Support Groups of Dion

From the UK History of Rock Magazine MO21

IN THE FIFTIES' rock'n'roll explosion, countless vocal groups walked into the recording studio straight off the streets where they had formed and performed. In New York's poorer neighbourhoods of predominantly black and Italian communities, making music on street-corners was a traditional pastime. Vocalising was both sociable recreation and free self-expression as gangs of friends showed off by turns. Although several black R&B based vocal groups soared to success on both East and West Coasts during the decade, only one white act managed to break through into the first division and take its place alongside such groups as the Platters, the Drifters and the Five Satins. That white group, of singular talent, was Dion and the Belmonts.

Dion Dimucci ....and in September 1957 he took time off from Mount St Michael's Academy in the Bronx to cut his first record for lrv Spice's Mohawk label. Backed by a vocal group called the Timberlanes he recorded 'The Chosen Few'. a doo-wop ballad that passed quickly into obscurity.

Spice agreed to finance further sessions if Dion formed a group of his own. So he recruited the Belmonts three buddies from the Bronx who took their name from their old stamping ground. Belmont Avenue. The members were Fred Milano. Angelo D'A leo and Carlo Mastrangelo.

With Dion singing tenor they cut two records for Mohawk before moving to Laurie, a small independent label owned by Gene and Bob Schwartz. 'I Wonder Why'. released in 1958. was a glowing barrage of scat phrases that reflected the crude vocal texture of street-corner rehearsals. It made an immense impact. spent 13 weeks in Billboard's Hot Hundred and peaked at Number 22. Within a few months their follow-up. 'No One Knows. also cracked the Top Thirty. reaching Number 24. Their last 1958 release. 'Don't Pity Me'. enjoyed a three-month run in the charts but rose no higher than Number 40.

Slick, punk and mean

Early in 1959 the Belmonts toured the US and in February Dion turned down the offer of a seat in the plane that carried Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper to their deaths. That year saw the release of 'Teenager In Love', an archetypal teen lament. A Top Five hit in the USA, it sold well internationally, .... Their sixth release on Laurie, 'Where Or When', gave them their biggest hit yet and went to Number 3 in the US in 1960. It was a cool, clever revival of the Rodgers and Hart standard. The group were now the most popular of the white doo-whoppers and inspired countless soundalikes, notably the Mystics, the Passions and the Regents.

In the next six months the group had two more hits with smooth. attractive revivals of 'When You Wish Upon A Star' and 'In The Still Of The Night'. but by then the classic doo-wop partnership had come to an end. D'Aleo had been conscripted into the army and at that point the group temporarily split up and Dion went solo. When they later re-formed, the Belmonts met with success on the club circuit and had six more Hot Hundred entries. but the charismatic Dion had far greater fortune.

........

Dion yielded briefly to demand in the early Seventies' rock'n'roll revival for a reunion with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event was a triumph and resulted in a best-selling album, Reunion (1973). .

(this article is only an introduction and misses any mention of the 1968 Dion and the Belmont Together again Album and was written before the early 90's judgement against Dion and 2 former belmonts who used the name "Dion and the original Belmonts" which infringed Fred Milanoes ownership rights . That may prove to be the final chapter in the Dion and the Belmonts saga.)

The Del-Satins were one of the finest white male doo wop groups of all time. Though not as well known as The Earls, Jay and the Americans or The Four Seasons, in their own style (which was rhythm and blues and rock and roll) they were every bit as good. Unfortunately, they received no credit on any of their 13 hit records, although they did have a chance to make a few excellent singles under their own name.

Formed in 1958 in the Yorkville section of Manhatten, the quintet consisted of

Stan Ziska (lead),

Leslie Cauchi (first tenor),

Bobby Fiela (second tenor),

Fred Ferrara (baritone)

and his brother Tom Ferrara (bass).

Les attended Power Memorial while Fred and Tom went to Machine and Metals Trade School. Influenced by R&B groups like The Heartbeats, The Dubs and The Flamingoes, The Del-Satins, aged 15 to 17, would practice on Tom and Fred's stoop on 69th Street when they weren't searching for a good overpass or bathroom to provide that perfect echo.

