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How does the old saying go? You can take Dion out of the Bronx but you can't take the Bronx out of Dion? Well something like that. in any case. that's the truth. Dion DiMucci has been living in Miami for years. but as soon as he opens his mouth to sing. he's back on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, spinning those classic story songs about girls named Sue and Diane and Donna. bragging about Rosie on his chest. trading vocal harmonies with the boys: Het het. whoa. oh ooh het het...aaaaah' and Ditta dum ditda dit dit da diddy diddy ah why I love you like I do. Ya know. the classy sound. streetcorner USA. circa 1958. Dion may be 48 years old now. but he can sing the same songs he sang nearly thirty years ago. and you still believe him. That's lasting power.
New York's Radio City Music Hall.
Of course. as Dion's loyal fans well know. Dion doesn't sing those old songs anymore. Or at least he didn't not until the weekend of June 19 and 20.1987. For those two nights. Dion came home. playing two sold out concerts at New York's Radio City Music Hail. singing rock n' roil.
The event was a celebration of radio station WCBS-FM's 15th anniversary as an oldies station - a decade and a half. precisely the amount of time since Dion reunited one last time with the Belmonts for a Madison Square Garden concert that was subsequently released as an album. That was the last time he'd sung those classic rock 'n' roll hits.
To say the Radio City concerts were a success would be an understatement. The first show was an immediate sell-out. prompting the addition of another night. That. too. sold out an the first day. New York had not forgotten its hometown hero.
the start
Dion .for some reason .always stood above the rest of the doo wop pack in New York. He came up in the era of the teen idol. and while his appearance may have made him the object of feminine squeals. his music was anything but squooshy and pimply. As Dion says in the following interview. Dion and the Belmonts were a guys' band' too. They weren't afraid to sing tough - characters like Runaround Sue and The Wanderer (later the subject of a Richard Price novel and movie) weren't wimps - and you just knew that guys with names like DiMucci. Mastrangelo. D'Aleo and Milano would be found at the pool hall. not the malt shop.
Dion and the Belmonts came from the inner city. a section of the Bronx (north of Manhattan) where .to survive in the 50's. you either joined a gang or a singing group (or both. as Dion suggested). So. like hundreds of other kids in this largely ethnically mixed area. DiMucci grouped with some like minded friends and put their voices together.
But that's jumping the gun. Dion DiMucci was born to Italian parents in the Bronx on July 18.1939. When he was eight. the boy was given a guitar. but he didn't do much with it until a couple of years later. when he discovered the country music of Hank Williams. Now it might seem strange that a bay growing up in the Bronx - the cultural opposite of Hank Williams'- south -would become enamoured of this lonesome sound. but it struck a chord in the young DiMucci boy. and he began collecting Williams' records and learning all of his songs. By the time he was 15. Dion. who'd gained some performing experience with his puppeteer father. was making his first television appearance on jazz giant Paul Whiteman's program.
The Chosen Few'
A couple of years later. in 1957. Dion was brought into a recording studio via a friend of the family's. He was set up with a group he didn't even know. the Timberlanes. and recorded for the local Mohawk label. owned by Irv Spice. 'The Chosen Few'/ 'Out In Colorado' remains one of Dion's most collectable today. but it was hardly a monumentous beginning.
What happened next is a little confusing. According to DiMucci. Mohawk asked him to make another record and he told them he'd bring in a group that could really sing. So he assembled the Belmonts - Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano and Angelo D'Aleo - taking their name from one of the main streets in the neighbourhood ,not far from the Bronx zoo.
Yet one wonders if that's how it happened, as the Belmonts had also released a record, minus Dion, on the Mohawk label, 'Teenage Clementine 'I 'Santa Margarita' (Mohawk 106), at around the same time Dion made his one shot single with the Timberlanes.
In any case, the group was in business, and together recorded its only Mohawk 45 as Dion and the Belmonts, 'Tag Along/'We Went Away". Soon thereafter the record was picked up by the Jubilee label, but that label never had another title by the group.
