ann Magnuson, Holly Woodlawn, etc.). I remember the first time I saw her name on a record sleeve -- she was credited with singing backup on Blondie's "Living in the Real World" -- and I immediately wanted to know more. 

  

Decades have since passed, but in addition to teaching high school English and choir, Donna still occasionally brings her cabaret show to the city, which is where I caught up with her over the weekend at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on 42nd Street. Looking and sounding great -- all the while admitting her keyboardist had canceled, her guitarist had "flaked" and the gown she'd had designed for the show ended up not fitting ("Let's just go with 'It was too big'"!) -- Destri put on a delightful set of standards ("Moondance"), pop favorites "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk on By," a Dusty I'm forgetting), New Wave classics ("The Man Who Sold the World" -- she's a Bowie girl, as demonstrated in the clip below) and show tunes ("Maybe This Time").

Adding to the fun were the stories -- and photos -- she shared in between numbers, regaling the crowd with memories from her misspent youth, tales that have memoir written all over them.