Favourite songs by Dion DiMucci?

I think Lou Reed said Dion was the coolest guy in Rock and Roll. He is definitely way up there and deserves more recognition.

 

Your Own Backyard.

 

Leaving aside the classics, one of my favourites is his cover of Springsteen's "Book of Dreams".

 

As full of gems as it is, this list doesn't begin to cover the life and work of Dion.

My all time favorite song by Dion would probably be "Tomorrow Won't Bring the Rain".

 

His exact words IIRC were "He practically invented the attitude".

 

Yes! I love that song! I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound is another really good one.
From the earlier 60s period, Can't We Be Sweethearts and Sandy are favourites of mine.

 

The fifties Bruce Springsteen.

 

A great one!

 

The King of the New York Streets box set is staggering in range and quality. I wish more people could hear the breadth of work on it. Dion is great because he is so alive. Even in his worst personal period, you hear the voice of a man struggling to live. He is a great guitarist to boot. At the age of 76, Dion still has it in spades.

 

It wasn't until the cd era that I became familiar with songs That weren't Top 10.

One of the notable ones for me is Two Ton Feather.

This one on You Tube is an 'alternate version'

 

In the '80s, he made 5 of the best and most streetwise contemporary Christian albums ever made.

 

Dion provided a very tasty background vocal toward the end of "Dirty Blvd." from Reed's New York (1989).

 

I posted this on a blues thread a few weeks ago.

I went to a Dion concert a couple of years ago. I'm 61 now, and seemed to be one of the youngest people in the audience. I swear, half the fans came in wheelchairs or pushing walkers. Dion played to the crowd, with his old doo-wop hits, but then did a solo acoustic blues set. I've been playing guitar myself since I was ten year old, but my jaw dropped. He is a phenomenal blues guitarist, as evidenced by his recent albums. His singing voice and range is as strong as ever, and he has great charisma and stage presence, as both bandleader and solo artist.

 

Of the ones listed, "Lovers Who Wander." Hey, where the heck IS this place??

 

also, "Sandy"

 

Runaround Sue, Ruby Baby, The Wanderer & Where Or When = Perfection IMO.

 

A, M, and John...The Wanderer leads this poll?? Ah, cmon.

 

I discovered this one listening to Loss Leaders; it is one of my favorite songs in the series:

Dion - You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover (1970)



This is a pretty remarkable vocal performance, and the guitar isn't too shabby either.

 

I use any Dion thread as a platform for the "what's the status of the complete Columbia box that was in the works a while back" question....

 

1963-1965 Dion is just a treasure trove of extraordinary performances; he was ahead of his time during these years! The '68 "Daddy Rollin' (In Your Arms)" is an amazing side, as well. I am hopeful for an eventual "Complete Columbia Sessions" box.....

 

yeah, I was kind of bummed this thread turned out to be a poll...

 

Your Own Back Yard.
Covered by Mott the Hoople. Good enough for me.

 

I was just curious as to which of "hits" people were most likely to vote for. In hindsight maybe the poll is distracting from the topic, which is to discuss our favourite Dion songs from any era.

I hope people aren't turned off by the poll (even though I somehow left off Ruby Baby), its the replies that are much more interesting for a brilliant but underrated artist like Dion.

 

I still have the LP with this on it

 

"Abraham Martin and John" is one of the few songs that can make me cry...but I didn't vote for it because for better or worse, I associate Dion with an earlier and more innocent time. Another one I almost voted for but didn't was "Where or When" - magnificent, but Peggy Lee's version of that one just outshines all the others, fair or not. That said, I think every period of the rock era has had one or two teen idols who proved to have real talent that lasted them well into adulthood, whether they continued to burn up the charts or not, and Dion was definitely his generation's member of that club.

What I did vote for: "Runaround Sue," "I Wonder Why," and "Donna the Prima Donna".