Dion Week 2: Lovers Who Wonder - Dion
Dion and the Belmonts had their first hit in 1958 with "I Wonder Why" (see yesterday's post) and followed with a string of successes including the classic "Teenager in Love" until Dion left them in 1960. He wanted to perform more rock and roll style material, whereas the rest of the group preferred to stick with doo-wop. Dion's inclinations proved justified a year later when his colossal hits "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" topped the US charts. Pretty soon he was combining rock rhythms with the scat singing sound he'd picked up from black brass performers like Big Al Sears and King Curtis he'd watched at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and used to such great effect on "I Wonder Why". The first example of this was the wonderful "Lovers Who Wander" written by Dion and Bronx mate Ernie Maresca, who singly or collectively wrote Dion's greatest tracks of the sixties which reached number 3 in the Hot 100 early in 1962. The swing beat is irresistible and Dion's majestic vocal negotiates the nonsense fills with effortless ease. Even though most punters today have never heard of it, after the first few bars it still packs the dance floor at Stylus discos. It's stand on your chair time:
"Dum dum diddit, da dum dum diddit, da dum dum diddit, da dum dum diddit,
da dum dum diddit, da dum dum diddit, dum de duhduhduh
dum dum diddit, da dum dum diddit, dum de duhduhduh
dum diddla dum diddla diddla diddla diddla yeah whoa whoa whoa...."
Need one say more?
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