Early on they were called The Jokers, not as a singing group but rather as a basketball team playing in a house league for the Lenox Hill Neighbourhood House. They decided on the name Del-Satins by putting together two of their favourite groups, The Dells and The Five Satins. They then made their own first break by participating in a talent show at the Empire Hotel on New York's West Side. The first prize, which they won, was a record deal with George Goldner's End Records, and so it was that the Del-Satins' first single, "I'll Pray For You", was released in 1961. The record received good local response, especially from WADO disc jockey Alan Fredericks, leading to some shows for Fredericks at the Levittown Arena.

Around this time Jim Gribble, manager for other New York-area harmony groups like The Passions, took on the Del-Satins. He brought the quintet to Bob and Gene Schwartz at Laurie Records when he heard Dion was looking for a new backup group. (Dion's most recent three releases had been sugar coated pop platters with female and mixed choruses that were losing more ground on the chart with each record "Lonely Teenager" [no.12, 1960], "Havin' Fun" [no.10, 1961], Kissin' Game" [no.82, 1961] were all done without The Belmonts, who Dion figured weren't rock and roll enough for his new vision: but neither were the resulting efforts). On the spot, the Del-Satins began rehearsing a new Dion song that began with a talk/singing intro followed by the group singing a "hey hey, woo oh oh", background. Little by little, "Runaround Sue" was brought to life.

On October 23,1961, the Del-Satins, who'd recorded only one other record to date, saw their first number one hit. (In Britain it rose to number 11 and in Australia to number 4. It was even a hit in France and made number 2 in South Africa and number one in Israel). "Sue" made it to the top in only five weeks, staying there for two weeks while denying the high water mark to The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp".

The rhythm and blues community also liked the Dion and Del-Satins combination:

"Runaround Sue" reached number four on the R&B charts. But even though the the record owed a great deal to the driving harmonies of the Del-Satins (especially the now famous "ah" in the bridge). Dion got all the credit.

Since the group was actually signed to Laurie, Jim Gribble made a deal with the tiny Winn label for a Del-Satins single titled "Counting Teardrops". It sounded like a cross between The Crests "Step By Step" and Dion's "Runaround Sue" (it even went so far as to mention Runaround Sue in the lyric).

Their next single with Dion was a two sided classic. The teen rebel national anthem. "The Wanderer" worked its way up to number two after three months on the charts, and only "The Duke Of Earl" kept Dion and the Del-Satins from the very top. ("The Wanderer" also travelled to Europe, going to number 10 in the UK charts and number one in Australia). Written by one Italian (Ernie Maresca) and sung by a bunch of others, its not surprising that the rhythm was that of an old Italian dance called the Tarantella.

"Lovers Who Wander" was another instant winner, establishing Dion as the king of the scat singing rock and rollers. The Del-Satins' harmony and unison singing was so powertul and such a part of the Dion songs that the lead and the background worked together as a group no matter what the label said. "Lovers Who Wander" hit the Billboard charts on April 21, 1962, and reached a peak of number three. R&B-wise it went to number 16. The "I Was Born To Cry" flip side, with Dion's pleading lead, the Del-Satins' intense harmony, and a snarling saxophone, had a new sound that combined doo wop and blues.

After three singles (and five chart sides) with Dion, the Schwartz's were finally with them and they released a Stan Vincent rocker called "Teardrops Follow Me". This Del-Satins doo wopper jumped on the East coast radio and coincidentally found itself pined against their new release with Dion, "Little Diane", on Murray the K's nightly new release contest "Diane" won that night, but "Teardrops" went top 10 in several Eastern cities and gave the group a following under its own name. They began doing a lot of performances for Murray the K and for Alan Freed's TV dance shows. Les Cauchi remembers: "We were driving up to Hartford, Connecticut, to do a TV show and were running late. We were all crammed into my Chevy Nova and realised we didn't have time to get there, dress, and make up. So we literally cut my back seat to get to the shaving gear in the trunk and at 65 miles an hour on the Merritt Parkway shaved and changed in the car. The minute we got to Hariford we ran from the car and jumped in front of the cameras with a minute to spare".

"Little Diane" returned the group to the formula they had developed on "The Wanderer",that is, a double harmony where part of the group would sing a sustained "ooh" while the rest did some driving stop-and-go sound that gave the record "wall-to-wall" vocals. Besides being an outstanding song and having a great lead by Dion, this record is immortalised as having the first kazoo-led instrumental section in rock history. "Diane" made it to number 8 nationally on August 18th and the group just kept on working. "One time we were picked up in a limo by promo man Pete Bennett for a trip to perform at a school in Easton, Pennsylvania", Les recalls, "We stopped to pick up a young girl trio on the way who turned out to be the Ronettes, but nobody knew them yet (it was 1962). Over 3,000 people showed up, about 80% girls, and when the Ronettes went on they were just about ignored. We did our best and came off well, but then on came Fabian and the sound of all those girls was the loudest sound I ever heard"

Their second Laurie release, "Does My Love Stand A Chance", came out in the fall of 1962 and never came off the ground. But their next single with Dion, "Love Came To Me", became the group's fifth top 10 entry, reaching number 10 on December 22nd.