Instead, the group signed with Laurie Records, a brand new label owned by brothers Gene and Bob Schwartz, Elliot Greenberg and Allen Sussell. The company's first release was an up tempo doo-wop by Dion and the Belmonts. 'I Wonder Why made it all the way to number 22 nationally. establishing both Dion and the Belmonts and Laurie Records, which would goon in later years to sign everyone from Chiffons to Gerry and the Pacemakers to the Barbarians.
MOR period
The next release, 'No One Knows' actually fared better on the charts(number 19) but is hardly remembered as a Dion hit. Before long the groups reputation as a flashy live act had spread, though. and they began touring the country. in early 1959. they appeared as part of a tour starring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Dion took the bus, .allowing the star to witness his first Top lO hit a classic tear jerker of the era, 'A Teenager In Love', a Doc Pulmus - Mort Schuman tune Dion corsspicuously avoided at both the 1972 and 1987 comeback concerts. (don't belive all you read in Goldmine - ed!)
Later that year, at the insistence of Laurie president Allen Sussell, Dion and the group recorded an album of standards more suited to Frank Sinatra than a bunch of Bronx toughs. A smash single (and beautiful ballad) resulted, 'Where Or When' (reaching number 3), but the strain over the decision to record the material for WISH UPON A STAR WITH DION AND THE BELMONTS coused the group and its leader to split. The Belmonts wanted to stay with this material, Dion wanted to sing rock 'n' roll, not ballads.
In retrospect, the split was not surprising. What was surprising was that a group whose members each favoured a different style of music, from opera to R&B (which Dion himself came to love as the early 50's bird and car groups became popular), ever came together in the first place.
The Belmonts went on to have hits of their own on the Sabrina label, most notable 'Tell Me Why' (led by Carlo Mastrangelo). and their 1972 album, CIGARS ACAPPELLA, CANDY, was a critical favourite, yielding the excellent 14 song medley of doo-wop favourites, 'Street Corner Symphony'.
solo
Clearly, though. Dion himself got the better part of the deal when he left the group (which incidentally had been temporarily whittled to two with D'Aleo getting drafted). His first solo single in 1960. 'Lonely Teenager.' just missed the top ten (number 12). giving the impression that Dion would do just as well as before although minus his signature group.
With the next few releases, though, Laurie might have begun having doubts about the split. 'Havin' Fun' and 'Kissin' Game' were chart records but certainly not hits. And what was worse, Dion DiMucci was turning into one of those very mushy idol types that his earlier records promised he'd never become. Guys in school yards weren't about to snap there fingers to 'Lonely Teenager' or anything called 'kissin' Game.' Dion needed to come out of his slump or it's all history.
Did he ever. The fall of 1961 was dominated by Dion's classic one two punch of 'Runaround Sue' and 'The Wanderer.' The former describing a girl who 'goes out with other guys' (heh~heh), was allegedly titled after Dion's sweetheart turned wife Sue Butterfield. 'The Wanderer' was the opposite side of the coin, a guy who'd love 'em and leave 'em 'cause to him they're all the same. There was nothing on the radio like that in 1961. and non-wimps everywhere rejoiced.
Runaround Sue was co-written by Dion and his neighbour. Ernie Maresca. and The Wanderer' was written entirely by Maresca as well. Maresca favoured a bluesy kind of tune, and the pair's biggest hits (Lovers Who Wander' and Donna The Prima Donna' included) remain some of the best Dion ever recorded.
the Del Satins
Credit must also be given to the Del Satins. a group called into provide backup for The Wanderer' and other post Belmonts recording. It is all too often forgotten that DiMucci used another group after the Belmonts, because his records were all billed only as being by Dion, however, that is not the case.
Dion continued logging both major and minor hits through 1963. including the excellent remake of the Drifters' Ruby Baby' (number2) and 'Drip Drop' (number 6) and two other top ten hits 'Little Diane' (known for its use of kazoo instead of saxophone) and 'Love came To Me.' Plus the DiMucci-Maresca tunes mentioned previously. Several of these were on the Columbia label. to which Dion had switched from Laurie in 1962.
heroin.
