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Today I heard that Freddie Milano, 72, 2nd Tenor with The Belmonts has passed away. Those of you might remember back in the late 50's they were Dion and the Belmonts. They had many hits including I Wonder Why, Where or When, No One Knows, all with Dion. After Dion left the group, The Belmonts continued to record, Come on Little Angel and others.
Formed in 1957 as the Tamerlanes, the group was soon paired with Dion DiMucci on Mohawk Records before joining Laurie Records as the Dion and the Belmonts (named after Belmont Avenue in the Bronx where Fred lived) the following year. Their first Laurie single, "I Wonder Why" that year, reached #22 on the charts. It was followed by such hits as "No One Knows" (#19-1958) and "Don't Pity Me" (#40-1958), which led to the groups's inclusion on the ill-fated Winter Dance Party tour that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in early 1959. Other hits included "Where Or When" (#3-1960), "A Teenager In Love" (#5-1959) and "When You Wish Upon A Star" (#30-1960). Dissatisfied with the musical direction they had headed down, Dion left the group in late 1960. The Belmonts, with Carlo Mastrangelo now on lead, charted eight more times, (mostly on Sabine Records) including "Tell Me Why" (#18-1961) and "Come On Little Angel" (@28-1962). They reunited with Dion for a Rock 'n' Roll Revival Show in New York in 1972 and continued performing and recording under various incarnations to this day. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000.
Thank you for that most informative post, Songbird. The Belmonts were a few years before my time but I am familiar with most of their hits. It's still sad whenever news of this type is delivered.
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