Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. All members were from the Bronx, New York City. The group formed when Dion DiMucci, lead singer (born July 18, 1939), joined The Belmonts – Carlo Mastrangelo, bass-baritone (born October 5, 1938), Fred Milano, second tenor (August 22, 1939 – January 1, 2012), and Angelo DAleo, first tenor (born February 3, 1940), in late 1957. The name The Belmonts was derived from the fact that two of the four singers lived on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, and the other two lived near Belmont Avenue. After unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 and then on Jubilee Records (The Chosen Few Dion & the Timberlanes not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with The Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958. The breakthrough came when their very first Laurie release, I Wonder Why, reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 charts, and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts, Id give em sounds. Id give em parts and stuff. Thats what I Wonder Why was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, Man, those kids are talented.Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were groups like The Flamingos, The Five Satins, The Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices, even complex jazz arrangements. They followed the hit with the ballads No One Knows (No. 19) and Don’t Pity Me (No. 40), which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with The Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane. Dion decided he couldnt afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue. $36 seemed like an awful lot of money to me, he said, and told Holly, no. Shortly after midnight, on February 3rd 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly’s place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. youtu.be/7k679WKSwRE
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 18:45:30 +0000
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