20/07/2024
Dion (DiMucci)(July 18, 1939) is 85 years old today.
As a boy, he accompanied his father Pasquale, a vaudeville performer on tour. He developed a love for Country music, Hank Williams in particular. He was also fond of Blues and Doo W*p music. He honed his singing on the street corners and the local clubs of his Bronx neighborhood. After auditioning for the short-lived Mohawk label, he agreed to record a song that became a local hit. Not impressed with the backing vocalists, he recruited three other Bronx locals, giving themselves the name Dion and The Belmonts.
Signed to the newly-founded Laurie Records, they scored a Top 40 hit with “I Wonder Why”. A few more singles placed on the Hot 100 chart, which got them enough attention that they were invited to be part of the ill-fated “Winter Dance Party” tour. After the February 3rd Clear Lake, Iowa show, Buddy Holly decided to take an overnight flight rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to join them, but feeling the $36 price for the flight was both an unlucky number and self-indulgent, he said no. After the plane crashed, The Belmonts continued on the tour, with Bobby Vee, Jimmy Clanton, and other acts filling in for those lost in the crash.
“A Teenager In Love” and “Where Or When” reached the Top 5, but 1960 was rocky. Dion checked himself into a hospital for he**in addiction, which he’d battled since his mid-teens. Personal, musical, and financial differences between him and The Belmonts led to his departure for a solo career, which proved successful. He moved to Columbia Records in 1962, the first Rock act to be signed to the label (then run by Mitch Miller, who abhorred the form). He had hits with “Ruby Baby”, “Donna The Prima Donna”, and “Drip Drop”, but with the oncoming British Invasion, sales declined. Further complicating matters, Dion began recording more Blues and Folk-oriented material, much to the consternation of his record label and management, though it was some of his best work.
After cleaning up from his addiction and undergoin
