Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937 – April 4, 2016) was an American

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

singer. Born and raised in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, he lived in an apartment on the corner of 179th St. and Mapes Ave. He was an original member of The Belmonts (with and without

Dion DiMucci Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. His music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk and blues. Initially as the lead singer of Dion and t ...

), a popular singing group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He led the progressive rock/

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble, "Pulse", during the 1970s.

Early career

Mastrangelo sang bass during the period that the group was known as

Dion and the Belmonts Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal trio prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo M ...

. After the group's breakup with DiMucci, he sang lead vocals on all Belmonts recordings until leaving for a solo career in 1962. Following the hit, "Come On Little Angel", a split developed within the group concerning the finances of their privately owned label, Sabina (a.k.a. Sabrina) Records. Mastrangelo said, ''"Because we owned the company, we had to pay the bills, studio time, ads, and stuff like that. We needed hits that sold around 500,000 copies to make enough. That was the worst move we ever made. If we hadn't done that, we would have been together all these years. It was very sad, like leaving my two brothers"''. Mastrangelo left the group and attempted a solo career on

Laurie Records Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), T ...

, releasing four singles under the name Carlo. He was backed vocally by the uncredited Tremonts (aka The Demilles). The singles, "Baby Doll", and "Little Orphan Girl", received considerable airplay in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and a few other states, but didn't make the national charts. "Ring-A-Ling", a tune which he overdubbed catchy bass vocals to, was a favorite of New York disc jockey

Murray the K Murray Kaufman (February 14, 1922 – February 21, 1982), professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he freque ...

. He featured it on his weekly, "Record Review Board Contest", February 12, 1964, and it was the clear winner. It received airplay on New York stations WINS and

WENE WENE (1430 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Endicott, New York, United States, the station serves the Binghamton market. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and features programming from Premiere Rad ...

, but also failed to chart nationally. Around the same time, he contributed backing bass vocals to the Laurie single, "Donna Lee", by the Demilles, before joining DiMucci again. Between 1964 and 1966 Mastrangelo was Dion DiMucci's occasional songwriting partner, backup vocalist, and drummer in the group, "Dion and the Wanderers". Recording for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, they released three uncharted singles and made national appearances on Dick Clark's, "Where The Action Is", and "The Lloyd Thaxton Show". In late 1966, the three original Belmonts; Mastrangelo, Milano, and D'Aleo, reunited with DiMucci and released the album, "Dion & The Belmonts ''Together Again''", for ABC Records. Produced by "''DiMont Music''", Mastrangelo played drums and DiMucci contributed guitar to reduce the need for additional session musicians. Two singles were released from the LP; "My Girl The Month of May"/"Berimbau", and "Movin' Man"/"For Bobbie". Neither charted in

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but fared better in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. During their brief reunion they appeared on the popular "Clay Cole Show" debuting "Berimbau" and "My Girl The Month of May", and occasionally performed at local New York City

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

such as "The Mardi Gras" on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

(April 29, 1967) before disbanding.

Later career

In the late 1960s, Mastrangelo was lead vocalist for, "The Endless Pulse", recording three uncharted singles for Laurie Records. Subsequent releases included the

bubblegum rock Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...

Ernie Maresca Ernest Peter Maresca (August 21, 1938 – July 8, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and record company executive, best known for writing or co-writing some of Dion's biggest hits, including "Runaround Sue" and " The Wanderer". Biogr ...

produced, "Shoo-Fly Pie & Apple Pan Dowdy" on

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

, followed by a progressive version of the

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

classic "Fever", and "Let There Be Love" on the Raftis label. In the early 1970s, Mastrangelo sang lead, played

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, and

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...

for the

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

ensemble, "Pulse" (initially known as The Endless Pulse). Members included Kenny Sambolin, Richie Goggin, Bill Golden, and Chris Gentile. In late 1971, they recorded the LP; "Pulse-''featuring Carlo Mastrangelo''", later released in 1972 on the small Thimble label. Most of the material on the ten-track album was written by Mastrangelo, with an emphasis placed on

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

and

fuzz guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

. The LP is noted for being one of the few

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

albums featuring a kazoo solo, and stands up well as a fine progressive rock composition. After Pulse disbanded, he formed and sang lead for The Midnite Sun, a popular New York City area nightclub band. Members included Kenny Sambolin - bass guitar, Bobby Coleman - lead guitar, Judy Purse - singer, and his cousin Joey DeMaria on drums. That later changed to Carlo on drums and Charlie Carlisi on lead guitar. After recording the jazz-rock album, Mastrangelo, D'Aleo, Milano, and DiMucci reunited in New York City on June 2, 1972, for a Richard Nader "Rock and Roll Revival" concert. The live performance, recorded by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

, was titled, "Dion and The Belmonts – ''Reunion: Live at Madison Square Garden 1972''". The following year, all four original members did another reunion concert at the

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...