By the end of 1962 the Del-Satins were backing Dion on his move to Columbia and wondering when their own opportunity would come again. Their first Columbia shot was a 1956 Drifters song, "Ruby Baby". Dion's patented blues-rock style led the way while the Satins' tough yet smooth harmony solidified the groove that took the song to number two Pop and number five R&B.

Laurie, meanwhile, decided to use the good Dion/Del-Satins tracks it had in the can to compete with Columbia. Thus in the early spring of 1963 Laurie's "Sandy" and Columbia's "This Little Girl" raced to a dead heat at number 21, giving two chart songs to group that no one knew about.

Around this time, a series of introductions (one being an encounter on the street with Heartbeats bass Wally Roker) led the group to a meeting with Phil Spector. The group auditioned for Phil at his New York apartment, singing several songs a cappella, including "Teardrops Follow Me". Spector wanted to sign them and take them in a Four Seasons direction, but the group decided against it.

Soon after, Dion co-wrote and produced a single for them on Columbia. That song, "Feeling No Pain", came on like a musical gang war. If West Side Story had been done with 60's rock and roll, this would have been the Jets' war theme. Jerry Blavit, the Philadelphia emperor of rock and roll radio, used "Feeling No Pain" as his sign-off song for over 20 years, but back in 1963 it was lost among the glut of lesser recordings. Even so, it was one of the most awesome and powerful white doo wop recordings ever made.

The Del-Satins became a regular on Clay Cole's weekly TV show and came up with two more hits with Dion in the last half of 1963, the Dion penned "Donna The Prima Donna" (written about his sister) and a classic R&B remake of the Driffers' 1957 hit "Drip Drop"

In 1964 their new manager Jay Fontana took the group to Mala Records after Dion curtailed his own recordings. Following one up-tempo harmony effort ("Two Broken Hearts"), the Del-Satins signed with BT Puppy Records by auditioning a cappella for The Tokens (who owned BT) The best of their three singles was another Drifters tune, "Sweets For My Sweet". Soon after, Stan left (and changed his name from Zisca to Sommers), eventually emerging as lead singer of The Magnificent Men. Carl Parker of Detroit sang lead for a while but never recorded on Del-Satins single.

In 1966 the group did some back up work for Len Barry, and then Les Cauchi and Tom Ferrara joined Uncle Sam in Metnam. Mike Gregono took Les' place and, together with Richard Green, Johnny Maestro, and original member Fred Ferrera, continued to play gigs while Tommy was slugging it out in the Iron Triangle and Les was in the middle of the Tet offensive at Da Nang.

The Del-Satins cut two sides for Diamond Records and recorded "Ebb Tide" and "Goin' Out Of My Head" with Johnny Maestro on lead in 1967 (Harvey Records LP).

When Les returned in 1968 he and the Del-Satins formed the Brooklyn Bridge.

In the 90's Les and Fred were in their fourth decade with the Brooklyn Bridge. Tommy Ferrera became a member of The Capris ("There's A Moon Out Tonight"). Stan (Sommers) Zisca joined Charlie Alello, a musical computer whiz, and the two worked together from 1970 on. Bobby Fiela freelanced as a singer. Richard Green passed away in the early 70's.

In 1991 the original group re-formed for a few shows. While each member continued with his own vocal career, the foursome (produced by Johnny Maestro) created an LP and the first Del-Satins recording in more than 24 years.

Though Dion and the Belmonts became a household name as a mellow pop vocal group. Dion turned to the Del-Satins when he wanted to sound tough. Even without Dion, the Del-Satins proved to be the truest exponent of power doo wop.

by Jim Fowler

Dion's most talented band vocally could be argued to be either the Belmonts, the Del Satins or even possibly the current trio of Cousin Louie, Joe Neary and Jim Gallager. Instrumentally, it would likely be the Streetheart Band/Mainstreet Gang. The only definite point in the accomplishments of the back-up band known as the New Wanderers, is to date they were the longest (late 1989 to 1995).

