Dion and the Belmonts released four studio albums and one live album, with multiple Billboard Hot 100 songs. The Belmonts have yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though Dion was in 1989. In 2000, the group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
After unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 ("We Went Away" b/w "Tag Along" by Dion "with" The Belmonts), and then on Jubilee Records (including "The Chosen Few" b/w "Out In Colorado" by Dion & the Timberlanes, not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with the Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958.[1] The breakthrough came when their first Laurie release, "I Wonder Why", reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100chart,[1] and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts:
"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented'."[2]
Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were doo-wop groups like the Flamingos, the Five Satins and the Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices and even complex jazz arrangements.[3]
They followed the hit with the ballads "No One Knows" (No. 19) and "Don't Pity Me" (No. 40),[1] which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with the Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane that could only take Holly and two of the other headliners. Holly decided it would be chosen by a coin toss. It was "the Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson who won the first coin toss and it was Dion who won the second coin toss. Dion decided he could not afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue and he told Holly no and gave his plane seat to Valens who was sick with the flu and present in the dressing room where they all met with Holly to toss the coins. According to Dion, $36 was the price his parents paid for monthly rent. Shortly after midnight, on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot Roger Peterson were all killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. As of January 11, 2017, with the death of Holly's tour guitarist Tommy Allsup, Dion is the lone surviving member of the original Winter Dance Party lineup. (The lone surviving Belmont, Angelo D'Aleo, was not on the tour, as he was in the US Navy at the time.)
In March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love", broke the Top Ten, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart.[1] Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it's considered one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history.[1] It was followed by their first album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. Their biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November 1959, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the group making another national appearance on American Bandstand. Although publicity photos show the group as a trio without Angelo D'Aleo, he performed on all of their recorded material; these photos were presented for promotional reasons owing to his departure to serve in the U.S. Navy.
Other singles released for the group that year continued to chart on Billboard, but were less successful. In early 1960, Dion checked into a hospital for heroinaddiction, a problem he had since his mid-teens. At the height of the group's success his drug dependency worsened. When "Where or When" peaked, he was in a hospital detoxing.[4] In addition, there were financial and musical differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts. "They wanted to get into their harmony thing, and I wanted to rock and roll," said Dion. "The label wanted me doing standards. I got bored with it quickly. I said, I can't do this. I gotta play my guitar. So we split up and I did 'Runaround Sue', 'The Wanderer' and 'Ruby Baby'."[2] In October 1960, DiMucci quit for a solo career. Now simply known as Dion, his first major hit, "Lonely Teenager", was backed by a female chorus. He eventually chose to work with the Del-Satins, who backed him (uncredited) on all his early Laurie and Columbia Records hits, which, besides the three aforementioned hits Dion quoted, also included "Donna the Prima Donna" ,"Drip Drop", "Lovers Who Wander", and "Little Diane". Later reissues of these songs would often be erroneously attributed to Dion and the Belmonts. The Belmonts also continued to release records on their own label, Sabina Records, but with less success. However, songs like "Such a Long Way", "Tell Me Why", "I Need Someone", "I Confess" and "Come On Little Angel" all received significant radio play in the New York City area.
The group in 1966
Dion and the Belmonts reunited in late 1966 for the album Together Again on ABC Records. Produced by DiMont Music, two singles were released from the LP: "My Girl The Month of May" / "Berimbau" and "Movin' Man" / "For Bobbie". Neither charted in the United States, but fared better in England. "My Girl The Month of May" broke the "Radio London Fab 40" Top Ten at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. One reviewer stated: "some British radio DJ's gave it a lot of airplay at the time." The follow-up, "Movin Man", reached No. 17 on the "Radio London" chart on March 26, 1967. "My Girl The Month of May" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and by The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-1960s reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on The Clay Cole Show performing "Berimbau" and "My Girl The Month of May". They occasionally performed at local New York City nightclubs, such as "The Mardi Gras" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967), before disbanding.
In 1968, as a solo performer, Dion recorded "Abraham, Martin and John", written by Dick Holler. It is a tribute to social change icons Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassination of King in April and the assassination of Robert in June. When producer Phil Gernhard initially presented the song to DiMucci, the latter did not care for it. With the persistence of Gernhard, and Dion's wife Susan, he flew to New York that summer. He recorded the song in just one take. Laurie Records released the single in September of that year and it quickly raced up the chart, peaking at number four in December. DiMucci, now a star again, was invited to sing this comeback hit on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, as well as many other top shows.
The original group reunited once again on June 2, 1972, for a show at Madison Square Garden, which was recorded and released as a live album for Warner Brothers. In 1973, DiMucci, Mastrangelo, Milano and D'Aleo performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was ever released.
Including Billboard Hot 100 singles, Dion and the Belmonts charted 856 radio station surveys across the United States during the 1950s and 1960s.[5] In 2000, the group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Dion (without The Belmonts) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.[6]
Rock Hall omission
In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did a mass induction of six deserving pioneering groups that were left out in error when their lead singers were inducted in the Hall of Fame's early years of inductions: the Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Comets (Bill Haley) and the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent). Because of the timeline when these groups were successful, it was believed that the Belmonts would be included in this induction, but none was forthcoming. Because the Belmonts scored chart hits for an additional three years after Dion left the group, coupled with the fact that the entire group (including Dion) were inducted intact into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000 (11 years after Dion's solo induction into the Rock Hall), their omission was even more puzzling.[7][8][9] In January 2012, the year of that mass vocal group induction, Fred Milano of the Belmonts died (January 1, 2012). A Billboard magazine article dated January 3, 2012 stated: "There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989."[10] Carlo Mastrangelo died on April 4, 2016.