However, 1964 saw Dion being knocked out by a two fisted blow; the Beatles and heroin. The first one he could do nothing about. The British invasion put an end to the careers of many an American -performer who suddenly seemed antiquated in their wake. But what his fans didn't know was that Dion had developed a drug habit in the early 60's that was keeping him from being able to stand up to the rigours of making music. Although some of the music that Dion made between 1963 (much of it bluesy in nature. some of it bizarre kind of folk, including his version of 'Johnny B. Goode') is quite fine in retrospect. there was no interest at the time. And Dion was in no condition to fight the slump.
Dion took the time out of the spotlight to rebuild his life and his music. Nothing was heard from him for four years.
Abraham. Martin and John
The world had changed considerably since those innocent days of lonely teenagers. it took an event as traumatic as the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King to put Dion bock in the spotlight. Like another famous early rocker, Dion chose 1968 as the year of the comeback.
'Abraham. Martin and John' was written by a man named Dick Holler. who, says Dion. wrote only as a hobby and probably never had another hit. At first Dion didn't like the song. he felt that it was cashing in on a tragedy. Rethinking its sentiments and the need for such a song. though, he recorded it. An instant success. the song reached number 4 in late 1968. appearing on Dion's old label, Laurie, to which he turned when no one else wanted to know his name.
Thus began what may be considered the third stage of Dion's career: Dion as introspective folkie. Perhaps following the lead of fellow former teen idol Bobby Darin, who'd come back to have hits with Tim Hardin - inspired folkish compositions. Dion hit the concert trail and the studios a changed man. Gone was the pompadour, replaced by long hair and John Lennon glasses. And gone were the white doo-wop hits. traded in for covers of Dylan. Leonard Cohen, Fred Neil, Joni Mitchell and Hendrix (I). and Dion originals that owed more to the blues he'd been studying than the rhythm 'n' blues of his early career. Robert Johnson was in, the Drifters were out.
Dion began performing again in 1968. after licking his drug habit and scoring his comeback hit. He played mostly college concerts and folk clubs, entertaining the same now grown ups who had danced at the hop to 'The Wanderer' only half a decade ago. They saw in him a change similar to their own. and Dion was accepted on his own terms.
Warner Brothers
in 1969.he signed toWarner Brothers and released the first of several artistically advanced albums for them, sit DOWN OLD FRIEND. accompanied just by his own acoustic guitar. Also recorded during this period was the single 'Your Own Back Yard,' describing the down side of drug addiction, this time from the clean side. (the song was later covered by England's Mott The Hoople.)
Dion recorded six albums for Warners, including the document of his 1972 reunion concert with the Belmonts, but only three charted, and those near the bottom rungs of the charts. Again, it seemed like Dion's star was fading. A 1975 collaboration with producer Phil Spector never even saw release in the U.S. but did in England), and 1978's RETURN OF THE WANDERER, though quite superb and contemporary for its time, didn't make a commercial dent.
gospel years
By that time, however, Dion was immersed in a new lifestyle and had turned to religion for inspiration. Thus he let his music follow that course as well, and in 1980 he released the first of (thus far) five albums containing music of a Christian nature. INSIDE JOB was released on the Dayspring label, and four others have followed on Dayspring and associated labels (with distribution by A&M). It is clear the Dion's heart is truly in this music, and a listen reveals that he is still making enjoyable, quality music. Still performing in a style similar to that he developed during the '70's (a variation on soft-rock), and devoid of the preaching that mars too many recordings of this sort. Dion's '80s output is enjoyable even to one who does not normally prefer the Christian contemporary style, as Dion calls it.
When he devoted his life and career to his spiritual pursuits, Dion left behind his earlier incarnation as a secular performer. In truth, he has not performed the early songs for years anyway. After all, one can't imagine an audience of either collegiate hippies or devout Christians getting roused for a swift version of Runaround Sue. Dion was quite content doing concerts for his new found audience, one which shared his beliefs and embraced his current music.
WCBS-FM
That's when Cousin Brucie called to shake things up. Bruce Morrow, the popular New York disc jockey, spoke to Dion, who agreed to be interviewed by the DJ for his WCBS-FM radio show. it was after that conversation that Morrow asked Dion, with whom he'd worked often in the '60s, if he'd consider breaking the oldies out of mothballs for one evening. The Wanderer, it seems, has been voted New York's favourite all time oldie in some sort of battie of the hits and Cousin Brucie wanted to know if Dion would consider letting his fans know that he remembered them too.
