DION AND THE BELMONTS -DEBUT -MINT- UNPLAYED LP STUNNING MONO COPY 1958

$

129

UP FOR AUCTION IS A BEAUTY OF A COPY OF THIS TITLE.... THE RECORDS I AM SELLING CAME FROM AN ESTATE OF A MILWAUKEE
MAN WHO PASSED. HE WORKED FOR A RECORD DISTRIBUTOR IN THE LATE 50'S AND EARLY 60'S...MOST OF THESE RECORDS HAVE
NEVER EVEN BEEN OUT OF THE SLEEVES TILL NOW. THE BATCH WE SOLD WERE SOME STUNNING QUALITY 45'S AND NOW I WILL BE SELLING OFF SOME OF THE LP'S  FROM THIS COLLECTION....CHECK MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR SOME RARE TITLES...MANY PROMOS OF HARD
TO FIND TITLES. IF YOU REALLY NEED MORE IMAGES PLEASE MESSAGE. THE SAME FOR ANY MORE INFO. PAYPAL PREFERRED AND WILL SHIP TO  E-BAY GLOBAL....
  I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING FOR OVER 45 YEARS NOW AND I MUST SAY I HAVE NEVER SEEN QUITE A COLLECTION...MOST WERE SOLD OFF
THROUGH THE ESTATE BUT THESE WERE MORE THAT WERE FOUND. THANKS FOR LOOKING!

THIS IS THE BELMONTS DEBUT LP ON LAURIE ....YOU WILL NEVER FIND ONE IN THIS STUNNING MINT CONDITION UNLESS IT WAS STILL SEALED... COVER IS A BEAUTY (WITH SOME MINOR BROWNING AND A SLIGHT WRINKLE IN THE PAPER) ON BACK COVER)  AS WELL AS THE VINYL...LOOKS UNPLAYED. IN ORIGINAL WAX SLEEVE.

Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In late 1957 Dion DiMucci joined The Belmonts with singers Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano and Angelo D'Aleo to form the group.4]

The name the Belmonts was derived from the fact that two of the four singers lived on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, and the other two lived near Belmont Avenue.

After unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 and then on Jubilee Records ("The Chosen Few" Dion & the Timberlanes not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with The Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958. The breakthrough came when their very first Laurie release, "I Wonder Why", reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 charts, and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts, "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented'."[1] Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were groups like the Flamingos, the Five Satins, the Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices, even complex jazz arrangements.[2]

They followed the hit with the ballads "No One Knows" (No. 19) and "Don’t Pity Me" (No. 40), which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with the Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane. Dion decided he couldn't afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue. "$36 seemed like an awful lot of money to me," he said, and told Holly, no. Shortly after midnight, on February 3rd 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly’s place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners.

In March 1959 Dion and the Belmonts’ next single, "A Teenager in Love", broke the Top Ten, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the UK Singles Charts. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it's considered one of the greatest songs in Rock and Roll history. It was followed by their first album, "Presenting Dion and the Belmonts". Their biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November 1959, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the group making another national appearance on American Bandstand. The flip side, "That's My Desire", although never charting nationally, is as well known in many areas, especially New York City.