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DION’S BACK

By Paulanne Simmons
The Brooklyn Paper

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The 25th anniversary of the Seaside Summer Concert Series kicks off on July 10 with Jay Black, of Jay and the Americans, hosting the legendary Dion and Little Anthony & The Imperials.

"I’ll still be up there," Borough President Marty Markowitz told GO Brooklyn. Markowitz traditionally hosts these events, "but [Jay will] make jokes between the acts - something I usually do. But I’ll give that to him."

In 1957, Dion DiMucci (pictured) teamed up with three neighborhood pals to form Dion and the Belmonts (named after Belmont Avenue in the Bronx). After hits such as "I Wonder Why" and "A Teenager in Love," Dion left the group in 1961 and scored his own hits with "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer."

This Seaside Summer Concert series performance is the first time the rock ’n’ roll legend will be in Brooklyn since the Fox and Paramount theaters in Downtown Brooklyn closed, said Markowitz.

After high school, Anthony Gourdine, of Fort Greene, originally with The Duponts, left to join The Chesters, a group later renamed The Imperials.

Gourdine was sitting on a Brooklyn park bench when he heard radio deejay Alan Freed announcing his record: "And here’s a new record that’s making a lot of noise ... Little Anthony & the Imperials singing ’Tears on My Pillow.’" The name stuck. "Tears on My Pillow" instantly launched them.

Re-live those memories at the Seaside Summer Concert Series, which continues every Thursday night at 7:30 pm through Aug. 21 at Asser Levy Park, West Fifth Street at Surf Avenue in Brighton Beach. The concerts are free. The public can bring their own chairs, or they can be rented. Performers are subject to change without notice. Call the concert hotline for updates at (718) 469-1912 or log onto www.brooklynconcerts.com.

©2003 Community Newspaper Group

→Weintrob: Distribution: from hand-to-hand to boxes

Reader Feedback

toddb@jayandtheamericans.com from New York says:
Your article stating that Dion "with Jay Black, of Jay and the Americans" So you know The Americans will not be with Jay Black. We are Jay and the Americans. We have Jay # 3 with the original Americans and a founding American. I would appreicate you printing a correction on this.
May 18, 2008, 12:50 pm

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