The concert was arranged, the big announcement was made (with support groups being the Brooklyn Bridge, Rve Satins and Del-Satins - the latter Dion's old replacement group) and tickets went on sale. Sell-out. Demand for a second show was relayed to the artist, and tickets went on sale. Another sell-out. Dion began rehearsing with a band comprised of New York musicians(some of whom had played the Broadway show Leader Of The Pack) and reiatives and friends of Dion's(including former Belmont Carlo Mastrangelo). Plans were announced for the first night's big comeback show to be broadcast live over WCBS-FM. The press started buzzing, excitement was in the air. No one was disappointed.
Dion's Radio City show was spectacular. As if he'd never been away, the artist approached the performance with sheer skill and charisma. He performed nearly all of his old hits, from I Wonder Why to Abraham, Martin And John and a couple of '70s selections and some new ones. He told hilarious stories and jokes about growing up and singing in The Bronx in the '50s and '60's. His fans loved every move.
But will he now disappear again? Goldmine had to find out, so we set up an interview a few days later and asked Dion if we'd be seeing more of him again. And we asked him to elaborate on some of those stories. Here is what he said.
Goldmine : Your show at Radio City Music Hall was great. it was announced as a onetime event, however. Now that you've gotten the bug, do you think we can expect to see you performing rock 'n' roll again?
Dion: I don't know. I really don't know. I thought I'd do it: it seemed to be the thing to do. I've always done just what was in front of me and leave the results up to a power greater than myself. I just decided to do this and have a lot of fun. I've been all over the world the last eight years, doing gospel music. I went to Israel and Australia. and New York is still the greatest audience. There's nothing like it. Nothing! They just wrap me in a lot of love and acceptance and encouragement and good feeling.
Goldmine: Do You think that's because you're from New York and have been a home town favourite for all these years, or is it just because New Yorkers are a different breed of people than anywhere else?
Dion: Well, it has something to do with New York being like my family. it's funny, when you meet them on the streets and they recognise you ... well, first of all, the streets are like their backyard. it's like their living room and they're welcoming me into their home, the streets. So it's like welcome back. Thats the kind of feeling I was getting.
Goldmine: So are you considering doing a tour now?
Dion: Out of doing this, I really got the bug now. Maybe I'll put a concert together and go out and do something. I know I can physically do that, with a band and with the songs. I'd look forward to something like that.
Goldmine: Do your still do a lot of touring with your gospel music?
Dion: i've been doing that, but the only thing with that career, or that avenue of expression, it's like being in a cocoon. I was just out in Long island a couple of weeks ago and had like 4000 people show up. But when I did Radio City a lot of people thought it was like me coming out of retirement.
Goldmine: The show was being called a comeback, but you never went away, really. You've just not been singing your old hits.
Dion: That's true, but in a way what they're saying is true. it's coming out of retirement to these songs. I haven't been doing these songs as Exhibit A. And I'll tell you, I had a ball.
Goldmine One thing I never knew about you is how funny you can be. Same of the stories you told about the old days and growing up in The Bronx were hilarious. Did you work those out beforehand or were they just coming to you spontaneously? You told one story about these tough nuns that hod me doubling over.
Dion: Those stories are true. My wife was brought up in parochial school, and we always laugh at some of the stories about the nuns. They're just stories and family situations that are funny. I just took a shot. I didn't know if I could really talk to an audience of 6.000 people like I was sitting in my living room, l decided to keep talking.
Goldmine: I bet you couldn't tell some of those nun stories at your gospel shows.
Dion: Oh, sure. Christians like to have fun. I mean, there are some killjoys who want you to agree with Christianity according to them, but no, they accept that.
Goldmine: Any plans to do some recording of non-gospel material?
Dion: Yes! i'm thinking seriously. The rock music would be an expression of joy, rock n' roil. I feel in a good place to do something like that. We're taking to David Geffen about doing something with him, for his label.
Goldmine (:What was the last album of new material you made?
Dion: I've had five gospel albums, and the last one was called VELVET AND STEEL Thats fairly new: I like it.
Goldmine: How did you feel up there at Radio City doing your old hits? it's been at least 10 years.
