Dion
Born in the Bronx area of New York on 18 July 1939, Dion Dimucci
was hailed as one of the the finest singers of the 1960's, yet he
never quite lived up to his reputation.
He started his singing career with a group called The
Timberlanes in the mid 50's. With them he recorded one single - The
Chosen Few. It wasn't until the end of the decade, fronting
The Belmonts, that he hit the jackpot with a series of classic
rock & roll singles including Wonder Why and Teenager
In Love - his first British hit in 1959.
The Belmonts were slick besuited Italians (Dion Dimucci, Angelo
D'Aleo, Carlo Mastrangelo and Freddie Milano) who rivalled
the black harmony groups that dominated the era, enjoying nine
hits in two years.
Dion left for a solo career in 1960 and had immediate success
in the USA with Lonely Teenager. In 1961 he topped the
charts with the million-seller Runaround Sue (Dion's
wife at the time was indeed called Sue, but the song was
actually originally written about a girl named
Roberta), hastily followed by other smash successes including
The Wanderer, Donna The Prima Donna, and Ruby
Baby.rn
During the mid-60's Dion turned away from music and began to
drift towards drugs. Between 1964 and 1968 he had a very serious
heroin addiction problem which he eventually kicked. In 1968 he
returned to the US charts with Abraham, Martin and John
heralding something of a metamorphosis of his career. He then
settled down to sing folk music and became one of America's most
respected singer/songwriters, although his acoustic-based records
were commercial disasters.
In 1973 The Belmonts re-formed for a reunion concert at Madison
Square Garden which was recorded for the live album, Reunion.
Two years later, Dion joined forces with Phil Spector who produced
his single Born To Be With You and set about transforming
his career once more.
Dion became a devout born-again Christian and recorded
sporadically, releasing Christian albums including Inside Job
and Kingdom Of The Street. He returned to rock & roll
in 1988 playing with Bruce Springsteen and released the Dave
Edmunds-produced album, Yo Frankie.
Eager to reclaim his turf, DiMucci updated songs like The
Wanderer and Runaround Sue in the form of King
Of The New York Streets, and it worked magnificently. He
also toured the UK where he always found an enthusiastic cult
following.
Dion was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989
and in January 2006 he released Bronx in Blue, an album
of blues and country standards, which was critically acclaimed and
nominated for a Grammy. These days, Dion pursues prison ministry
to men going through addiction recovery.
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