Mick Hartley

Dion and the Belmonts on the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show, May 1958:

Italian-style doo-wop from da Bronx. This was the group's breakthrough hit, and it's not hard to see why Dion is the main man here. Whatever the respective talents of the group – and they're all fine singers – the rest of them are a pretty rough-looking crew. Dion, though – Dion DiMucci – has the clean good looks to make it the top. Which he did, ditching the others and hitting the big time with songs like The Wanderer and Runaround Sue. In fact he was one of the biggest stars of that late Fifties – early Sixties period when smooth young Italian-Americans like Fabian and Frankie Avalon became teen heart-throbs, before the British Invasion blew it all away.

There was always more to Dion, though. He just kept on going, and his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 was preceded by a moving introduction from Lou Reed of all people – the guiding light of hip New York music.

And let's not forget the Phil Spector-produced masterpiece from 1975, Born To Be With You.