Dion: On this level it's been 15, and it felt great. A lot of those songs were just like you find an 18 year-oid inside you is still there.
Goldmine: Does it feel strange being in your 40s and singing those old songs?
Dion: its just different. it's like old but it's new. Back then people wanted to rip your clothes off. Today they want to invite you over for a home cooked meal. You gain respect.
Goldmine: You must have had reasons for not wanting to perform these songs for 15 years. So why did you decide now to do it again?
Dion: I don't know. it just seemed right. They (WC~FM) asked me and I said yes. and it was a real surprise to me when they called me and said, 'Dion. the first night is sold out. We're gonna do another night.' And I said okay. Then they called me the next day and said 'It's sold out. Would you like to do another?1 And I said, Lets hold it till the fall, I want to take it one step at a time." I was touched very deeply and I can't explain that. I just felt acceptance from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. The reason I'm telling you this is because I live in Miami so I'm detached from all this emotionally. Until I got this call; it set off all these good feelings inside. Then I started working harder. The last time I did that was at the Garden in 1972 (the Dion and the Belmonts reunion concert at Madison Square Garden). I did that as a real spontaneous thing; I didn't rehearse or anything. The people were overwhelming; they gave us more than we could give them. But when this happened I said I wanted to do something good, so I worked a little harder and put some time into it.
Goldmine When CBS first contacted you and then you agreed to do it. was there ever any worry in your mind? Dld you ever think well. what if no one buys a ticket?
Dion: Well. yeah, you got it. Sure there were those thoughts. I just didn't believe the response. it's new to me. it was overwhelming. I got goose bumps listening to some of the reports that were coming in.
Goldmine Cousin Brucie said that he was the one who put the concerts in motion. How did he approach you?
Dion: Well, he called me and we did a long interview and then he asked me ( Will you come back?' I really wasn't thinking about coming back in this sense. I'm even embarrassed to tell you what was going on in my mind. but it wasn't anything like what happened. I was kind of reluctant, like yeah. I'd like to. As far as I was concerned. I was doing concerts around Connecticut. Long Island. New Jersey; I did one in Manhattan and it sold out. I loved every minute of it. But again. this was different.
Goldmine From a performance standpoint. how did doing these Radio City shows compare to your usual gospel show? I'm sure you put a lot of spirit into these as well.
Dion: Well. first of all. I'm the same. I haven't changed. The people bring a lot of love.
Goldmine: Do you think some of the same people who go to your gospel shows are the ones who came to see you at Radio City. the same people who grew up with you and they follow what you're doing now?
Dion: I don't know. I didn't take a survey or anything. but I'd say maybe two out of 10 people have been to the contemporary Christian shows.
Goldmine: I've interviewed a few other people in the past year who went from singing rock 'n' roll to gospel. Little Richard was one of them and in the past he's stated that he wouldn't sing his old rock 'n' roll hits for moral reasons. When you were planning this show did you ever have a problem like that. where you said maybe you shouldn't sing songs like 'Runaround Sue" anymore?
Dion: I don't feel that way. I don't know what songs of little Richard's he's talking about. but my songs are fun songs. Like I look at 'The Wanderer" personally. like it's about a macho guy. but the song was written about someone else. Personally. I do have trouble with some secular songs. Not my own. but some of the things that are being said now in songs. I'd be the first to give anybody the right to stand up and believe in anything they want. and I'd expect the same for myself. Take a song like Billy Joel's 'Just The Way You Are." As far as I'm concerned that song could've come right from the throne of God. Thats a beautiful spiritual song. if you're listening to it that way. its a beautiful expression of accepting some body in spite of their faults, and we all have those faults. That's not under the heading of contemporary Christian music, but all the principles are there.
Goldmine: There's an album that came out in England a few years ago that included alternate takes from your Laurie recordings (So Why Didn't You Do That The First Time ?.Ace CH 155).And there's a take of The Wanderer. Right before it you say something to the producer like ~l don't know about these lyrics.1 So even then you must have had some problems relating to that song. Anyway, when you cut those hits for Laurie. you were still in your teens and early 20s. You weren't thinking that in 30 years you'd still by singing them.
