Doo-wop originated in the 1940s among urban African-Americans—enabling them to create rich musical accompaniment vocally, without the need for costly instruments—and was quickly adopted by Italian-Americans, who at that time also found themselves at the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Bronx native Dion DiMucci arrived at the form at its peak, and quickly became the most prominent doo-wop singer of the late ‘50s through the mid-‘60s.
Dion mostly sang about love, true to the doo-wop form, but his woe-is-me songs told tales of the unloved and unlovable. It was a two-way street with him—the songs might be about him being dumped, or about him doing the dumping. Sometimes it was the woman who was no good (“Runaround Sue”), sometimes it was him (“The Wanderer”). Either way, someone in the story seems incapable of love. Reading between the lines across several songs uncovers a rich exploration of emotional hurt, detachment, and alienation disguised by sunny melodies and uplifting vocal arrangements.
Speaking of those vocal arrangements—the typical backing vocals of the day were usually pretty wretched, in my opinion. They ruined plenty a song of the time for me, rendering them almost unlistenable without setting off my cheese-o-meter. This affects plenty of artists, from Ray Charles to Patsy Cline to Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. But the backing vocals here add to the songs tremendously, and at least on the songs I’ve selected never set my hair on edge. Just listen to how the pulsing backing vocals and the saxophone screech uplift “(I Was) Born the Cry,” for example. It’s great stuff. Check it out.
Dion later changed his style and would see some popularity as a singer-songwriter. His 1975 Phil Spector-produced album Born to Be With You has garnered praise from many sources. Later, he would become a Christian rocker, and after that a bluesman.
But this playlist focuses on his heyday. I’ve altered the chronology a little to end strong with the album Lover Who Wander.
Cover Art Citation: “Runaround Sue” single, Source, RateYourMusic.com
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