According to an article by Billy Cox in Florida Today newspaper, Dion debuted this band on November 2,1989 at Brassy's nightclub in Cocoa Beach, Florida. That night it consisted of Johnny Sambataro on lead guitar, Gabe Vales on bass, an unidentified man doubling on sax and keyboards, and an unidentified man on drums. This is the exact same band seen on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve a couple months later. That night the focus was on Yo Frankie as he did every cut from the album, interspiced with most of his biggest oldies. The group's command of their instruments was very good, but there were several minor areas of confusion in terms of tempo, and at one point Dion did "Havin' Fun" which was clearly unrehearsed and he sort of taught it to the band as he went.

Vocally, the group just did the "Ruby Ruby Ruby Baby..."type of vocal backing with little excitement. On most of the Yo Frankie tunes of course, this went unnoticed. Less than a year later, in August of 1990, Dion was back at Brassy's and this time the group was Johnny, Gabe, Tony Lavender on drums, Paul Harris (from Dion's gospel years) on keyboards and Jamie Colton, those days several pounds heavier than today, looking like one of the Raisin Men, on sax. At this time, the soundtrack for Dice Clay's movie "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" was out with its Billy Idol hit "Cradle of Love". Dion evidently had similar hopes for "Sea Cruise", heard a little ways into the movie, and again through the closing credits.

The band was much smoother, more relaxed, and guess what? They could sing. A little. In an obvious gesture at how disappointed he was at its lack of success, Dion did not do one song from Yo Frankie that night. The focus was the oldies, where you saw the improvement in the band's vocals, and several random songs like "I Knew the Bride" and Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock and Roller".

Throughout the next five years, the band continued to improve with Dion, as seen mostly in bootleg concert tapes. They did much of 1992's Dream on Fire and 1993's Rock and Roll Christmas, where their harmonies on many of the songs such as the a capella "Jingle Bell Rock" were very evident. In most of their concerts during that period, they did a segment of three or four a capella numbers such as "I Wonder Why", "That's My Desire" and even Springstein's "If I Should Fall Behind" which of course is included on the Collectables Deja Nu, but actually comes from Dream on Fire and credits Dion, Johnny, Gabe, Tony and Louis Coletti on vocals.

One had the feeling through the years that Dion taught and nurtured this back-up band, and because of that, in a sense they were the truest Dion back-up band to date. They took nothing away from Dion himself. Arguably, neither did the Del Satins, but there is no record of them touring with Dion. The Belmonts and the Streetheart band were so talented on their own, and of course the members of the Little Kings, that Dion's basic music changes to meet up with that talent. Whether for the better is of course a matter of opinion.

At their best, the New Wanderers were relaxed, professional, and very much a reflection of Dion as a single artist. Whether it was Jamie on Rick Dee's Into The Night, doing sax leads on "Sue", Johnny playing the sax part on "sue" at concerts that Jamie wasn't at, or Tony perfecting Carlo's bass part on "I Wonder Why", this was definitely a back-up band worthy of Dion himself.

Formed in October 1995, the Little Kings are the result of a songwriting collaboration between Dion and Scott Kempner (ex Dictators and Del-Lords).

The two artists were brought together through a tape of Scott Kempner's which was given to Dion during his stint on the "Dave Edmunds Rock and Soul Revue" a few years ago by the tour manager Rich Nesin. The story goes that Dion put the cassette in the trunk of his car and there it stayed for a couple of years. It was only when he was clearing out the car that he came across it again and decided to stick it in his machine. The tape was "Lover's Who Wander" by The Del Lords. Impressed by what he heard, Dion gave Scott a call and asked if he'd be interested writing some songs together.

As the new material they were working on started to jell, Kempner realised both he and Dion were "into writing the same kinds of songs - about real life, and real characters, and with a spiritual side that comes across in analogies and is illustrated in stories rather than statements of philosphy".

As their collaboration advanced, the relationship deepened as well. Before long Dion and Scott decided to form their own group. With the aid of ex-Del Lords drummer Frank Funaro and ex-Smithereens bassist Mike Mesaros the Little Kings were ready to rule. Both DiMucci and Kempner say they've been gratified by the response they've gotten at their live performances. "We're getting an interisting mix of people," Kempner says. "A lot of curiosity seekers and a whole body of fans who see Dion as a singer songwriter and know his whole body of work. They're really accepting what we're trying to do, which is great. You know, being on stage with an electric guitar, being part of an ensemble - this is all new stuff for Dion. It could be scary, but he's having a great time."