Dion: No way. I had no idea of how things worked. l was just doing what was in front of me. Now I have some history to draw on. But then there was no way I thought about stuff like that.
Goldmine: Is it true that the first music you sang was country music?
Dion: Well. I got this guitar when I was eight years old but I was just plunking on it. Then when I was about 10 I heard Hank Williams. l started collecting his records and I had about 250 Hank Williams songs. And I learned about 200 of them. I had them all logged, and what key they were in. That's what put me on the road, when I heard songs like Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw" and Honky Tonk Blues." I found out at an early age that I could write songs for a group of guys and girls and take them on a trip for four minutes. That just blew my mind and I got hooked. wrapped up in it. I guess I was motivated by all the wrong things to start with. like being accepted. getting the girls. being cool and all. Then you find out you can do it for a lifetime and express yourself and your ideas.
Goldmine: How did a kid growing up in The Bronx even hear Hank Williams?
Dion: That's a strange thing. That was no accident. I remember the morning I heard Hank William's I was sitting and my mother was cooking the spaghetti and I heard it in the back room. I heard Careful Of Stones That You Throw" and I listened carefully and then they played another one and they said Hank Williams. And I said .1 never heard this guy. it was the Don Larkin show from Newark, N.J. I don't even know why the channel was on, but that's they way it worked out. I went to the record shop up on Fordham Road the next day and said. "Who's Hank Willlams?" And he showed me that they had a couple of records. I just drove this guy crazy. I used to order all the Hank Williams catalogue . He really helped me and got involved, and became a friend. He was an older man. He'd call me and say. listen. he released this."
Goldmine: did you collect records in general or was it just Hank Williams for you?
Dion: There were a couple of fringe people like Carl Smith and Lefty Frizzell, but Hank Williams was like the hub of it.
Goldmine: So how did you ever end up singing R&B and rock 'n' roll? Dion: I think a lot of self- pity stuff, like Ruby Baby" and Born To Cry." "little Diane." came directly from identifying directly with a lot of Hank Williams' writing.
Goldmine: Living in The Bronx, you must have heard the R&B just from hanging out on the streets.
Dion: Well. I was influenced by that too. Then when I got into junior high school groups like the Penguins and the Crows were out, and l started running down to the Apollo Theatre. hanging out at the back door trying to cop riffs off these guys: the Heartbeats and Cadillacs and guys like that. So then I got taken up by that and it evolved. But l never last those roots because even songs like "Ruby Baby" and "Drip Drop" are like Hank Williams and the Drifters mixed. if I looked at it now. That's the first time I ever said that; I never thought of It before. But within the Belmonts, there were like different cells bumping into each other around a nucleus. Like Carlo. he was a jazz fanatic. listening to Miles Davis and olatunji and some of the pianists and big bands. I liked rock 'n' roil and Hank Williams. Angelo, who sang tenor in the group, liked arias and classical music. He was trained as a classical opera singer. And Freddie was just an out and out doo-wop freak. So coming together we just brought a lot of different expression.
Goldmine There's a myth that's grown over the years, that every street corner in New York City had a singing group. Was that how it was around Belmont Avenue?
Dion: We were the only group in my neighbourhood. There was like one good group in each neighbourhood. I remember the Mello Kings were up in Yonkers. we were in The Bronx. and then you get into Manhattan and you had the Cadillac's.
Goldmine: They used to say that you were either in a group or a gang. Dion: We were in both. We'd sing after the fights.
Goldmine: What did you thing of the film The Wanderer?
Dion: Well. it was a parody but there was a lot of truth running through it.
Goldmine: Before the Belmonts. you made a record with another group. the Timberlanes. What was the story with that?
Dion: l never knew that group. What that was. the record company had these tracks they didn't know what to do with. They just brought me in to sing on it. but I didn't even meet the group.
Goldmine: Whose idea was it to just bill you as Dion and not use your last name?
Dion: That's just what I was known as. Everybody had nicknames. but a few guys didn't. They used to call me Dee or Dion. so when I put the group together. with the best streetcorner doo wop singers . that I knew. we were running through names for them. because I had already recorded a song for Laurie Records (Note: Dion was probably referring here to the record mentioned above. The Chosen Few." which was actually on Mohawk Records).So they said. What street do you come from?" And we said. 18rd.Cratona. Well. Belmont Avenue has the best sound to it."
