It was 40 years ago this year that our principal stars recording career began with his first release of The Chosen Few / Out in Colorado.

1957 was a very different world from now. While there was a record industry, the US majors had shown very little interest in the new scruffy music called rock’n’roll. But times were changing with RCA buying out Presleys Sun contract and starting to promote him nationally through TV shows, such as Ed Sullivan. Most new musical trends tended to come from small independent "one man and his dog" record companies, out to make a quick buck then often disappear, just as quickly.

It was into this world that one 17 year old stepped. In his locality he had made a reputation for himself by singing to parents and friends and getting some exposure on early TV shows. He like many teenagers was aware of the changing sounds of America and spent many hours on street corners trying to emulate the new sounds of the black doo-wop groups.

Into his world came Gene Swartz a small time record company owner who wanted to make this kid a star. Once he’d heard the voice he had no doubts that he was going to make him the next middle of the road star - Bing Crosby - Perry Como beware ! So where better to start the boys career than a ballad - The Chosen Few.

In this high tech. recording industry the tapes were already prepared - the backing had been arranged (Hugo Montenegro later to find fame for his version of The Good The Bad and The Ugly) , the accompanying singers - The Timberlains had been pre-recorded. All that was needed was to find the right voice to overlay the lead vocal. Were other lead singers tried out before - we’ll never know. After a few days of practice young Dimucci then went into the studio to add his lead vocal to the tape.

So with the exciting sounds of Presly breaking out all over the nation , sending people like Bill Haley into premature retirement, what do we get from our star - a choir boy vocal over an uninspiring ballad. The vocal sounds competent but not inspired and the backing singers sound distant and uninterested (waiting for the next job ?) accompanied by a tiny arrangement. At least his producer must have liked it and being part owner of Mohawk Records had no difficulties in getting it released.

By all accounts it was an instant flop outside the Dimucci neighbourhood, with one exception - he became big in Boston. Why Boston ? The tale of most successful records in the fifties seems to be released by a small firm , has regional success then over a number of months spreads throughout the country, to eventual national success. With Dion this didn’t happen. Failure in new York followed by success in Boston (record sales ? turntable hit ? or juke box plays ?) then back to obscurity for the next 40 years - for the disk not the boy.

All Dion fans must be grateful to the people of Boston for keeping his fledgling career alive. Would a 100% flop have been the early shower of his musical world? But a flutter of success, made the company think there might be something there worth developing and probably covered its costs, something unusual for a small company.

We should also not forget the B side of his first release "in Colorado" a song from a Broadway show if ever I heard one. I don’t intend to spend time sticking more pins in this lifeless body - I’ve already made my feelings clear in YF 21 and as nobody came to defend it, you also seem to regard it as one of his all time stinkers.

OK they needed help in developing his sound. One method was to pair him with another group of kids from his local, who had also recorded without success. The charge between the 2 parties, plus the arrogance of the lead singer who thought he knew more about the youth market than any small "make me a buck" businessman paid off, after one more still born experiment.

For their first pairing "We went away" another ballad was selected as A side with the more in tune teenage number, "Tag Along" hidden on the B side. The A side is in the same mould as The Chosen few but with a more street wise group to support, the result is a lot more exciting. Perhaps "Tag along" should have been flipped over and history might have been made slightly earlier. Perhaps its for the better it sank without trace.

By record number 3, with a new year approaching and a know-it-all singer, supported by his rough but exciting backing group, the team finally made it to produce a successful teenage package to light the skies for the next 3 years, but that’s another storey.

Those 4 sides are still largely forgotten, but they still represent the origins of the New York produced sounds of white Italian kids trying to look for a way out of their neighbourhood .

Fascinating failures they may have been but it didn’t take long for their producers with quite a bit of input from the group to come up with a message that would soon to set the world on fire. The Dimucci roller coaster ride had begun.

And the best way to hear these tracks (if you don’t have a small fortune to shell out for the originals) is to purchase the US only Golden Era of Doo-wops – Mohawk (Relic 7122) .