Dion agrees. "I'm enjoying singing and communicating and playing rock and roll more than I ever have before.! still got a lot to say; I think I always will."

Follow up

The group toured in march and april 1996 and a promo album of their live work was issued. This did not find any takers in the main stream companies - usual fixed ideas about live exciting music only being played by young scruffy bands. The band did release 2 studio tracks under Dions name, on the Road I'm On CD - but they were in the wrong place . A track from the live promo (with added audience background , can be heard on the King of the NY streets Box set and the set will get its first full release on Ace in 2001.

Its seems a pity that a project with such great potential was cold shouldered by a blinkered record industry where 1st generation rock'n'rollers are expected to constantly perform on the golden oldies circuit and only recut their hits.

Dion had a new band with him and I will attempt to give you, what I believe to be, their names. On keyboard was Butchie Barbella, musical director for the movie, The Bronx Tale". He also wrote the opening song, "Streets of the Bronx". On Drums was Dennis Cirolia. Dion’s Cousin Louis Colletti, not to be confused with our Cousin Brucie, provided vocal backup, as did guitarist Jimmy Fagazia, and Jamie "King" Colton, on Sax and Congas. The return of Jamie to the band gave it the spark necessary to ignite the group, and the musical interaction between Dion and Jamie was pure magic. If the band had one weakness, it was the lack of a guitarist of the caliber of Johnny Sambataro. His presence was sorely missed, and perhaps that is why the raging "King of the New York Streets" was left of the song list. It is hoped that Jimmy Fagazia will grow more comfortable with the music and then really let loose.

The vocal backgrounds were, well, let me say this. Whenever Dion has a new group performing "I Wonder Why", one always has to worry whether it will measure up to Dion and the Belmonts. Well worry no further. Cousin Lou, excelled singing Carlo’s part, and Jamie held up his end of the song. It was a pleasure to listen to them. Even "Teenager In Love", which is not one of my personal favorites, was song with a slight variation, making it fresh and interesting to hear.

(Thanks Steff - as far as we know the same band will be touring sometime in 2001.

I know they are credited with recording at least 13 songs on September 20, 1965, October 5, 1965 and an early 1966 session.

The 1965 sessions were produced by Tom Wilson (producer of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and the Blues Project, among others).

The 1966 session was credited to Robert Mersey as producer. I know they did at least one live performance at the Hullabaloo Club in Los Angeles in January 1966. I also know about that time they appeared the Hullabaloo TV show and performed "Tomorrow Won't Bring the Rain".

Also they were on Where the Action Is TV show performing "Time in My Heart For You".

I think Dion in his book states that he put together some musicians from the Bronx. I emailed Al Kooper who played keyboards on the 1965 sessions. He couldn't remember who else played on the sessions.

Vocally, Carlo Mastrangelo from the Belmonts seems to be involved, co-writing two songs and singing harmony.

I thought for a while that Dion & the Wanderers was just a vocal group, but on 5 of the 13 songs there are no backing vocals. This group seems to be the most obscure item in Dion's muscial history. Thanks for any info.

Doug

Willy Kenzler has recently supplied me with the following details:

"this was The Street Corner Band -

Willy Kenzler (Bass)

- Dan Greiner (Guitar) -

Brad Rogers (Guitar) -

Mike Short (drums) -

Dean Balfour (Keyboards).

Dan, Brad and I did the backup vocals ( what I loved the most). -

Many memorable events - some, not pleasant: -

we were with Jackie Wilson the night he collapsed on stage at the Latin Casino - a horrible evening. he was great

- one of the most memorable was the ' Baby let's stick " recording session with Spector, when Springsteen showed up ( as well as quite a few others).

Willie has promised to supply us with more details - any fans any concert memories they wish to contribute?

More infor would be appreciated.

The personel were:

George Terry (gtr)

Joe Galdo (drums)

Phil Chen (base)

Paul Harris (kbds)

Dion (gtr)

Many of these names pop up on other Dion gospel and later recordings but have no band name credited. Were they just a studio band - most concert reports from this time suggest solo work only ?

Once again we'd love more background - can you supply any details?

(I'm obliged to Dougs eagle eyes for spotting these credits)