By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

There will be a little bit of New York City swagger in Peachtree City this Friday and Saturday night, when Dion, of Dion and The Belmonts fame, takes the stage at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater.

Dion DiMucci was born in The Bronx in 1939. By the age of 5 he started playing a guitar and on a Valentine’s Day in 1954, his career started taking shape.

Dion was a member of a gang, The Fordham Baddies, and was dabbling with the drug heroin. As a gift for his mother, he recorded a demo tape of two songs. The demo tape gave him confidence in his talents and soon he was playing at clubs and for producers of teen programs up and down the East Coast.

Dion joined up with a group of his friends who were calling themselves the Belmonts, named for Belmont Avenue, where they all lived. The Belmonts backed Dion up in the doo-wop style that was popular at the time and found their first hit in 1958 with the song “I Wonder Why.” Though that song did not crack the top 20, their next hit, “A Teenager In Love,” made it all the way to number five. That song was followed by “Where or When,” which made it to number three on the charts.
That year, 1959, was also important in Dion’s career for another reason. In February, he had a chance to leave a concert in a plane with The Big Bopper. He did not fly out with the Bopper and his friends, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly, who died in a crash that evening.

By early 1960, Dion and the Belmonts broke up and Dion began recording solo. Dion’s popularity was rising so much that he even made his way to the silver screen in the 1961 film “Teenage Millionaire.” On his next several albums, Dion was backed up by the uncredited Del Satins. By 1963, Dion had recorded seven more hits, but soon broke up with the Del Satins.

Dion wanted more from music and wanted to stretch the boundaries of music that were already crumbling due to the rumblings of the British Invasion. In 1964, Dion released an unsuccessful album of cover songs, followed by an unsuccessful blues album in 1965. He reunited with The Belmonts in 1967, releasing the album “Together Again” in 1968. That was also the year that Dion finally kicked his heroin habit, which had nearly taken his life several times.
Clean and sober, Dion soon found his way to the top of the charts again. He recorded the tribute ballad ”Abraham, Martin and John,” a song about Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, and watched it climb to number four on the charts. The song captured the spirit of the times and the sadness of the generation’s losses.

Dion spent the next several years playing at coffeehouses and working on acoustic material. In 1972, he released an all-acoustic album, “Sit Down Old Friend,” and soon reunited with the Belmonts for a show at Madison Square Garden.

Dion continued to play his hits at nostalgia shows over the next 15 years, reuniting with the Belmonts from time to time. In June 1987, they played a series of sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall. Dion then released a brand new album in 1989, with Paul Simon as one of his co-producers, called “Yo, Frankie.” He also was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and got recognition for his career.

In 1990, Dion toured with some old friends, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and later formed a band called the “Little Kings” with other friends from the old neighborhood, including members of The Smithereens. He still tours around, performing his wide range of classic hits and covers and energizing audiences all over the country.

Dion will perform at 8 p.m. at the amphitheater Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25. Terry Lee and the GT’s will open the show.Tickets are $25. Call 770-631-0630 to purchase tickets or for information on the summer concert series.

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