Goldmine: You could have been Dion and the Crotonas!
Dion: They've used a few other names from The Bronx for groups since then: Gun Hill Road. Then there was Brooklyn Bridge. Manhattan Transfer.
Goldmine: Were you writing your own songs that early?
Dion: That evolved little by little. I never considered myself a songwriter. Neil Sedaka. Carole King. they were the songwriters. People actually hired them to write songs. Me. I could write something for myself but I don't think anyone else would want to sing it. But people are actually singing those things today. so I don't know.
Goldmine: How did you get signed by Laurie Records?
Dion: Well .there was a song writer in my neighbourhood. Pat Noto. who had a friend who knew someone who was starting a record company. He introduced us to Gene Schwartz.
Goldmine: Were the Belmonts already together then?
Dion: No. What happened was. they had this track. the Timberlanes thing. which I sang on. I said. listen. if you guys are serious. If you want a group. I'll go round up some guys who can really sing. They (the Timberlanes) were studio singers. professional singers. So I said I'd go round up some real singers. So that's when I rounded up the Belmonts. We did "I Wonder Why" and that was the beginning of the Belmonts. I was friends with Carlo; we used to hang at the pool room writing songs and stuff."
Goldmine: How were the songs brought to you? Except for the ones you wrote. of course. you covered material by writers like Leiber and Stoller and Pomus and Shuman. Who decided what you recorded?
Dion: The Schwartz brothers would look for songs. Some were submitted. some were commissioned. I would write a lot of them. Ernie Maresca and l would write a lot of them. He lived right across the street from me. He was the only songwriter in the neighbourhood I knew. I never closed my mind to any avenue. like saying I had to sing only the stuff I wrote. I would sing standards and stuff like Ruby Baby." which I grew up with and I liked. Where Or When" came from the president of Laurie Records, Allen Susell. a beautiful man. I loved this guy. he was a man's man, and his favourite song was Where Or When." by Rodgers and Hart. We decided to do that for our appreciation of him. We were out of our backyards- it was nothing we did naturally
- but the expression of wanting to please him was an honest one.
Goldmine I think most people would be surprised to learn that the Belmonts and you were only together for two years. Why did you split from them?
Dion: The reason for that was that after Where Or When" they really wanted to do all this standard, smooth harmony stuff. it wasn't for me. We did a whole album called WISH UPON A STAR and it just wasn't me. Thats when I started recording Ruby Baby" and The Wanderer" and all that.
Goldmine You used another group. though. the Del-Satins. Who put you together with them?
Dion:I was looking for a group and l found them; they were hanging out looking for a contract. so I asked them to come in and they started working with me.
Goldmine Looking back over the songs you did. it seems most were about girls and a lot of them had girl's names in the titles: Sue. Sandy. Donna.
Dion: Well. Thats what motivated us. Either she'd be this kind of girl or that kind of girl or you'd be in love with her or she left you. All these different situations. That was about it; it was very simple. This way at least one girl would buy it; every girl named Sandy across the country. you'd know you had a sale.
Goldmine I would think that most of your following would have been guys. because the characters In some of your songs were pretty nasty. The subject of The Wanderer" was not a nice fellow.
Dion: We were mostly a guys' group. We were good. we had harmony. but we weren't threatening to the guys. We were a guys group.
Goldmine: One quirky little thing I want to ask you is why there's a kazoo solo on little Diane." Did the sax player not show up that day or something?
Dion:: No. that was me. I just used to like experimenting with different sounds.
Goldmine Tell us about the background of The Wanderer. Compared to the type of guy that was in most hits those days. this guy was a real stinker. Who was that based on?
Dion: Well. the Wanderer was this guy who used to hang out a George's Bar in my neighbourhood. He had tattoos all over him - flo. Mary. Jane.
Goldmine ( :What about Donna The Prima Donna"?
Dion: That was written about my sister. Especially when I became a. quote. star .she used to hang out back stage trying to play the role of sister of the star. She used to get all decked out. She used to wear sneakers and now she was wearing high heels. She was about l5 at the time. l wrote it kind of. you know. tongue in cheek. it was written with a lot of love.