The two Laurie Records LPs are the most collectible, especially the first pressings of Presenting Dion & the Belmonts, issued as Laurie LLP-1002 (later reissued as LLP-2002). There were also later compilation albums, some of which included the separate hits of the Belmonts, and some that included the hits of Dion, and Dion and the Belmonts.
Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough.
On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event became known as "The Day the Music Died" after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
The Belmonts were an American doo-wop group from the Bronx, New York, that originated in the mid-1950s. The original group consisted of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo Mastrangelo, and Fred Milano. They took their name from Belmont, the Bronx street in which Mastrangelo lived, known as the Little Italy of the Bronx. From 1958–60 the group performed with Dion DiMucci as Dion and the Belmonts. At this time Mastrangelo sang the bass parts, Milano the second tenor, D'Aleo the falsetto, and DiMucci did lead vocals. Mastrangelo was replaced in 1962 by Frank Lyndon and Warren Gradus, but the original group reunited in 1966, and thereafter performed together in numerous reunions over the years. They occasionally recorded new singles into the 1980s and performed live until the death of Milano in 2011. Gradus continued, performing live under the moniker until his death in October 2023.
Dion Francis DiMucci, better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk and blues. Initially the lead singer of the vocal group Dion and the Belmonts, Dion embarked on a solo career, and was one of the most prominent rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, or with the Belmonts and the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for his signature hit songs "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among others.
The Miracles were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups in the history of pop, soul, R&B and rock and roll music. The group's international fame in the 1960s, alongside other Motown acts, led to a greater acceptance of Rhythm & Blues and pop music in the U.S., with the group being considered influential and important in the development of modern popular music.
The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and rhythm guitarist/singer Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north, in east Lancashire. Nash left the group in 1968 to co-form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion. As well as Clarke and Nash other members have included lead guitarist Tony Hicks, rhythm guitarist Terry Sylvester, bassists Eric Haydock and Bernie Calvert, and drummers Don Rathbone and Bobby Elliott.
Jerry Ivan Allison was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100 was "Real Wild Child", issued in 1958 under the name Ivan. Allison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
Robert Edward Rogers was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to singing, he also contributed to writing some of the Miracles' songs. Rogers is the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from the R&B girl group Blaque and is a cousin of fellow Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson.
"River Deep – Mountain High" is a song by Ike & Tina Turner released on Philles Records as the title track to their 1966 studio album. Produced by Phil Spector and written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Rolling Stone ranked "River Deep – Mountain High" No. 33 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. NME ranked it No. 37 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Anthony Christopher Hicks is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main roles within the band are lead guitarist and backing singer.
"The Wanderer" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and originally recorded by Dion, released on his 1961 album, Runaround Sue. The song, with a 12-bar blues-base verse and an eight-bar bridge, tells the story of a travelling man and his many loves. The song is ranked number 243 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the worldwide dance craze the twist. Between 1953 and 1962, the Midnighters had several hits on the U.S. pop and R&B charts. Their hits included the million-selling Billboard top 10 pop hits "Finger Poppin' Time", and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go". The Midnighters also had 13 top 10 R&B hits, including three that reached number 1. Their top 10 R&B hits included "Work with Me, Annie", "It's Love Baby ", "Annie Had a Baby", "The Hoochi Coochi Coo", "Teardrops on Your Letter", "Get It", "The Float" and "Nothing but Good". They received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award in 1992 and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. The Midnighters are also noted for achieving a music industry milestone in 1960, by becoming the first group in history to place 3 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. The group's lead singer, Hank Ballard, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. The Midnighters as a group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2012.
The Famous Flames were an American rhythm and blues, soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first appearance in a professional recording, "Please, Please, Please", in 1956.
"Runaround Sue" is a rock and roll song, originally a US No. 1 Hot 100 hit for the singer Dion during 1961, after he split with the Belmonts. It was written by Dion with Ernie Maresca, and tells the story of a disloyal lover. The song ranked No. 351 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"That's My Desire" is a 1931 popular song with music by Helmy Kresa and lyrics by Carroll Loveday.
Carlo Mastrangelo was an American doo-wop and progressive rock singer. Born and raised in The Bronx, he lived in an apartment on the corner of 179th St. and Mapes Ave.
Fred Milano was an American doo-wop singer of Italian descent. Born in the Bronx, New York, he was a member of The Belmonts who became successful in the late 1950s as Dion and the Belmonts, and in the early 1960s. The Belmonts got their name from the street that Milano lived on, Belmont Avenue.
Lloyd Eugene Stallworth, also known as Baby Lloyd, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, choreographer and dancer who was a member of the R&B vocal group The Famous Flames on King Records from 1958 to 1967. Stallworth was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of The Famous Flames.
This is the discography for American musician Dion DiMucci.
Yo Frankie is an album by the American musician Dion, released in 1989. The album marked a popular comeback for Dion, who had spent much of the 1980s recording Christian music. Lou Reed, who had inducted Dion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a couple of months prior to the release of Yo Frankie, was one of the many musicians who made guest appearances on the album.
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