Dion (Di Mucci) and The Belmonts

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Dion (Di Mucci) and The Belmonts

Dion (Di Mucci) and The Belmonts , the most successful white doo-wop vocal group, emerging from the N.Y. a cappella street corner scene of the 1950s. MEMBERSHIP: Dion DiMucci, lead voc. (b. Bronx, N.Y., July 18, 1939); Angelo D’Aleo, 1st ten. (b. Bronx, N.Y., Feb. 3,1940); Fred Milano, 2nd ten. (b. Bronx, N.Y., Aug. 22, 1939); Carlo Mastrangelo, bass voc. (b. Bronx, N.Y., Oct. 5, 1938).

Dion DiMucci started singing at the age of five and began making public appearances playing acoustic guitar around the age of 11. In 1957 he joined The Timber-lanes to record ’The Chosen Few” for Mohawk Records, and formed Dion and The Belmonts in 1958. Signing with the newly formed Laurie Records label, the group soon hit with “I Wonder Why” and “No One Knows.”

D’Aleo served in the Navy in 1959 while the group scored smash hits with Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman’s “A Teenager in Love” and the Rodgers and Hart’s classic “Where or When.”

Dion left the group to pursue a solo career in the fall of 1960. Dion quickly hit with “Lonely Teenager,” followed in 1961 by the top pop/smash R&B hit “Run-around Sue,” backed by The Del Satins and cowritten with Ernie Maresca. (Maresca later scored a smash pop/major R&B hit with “Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out” in 1962.) Dion also appeared in the 1961 film Teenage Millionaire. In the meantime, Angelo D’Aleo rejoined The Belmonts and Carlo Mastrangelo switched to lead, and the group recorded for their own Sabina label. They achieved moderate hits with “Tell Me Why” and “Come On, Little Angel,” but Mastrangelo left in 1962, to be replaced by Frank Lyndon. The Belmonts moved to United Artists in 1964, reuniting with Dion for 1967’s Together Again on ABC and the live Warner Brothers set Reunion, recorded June 2, 1972, at Madison Square Garden. The Belmonts later recorded for Dot, Buddah, and Strawberry, eventually scoring a minor hit in 1981 with “Let’s Put the Fun Back in Rock ’n’ Roll,” recorded with Freddy Cannon.

Continuing to be backed by The Del Satins, Dion scored smash hits on Laurie with “The Wanderer” (written by Maresca), “Lovers Who Wander” (cowritten with Maresca), and his own “Little Diane,” as well as the major hits “Love Came to Me” and “Sandy.” Moving to Columbia and retaining The Del Satins, Dion scored smash pop hits with “Ruby Baby” (an R&B hit) and “Drip Drop,” both previously recorded by The Drifters, and “Donna the Prima Donna” (cowritten with Maresca). In the mid 1960s Dion began exploring blues material, with little commercial success.

In 1968 Dion moved to Fla., kicked a heroin habit that dated back to his early teens, and returned to Laurie Records. Dion, regarded as his most fully realized album, contained songs by contemporary artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Fred Neil, and Joni Mitchell, and yielded a smash pop hit with Dick Holler’s ode to assassinated leaders, Lincoln, King, and Kennedy, “Abraham, Martin and John.” Dion subsequently toured the college- and-coffeehouse circuit playing acoustic guitar, and switched to Warner Bros, in 1970, with little success. He recorded Born to Be with You under producer-extraordinaire Phil Spector in 1974; however, the album was released only in England.

For much of The 1980s Dion recorded modern Christian music. He returned to rock ’n’ roll in June 1987 with a series of sold-out concerts at Radio City Music Hall. He published his autobiography, The Wanderer, in 1988 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Also that year, with the assistance of Paul Simon, Lou Reed, and k.d. lang, Dion recorded Yo Frankie under producer Dave Edmunds, managing a minor hit with “And the Night Stood Still.” In 1990 Dion toured with Edmunds, Graham Parker, and Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. By the mid 1990s Dion had moved back to N.Y and formed the group Little Kings with guitarist Scott Kempner of The Dictators and The Del Lords, bassist Mike Mesaros of The Smith ereens, and drummer Frank Funaro of The Del Lords for engagements on the East Coast.

Discography

DION AND THE BELMONTS : Presenting (1959); When You Wish upon a Star (1960); Together Again (1967); Reunion: Live at Madison Square Garden, 1972 (1973). THE BELMONTS: Carnival of Hits (1962); Summer Love (1969); Cigars, Accapella, Candy (1973); Cheek to Cheek (1978). DION (DIMUCCI) : Alone with Dion (1960); Runaround Sue (1961); Lovers Who Wander (1962); Sings His Greatest Hits (1962); Love Came to Me (1963); Dion Sings to Sandy (1963); Ruby Baby (1963); Donna, The Prima Donna (1963); Bronx Blues: The Columbia Recordings (recorded 1962–65; 1991); Wonder Where I’m Bound (1965); Dion (1968); Sit Down Old Friend (1970); You’re Not Alone (1971); Sanctuary (1971); Suite for Late Summer (1972); Streetheart (1976); The Return of the Wanderer (1978); Inside Job (1980); I Put Away My Idols (1983); Seasons (1985); Kingdom in the Streets (1985); Velvet and Steel (1987); Yo Frankie (1989).