Goldmine: How about "Runaround Sue"? There's a longstanding rumour that it's about your wife Sue.
Dion: "Runaround Sue" was written about a girl that every neighbourhood has. I couldn't use the girl's real name because it didn't rhyme so I used Sue. My wife would like to believe that it was her. Good for her image. you know. love 'em and leave em.
Goldmine.: Whv did you leave Laurie Records for Columbia in 1962?
Dion: it was an end of an era. I just had to move on.
Goldmine: After "Donna The Prima Donna" and "Drip Drop" in 1963. you kind of disappeared from the music scene for four years. Then came "Abraham. Martin and John." which was totally different than anybody had ever heard from you. What was the story behind that song?
Dion: "Abraham. Martin and John" was written after the death of Bobby Kennedy (by Dick Holler) because of the frustration. it was an attempt to make something good out of a bad situation, bring some solution to it. it was saying here's these guys that have a dream. thev believe in a state of love that does exist, and that we should work for it. But they died short of seeing the dream realised, so we should pick up on the dream and carry it further. That's what I was trying to say. Dick Holier first brought the song to me it was like a shuffle. He was this guy that followed baseball teams, and this was practically the only song he wrote.
Goldmine: I always wandered if he wrote it before Bobby Kennedy was killed and then added that verse, because Bobby wasn't in the title.
Dion: No, he wrote it after. He told me it was out of the frustration. But when l got the song I worked on it and changed it a little. At first when I heard it I thought it was trite and he was just trying to cash in on assassinations. But then I listened to it and I said wait. There's something very simple about it.
Goldmine: You went back to Laurie Records for that.
Dion: Right. Dick brought me the song and I don't think I had a contract at the time. So I got Laurie to release it. They had a lot of faith in the song too.
Goldmine: You've talked in past interviews about a drug and alcohol problem you had from the early 60's to about the time Abraham, Martin and John" was a hit. Did the drug problem keep you from making records and performing during those five years. and did you get over it by the time you re-emerged with Abraham"?
Dion: l wasn't involved in drugs at all when I put Abraham, Martin and John" together. But it was a short distance from the drugs to that time. Actually, April 1. 1968. I was really emotionally stuck and I was wondering why there was something missing from my life. I was trying to fill it with booze and drugs. it wasn't working, it got worse. So on April 1.1 asked God for help. Some body said ask and you'll receive, and here I am. I haven't had a drug or drink since. So Abraham, Martin and John" came like six months after that. But to me lt seems it happened almost immediately after that decision because I started working on it after that. It was like I was reborn and had a second chance and It's been a process ever since. growing spiritually.
Goldmine After that. you signed to Warner Brothers and recorded for them in the '70s. Briefly, how do you look bock on these albums? Are you satisfied with the music you made during that period?
Dion: I was searching musically. just trying all different stuff. I did an album with Phil Spector (not released in the U.S. but released in the U.K.). That was just a time of reflection and searching. I really didn't know who I was musically. I was discovering all over again. It was a period of reconstruction. But I try to just look ahead of me.
Goldmine: What was Phil Spector like to work with?
Dion: Exciting frustrating. He's a real artist. it was real different. The studio was wall to-wall musicians: 10 guitars. two bass players. two drummers, horns, Bruce Springsteen. Little Steven and Cher in the control room, John Lennon. it was a spectacle. He has a lot of fear: he's afraid of falling. He has the image of a genius and he puts a lot of pressure on himself.
Goldmine: You did an excellent rock album for lifesong in 1978. RETURN OF THE WANDERER. and after that you gave up secular music for your Christian music. Why did you make that decision?
Dion: You see. in my head I never gave up anything. I was always reaching for something. I was growing towards, not giving up. I kind of let go of things to move onto other areas and I still feel like that.
Goldmine: What do you think of all the reissues that have come out of your aid hits and the fact that your original albums are so highly collectable now?
Dion: Its amazing. l went to a record store and they wanted $75 for one of my old albums. I couldn't believe it. I would've kept my albums.
Goldmine: One last question. Were you surprised when the Beatles put your face on the SGT. PEPPER album cover?
Dion: I keep telling people that's why it sold so much.
