“A Teenager in Love” was followed by the group’s first album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. About the trials and tortures of adolescent love, “A Teenager in Love” was actually the antithesis of an earlier Pomus/Shuman song – “Great to Be Young and In Love.”ĭion & The Belmonts toured with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in early 1959, but fatefully did not take a tragic plane flight that crashed and killed Holly, Valens and two others. The song was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, and is ranked among the great rock `n roll classics. Top 40 list for 13 weeks, became a million-seller, and was also an international hit, reaching No. While visiting his old Bronx neighborhood some years later, Dion would recall the first time he and The Belmonts heard their song being played: “I remember the night that they first put ‘I Wonder Why’ on the radio… Everybody on the block turned their radios up loud and stuck them out the window….” Back in the late 1950s, meanwhile, Dion and The Belmonts released a couple of other songs after “I Wonder Why.” But their big hit came in March 1959 – “A Teenager in Love”– hitting No. London American Recordings 45 rpm label for Dion & The Belmonts’ 1959 hit, “A Teenager in Love.” Click for digital. Nicolas Cage also did a cover version of the song in the 1983 film, Peggy Sue Got Married.
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Years later, “I Wonder Why” would find subsequent use in film and television soundtracks, including the 1983 film adaption of Stephen King’s novel, Christine the 1993 film, A Bronx Tale and the January 1999 pilot episode of The Sopranos TV series. The Belmonts had a highly recognizable sound to compliment Dion’s voice…” After this song hit, Hyde wrote, “it was Katie-bar-the-door for white, predominantly Italian-American groups singing in what called a ‘new-doo-wop’ style.”ĭion and The Belmonts soon rose to the national scene, appearing on the American Bandstand TV show August 7, 1958, performing their hit song, “I Wonder Why.” They would also perform “No One Knows” on Bandstand, a song that would break the Top 20, hitting No. “I Wonder Why” was classic doo-wop, described by Bob Hyde in a 1993 booklet for the Doo Wop Box as follows: “…he song opens with bass Carol Mastrangelo’s masterpiece of nonsense syllable-stringing, and just rolls from there. With their second recorded single released in April 1958 – “I Wonder Why” – they nearly broke the Top 20, peaking at No.
Dion & The Belmonts included Dion singing lead and three others singing background – Carlo Mastrangelo, bass-baritone Fred Milano, second tenor and Angelo D’Aleo, first tenor.
This group became “Dion and The Belmonts.”ġ959: From left: Carlo Mastrangelo, Freddie Milano, Dion DiMucci, Angelo D'Aleo – Dion & The Belmonts. In those years, he also picked up a drug habit that would lead to heroin addiction – something he would struggle with for years. After dropping out of high school, he recorded a demo that made its way to the producers of the Teen Club TV show in Philadelphia, where he made a performing debut in 1954 and released a few early songs with a group called the Timberlanes.īut by 1958 Dion joined another neighborhood group called The Belmonts – named after Belmont Avenue in the “Little Italy” section of the Bronx. But reassessments of his work found value in his later recordings, with a range of artists – including Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and others – citing his influence.Īs a teenager growing up in the Bronx, Dion DiMucci began singing on street corners. In later years, as he continued recording, Dion took on new musical genres – folk, Christian music, blues, country, and back to rock.ĭuring these years, he did not always have the commercial success he once had. And sometimes he was dismissed by critics as being defined by his teen idol years.
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Dion DiMucci – better known simply as “Dion” from his 1950s doo-wop fame – is a highly successful recording artist much loved by Baby Boomers. Dion flourished first with The Belmonts and then alone, scoring a series of hit songs in the 1950s and 1960s.Īmong the more famous of his Top Ten hits are: “A Teenager in Love” (1959, with the Belmonts), “Runaround Sue” (1961), “The Wanderer” (1961-62), “Ruby Baby” (1963), and “Abraham, Martin and John” (1968). A young Dion DiMucci in his 1950s swagger.
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