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Dion
by Thoams Greco The Wanderer. King Of The New York Streets. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Only one person can fill all three of these roles and that is none other than Dion. The 62-year-old legend is once again on the comeback trail with the release of Déja Nú (Collectables), an album of 13 brand-new songs (including two Springsteen covers) recorded exactly the way such early Dion hits as “Runaround Sue,” “A Teenager In Love” and “The Wanderer” were all those years ago. The album, which had gathered an incredible buzz since it was released, proves that Dion is an artist that can never be counted out.
Relaxing in the upstairs lounge of the Hard Rock Café in New York after a ceremony in which he donated one of his trademark caps, Dion DiMucci looks incredibly youthful and fit. In fact, up close it is hard to believe that this guy recorded his first hit record with the Belmonts over 40 years ago. Even more impressive is the patience he shows while reciting the same answers to what seems like an endless assortment of TV and print reporters. “Man, I’ve never talked so much in my life,” he says to no one in particular. “We never had to do this stuff in the old days.”
Although Dion will take some time to talk about the old days, it is the present and future days that he is most excited about - specifically Déja Nú. “I had a ball making this record,” he says, “it’s a lot of fun to listen to. They sound like lost tracks. They sound like they’ve been on the shelf for all these years.” The inspiration for Deja Nu came from actor Chaz Palminteri, an old friend of Dion’s from the Bronx. “Chaz has always been after me to make the movie of my autobiography,” Dion says, “and once we started production, we went looking for my old songs to license for the film. Since I don’t own them, we found out some hard truths. Man, they are expensive to license. So I just decided to write these songs in the same way we did the old stuff. I looked over the script and I saw certain scenes that just inspired me. For example, we used to tour in old broken down buses with no heat. I wrote a song back in the ‘50s called “Hug My Radiator” about that. I never got around to recording it until now. Reliving the scenes from that time through the movie brought it all back and it seemed like a perfect fit for the album and the film.”
Speaking of buses and tours, Dion was part of the ill-fated Buddy Holly tour in 1959. His relationship with Holly was especially close and the news of the infamous plane crash hit him hard. “Buddy, Ritchie Valens and I used to have these guitar contests on that tour. We were very close. I remember they took the plane while the rest of us took the bus. When we pulled into the motel, I was looking up at the TV screen behind the desk and I saw them talking about the crash. It was something you just never forget because we could have been on that plane too.” Holly is remembered on Déjà Nu through the track “Every Day.” “That’s kind of my tribute to Buddy,” Dion adds, “he was a true friend and an innovator. When I think of the things he could have accomplished…it just breaks your heart.”
While the movie finished production, Dion found himself with an album’s worth of tracks. “My friends kept saying ‘What are you waiting for? Put it out.’ After a while, I just decided to do it. I think we captured what we wanted. Before it came out, I gave some copies to Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. Dylan called me the next day to tell me how much he loved it, especially “Every Day.” He loved the sound of it.”
Dion has been cited as an influence by everyone from Dylan to Lou Reed. He even has some fans from New Jersey. “When Bruce heard my version of ‘If I Should Fall Behind,’ he started calling me up at shows and we’d sing it together. It’s a great song. It’s multi-dimensional. It could be sung at a wedding or a funeral. It has spiritual overtones where somebody could be waiting an eternity for you. He’s a great songwriter. I know he uses synthesizers on tracks like ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ in the same way I use vocal groups. I wanted to show him the similarities of the techniques with the other track I covered, ‘Book Of Dreams.’ He got a kick out of it.”
Over the years, Dion has dabbled in almost every type of music. From folk (“Abraham, Martin And John”) to gospel (“The Truth Will Set You Free”) to rock (his work with the band Little Kings). “I put the Little Kings together in 1996,” he says. “I wanted to go out and just play, to rock out and enjoy myself. I wanted to leave behind the ‘Dion’ thing. In fact, we have a live album coming out real soon. I have an anthology set coming out in November call King Of The New York Streets and there will be a couple of Little Kings tracks on there.”
No matter how he strays, however, he always returns to his Bronx blues and doo wop roots. “I’ve done a couple of comeback shows over the years,” he says, “one being a reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in 1972. That was a crazy night. Over 19,000 fans singing my songs. In fact, the most accurate memory I have about that night is that the crowd was much better than us (laughs). About 1000 percent better than us. I was overwhelmed. The crowd was killer. I was like, “Gee I wish we could be as good as they are.” Fifteen years later, after spending most of the ‘70s and ‘80s forgoing his hits for his spiritual music, he returned home to Radio City Music Hall. “Radio City was a concert that did something very special in my life,” he says. “It kind of put everything together. I saw the past, present and future all in one night. New York fans make me so grateful I was born here. And you being from Jersey, you’re an honorary member (laughs).”
Dion is proud of his body of work. Even when this interviewer brings up his token performance in the 1961 C-movie Twist Around The Clock, he laughs heartily. “Oh, man,” he says, “I’d rather not remember that (laughs). In a way those movies are so funny because it was so inaccurate as to what was going on. It looked nothing like what the music sounded like. ‘The Wanderer’ and ‘Runaround Sue’ were street songs. In this movie they put this white band behind me when I never had white musicians on the records. I was all dressed up in a tux, with people sitting at tables. It was so surreal. You can see a puzzled look on my face like ‘what am I doing here?’ That’s the look you see in Twist Around The Clock. That’s the look you get when I see it now (laughs).” Looking ahead, Dion hopes to continue his almost half-century musical journey. “I take it a day at a time. Music is like breathing to me. I love expressing myself that way and I’m grateful I have that gift.” And if he had one record to save if his collection was on fire? “Jimmy Reed’s Greatest Hits,” he says after asking if he could choose more than one. “Without Jimmy Reed, I wouldn’t have a career.”
Now and forever, Dion continues to roam around and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round…
steve
