Veteran of Doo-Wop Era Stays Off Revival Tours but Has New Album : Rock ‘n’ Roll Gives Him a Young Attitude, Says Dion as He Turns 50

In rock ‘n’ roll’s doo-wop era, Dion and the Belmonts were at the top of the charts. Rock has undergone a lot of changes since then and Dion DiMucci, who was recently inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, became a solo singer years ago. Today he thumbs his nose at those who scoff at “geriatric rockers” and keeps on playing his music his way.

Dion is turning 50, but he’s ready to rock ‘n’ roll till he’s in a rocking chair.

As a teen-ager in the Bronx, Dion DiMucci put together a group of singers and named it for the neighborhood’s Belmont Avenue. Dion and the Belmonts became one of the most popular vocal groups of rock ‘n’ roll’s doo-wop era.

At 15, he made his first professional appearance, on a Paul Whiteman show, and he first saw, walking down the street, the redhead who is still his wife and the mother of his three daughters.

Five years later, Dion and the Belmonts had their first Top 10 record, “A Teen-ager in Love.”

Gets Good Reviews

This year, Dion, who wears a jaunty Bronx taxi driver’s cap even at home in Boca Raton, Fla., has a new rock ‘n’ roll album, “Yo Frankie,” which is getting good reviews. He wrote most of the songs.

Dion, who turns 50 on July 18, was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in January.

Some of his generation became tuxedoed nightclub singers.

“I’m a die-hard,” Dion said. “I’ve always been a rock ‘n’ roll enthusiast. In case I lose my job as a rock ‘n’ roll singer, I’ll drive a cab. I’ve got my cabbie cap. But I’ve been fortunate. I always paid the rent. I’ve never done another job. Never.”

Dion isn’t buying any “don’t trust anybody over 30” stuff or pronouncements by Mick Jagger and Peter Townshend of the Who about not wanting to be geriatric rockers.

“When I started there was no rock ‘n’ roll, no expectations, no rules,” Dion said. “Some people got the idea that rock ‘n’ roll was just for the young. Today we know that’s not so. You could be an old fogy at 19. You can be kicking up your heels at 63. It’s an attitude.

‘Rock Keeps You Young’

“Rock at its best lifts your spirit, keeps you aware, makes you feel and think, keeps you young.

“If you start with the anger and a sound to get the girls, and keep on, you find out it’s really an artistic expression. You can share your thoughts. This is powerful.”

Rock ‘n’ roll may have moved through doo-wop, British invasions and disco to post-punk, but for Dion it hasn’t changed much.

“The only thing that has changed is the equipment,” he said. “Basically, you’ve got a backbeat, electric guitars, and it’s dance music.

“This new album is an ‘80s album. But it has elements of my music. It’s black music filtered through an Italian neighborhood. You come out with an attitude.

Imitates Horn Section

“I always used a bunch of guys to imitate a horn section, because I couldn’t afford a horn section. I became kind of identified with that sound--’Ruby Baby,’ ‘Runaround Sue.’ I use it all through this album.

“When I was growing up we used to bang on cardboard boxes and I had a guitar and a bunch of guys would sing. You put a drum to that and you go. With all the technology today it comes out with more power and clarity.”

After doo-wop faded and Dion conquered a drug problem, he became a folk singer. He had a hit with “Abraham, Martin and John.”

“I wasn’t striking lightning in the sky,” he said. “That song gave me a chance to sit in coffeehouses which were flourishing around the country and play acoustic guitar and express myself.

‘Wonderful Times’

“Those times were wonderful for me. For the first time it became a two-way street, the audience and me. When I started out, we used to run out at the Brooklyn Fox and do two songs. Then Fats Domino would do two songs. Jerry Lee Lewis would do two.

“In 1980 I got into gospel music. It was a way to express what was inside me. I made five gospel albums. I don’t call it religious music. I don’t look at myself as religious.”

Dion, a solo singer since 1960, had a reunion concert with the Belmonts in 1972 but has stayed off rock revival tours. “I feel like I would dry up if I did that.

“But I love doing the old songs. Those songs become more valuable to me every year. I love to see the joy ‘The Wanderer’ and ‘Runaround Sue’ bring to people. When Arista Records wanted me to do an album, I said I’d do it if I can do a rock ‘n’ roll album in the tradition of those two songs, meaning get into some strong characters.”

Tapes in Subway Station

Dion said he got a lot of help on his new album. Paul Simon sings on “Written on the Subway Wall” and he’s in the video. “We did it on a subway platform in the middle of the night,” Dion said. “We had about 15 cops, 20 Guardian Angels. It was great. We had dinner served down there.

“I had Paul sing one of my favorite doo-wop songs, ‘Little Star,’ done by the Elegants, in the middle of ‘Subway Wall.’

“One of my friends had a bunch of 8-millimeter film of us from the old days. It’s woven through the whole video. The end shows me in my first car, which I bought for $75.”

‘Kind of an Oddball’

Personally, Dion said: “I’m kind of an oddball. I’ve got the same wife I started off with. We grew up together. We love each other. The real thing that kept us going is that we accepted each other at our worst. We walked through the valley. I was with her at her lowest and she was with me at my lowest.

“We’ve got three great daughters. They’re a joy. I’m blessed.”

Dion is looking forward to his 50th birthday party.

“It’s going to be a bash,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of friends with instruments. I probably will get into the mood to play.”