ABSTRACT
Born Dion DiMucci in the Bronx, New York, Dion was the lead singer of the popular doo-wop group The Belmonts before branching out on his own. The group began performing on New York’s street corners, and was signed to the new Laurie Records label in 1957. They had eight top hits from 1958 to 1960 before Dion left, including “A Teenager in Love” (#5, 1959; Laurie 3027), and “Where or When” (#3, 1960; Laurie 3044). After going solo, Dion became one of the most popular singers on the charts thanks to his back-to-back 1961 hits, the number one “Runaround Sue” (1961, Laurie 3110), and its followup “The Wanderer” (#2, 1961; Laurie 3115). Wooed by the larger Columbia label, Dion left Laurie in 1962, scoring immediately in early 1963 with the number two hit “Ruby Baby” (Columbia 42662), and later that year with “Donna the Prima Donna” (#6, Columbia 42852), and “Drip Drop” (#6, Columbia 42917). However, the hits dried up, and Dion battled drug addiction through the mid-1960s. He even recorded an album of acoustic blues for Columbia, but it failed to sell. In 1967, he reunited briefly with the Belmonts, and then returned to the charts on his original label, Laurie, with the social-protest anthem, “Abraham Martin and John” (#4, 1968; Laurie 3464). Dion has never again achieved great success, and has veered between recording gospel music and rock ‘n’ roll. Nonetheless, many artists cite him as a key influence,
being among the first to proudly flaunt his tough-guy image and New York accent in the era of squeaky-clean teen idols like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Dion was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Dion’s Laurie recordings have been reissued on various compilations domestically and abroad, on Arista, Capitol, Collectables, Ace, and other labels. Compilations of his Columbia recordings were reissued on CD as Bronx Blues (Columbia/Legacy 46972; rel. 1991), and on a two-CD set, The Road I’m On (rel. 1997; Columbia/Legacy 64889).