Long Island, NY Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th- ...

, with no recording ever being issued. Although no longer an official member of the Belmonts, Mastrangelo did backing vocals on all nine tracks of the Belmonts' album, "''Cigars, Acappella, Candy''", released by

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

in 1972. He also sang lead vocals on the songs, "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever", and "We Belong Together". The LP received many favorable reviews, being distinguished for its medley of 13 four-part harmony tracks titled "Street Corner Symphony". Their doo-wop version of, "Da Doo Ron Ron", even received considerable airplay on progressive rock station

WLIR WLIR was a radio station that played a new music/modern rock format on the frequencies 92.7 FM, 98.5 FM, and 107.1 FM from the 1980s into the 2000s. Bob Wilson, longtime WLIR employee and historian, created the website WDARE (Dare FM), which m ...

. Mastrangelo lived in

Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about 57 miles north of Miami. The population was 68,217 at the 2010 census. In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 78,679 according to the University o ...

, minutes away from Dion DiMucci. The two former lead singers of The Belmonts continued to collaborate on many of DiMucci's recordings and live performances from the 1980s until Mastrangelo's death in April 2016 at the age of 78.

Discography

Singles by label

;Mohawk Records: * Teen-age Clementine / Santa Margherita (1957) - The Belmonts * Tag Along / We Went Away (1957) - Dion with the Belmonts ;Laurie Records: * I Wonder Why / Teen Angel (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts *

No One Knows "No One Knows" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age written by band members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. It was the first single and second track from their third album, ''Songs for the Deaf'', and was released on November 26, ...

/ I Cant Go On (Rosalie) (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts * Don't Pity Me / Just You (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts * A Teenager In Love / I've Cried Before (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts * Every Little Thing I Do / A Lover's Prayer (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts * Where Or When / That's My Desire (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts * When You Wish Upon A Star / Wonderful Girl (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts * In The Still Of The Night / A Funny Feeling (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts * Rockin' Rocket / Happy Tune (instrumentals)(1960) - Carlo and Jimmy * We Belong Together / Such A Long Way (1961) - The Belmonts * Baby Doll / Write Me A Letter (1962) - Carlo * Little Orphan Girl / Mairzy Doats (1963) - Carlo * Five Minutes More / Story Of Love (1963) - Carlo * Ring-A-Ling / Stranger In My Arms (1964) - Carlo * Donna Lee / Um Ba Pa (1964) - The Demilles * Time Is Wastin' / Ghost Man (1968) - The Endless Pulse * You Turned Me Over / Just You (1968) - The Endless Pulse * Nowhere Chick / Wake Me, Shake Me (1969) - The Endless Pulse ;Sabrina/Sabina Records: * Tell Me Why / Smoke From Your Cigarette (1961) - The Belmonts * Don't Get Around Much Anymore / Searching For A New Love (1961) - The Belmonts * I Need Someone / That American Dance (1961) - The Belmonts * I Confess / Hombre (1962) - The Belmonts * Come On Little Angel / How About Me (1962) - The Belmonts ;Columbia Records: * Tomorrow Won't Bring The Rain / You Move Me Babe (1965) - Dion and the Wanderers * Time in My Heart For You / Wake Up Baby (1965) - Dion and the Wanderers * Two Ton Feather / So Much Younger (1966) - Dion and the Wanderers * I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound / Southern Train (1969) - Dion and the Wanderers ;ABC Records: * My Girl The Month of May / Berimbau (1966) - Dion and the Belmonts * Movin' Man / For Bobbie (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts ;Tower Records: * Shoo-Fly Pie & Apple Pan Dowdy / It's Alright (1969) - Carlo's Crown Jewel ;Raftis Records: * Fever / Claudine (1970) - Carlo * Let There Be Love / same (1970) - Carlo ;Thimble Records: * Why Can't She See Me / same (1972) - Pulse

LPs

* ''Presenting Dion and the Belmonts'' (1959) - Laurie Records * ''Wish Upon A Star with Dion and the Belmonts'' (1960) - Laurie Records * ''Together Again'' (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts - ABC Records * ''Summer Love'' (1969) - The Belmonts - Dot Records * ''Cigars Acappella Candy'' (1972) - The Belmonts - Buddah Records * ''Pulse featuring Carlo Mastrangelo'' (1972) - Thimble Records * ''Reunion'' (1973) - Dion and the Belmonts - Warner Brothers Records

References

External links

The Belmonts official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastrangelo, Carlo 1937 births 2016 deaths American rock singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers Musicians from the Bronx Laurie Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians