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

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre 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, ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

singer. Born and raised in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, 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 Mononym, mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B, folk music, folk an ...

), a popular singing group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He also played drums before and after The Belmonts with several groups. 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 quartet prominent throughout the late 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 ...

. 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, 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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 a New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequently referre ...

. 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, 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 reco ...

, they released four 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 ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but fared better in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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'' (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 a ...

such as "The Mardi Gras" on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

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

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, 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 ...

, 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, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

classic "Fever" and " Let There Be Love" on the Raftis label. In the early 1970s, The Endless Pulse retooled itself as the jazz-rock ensemble Pulse, with Mastrangelo on lead vocals,

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, and

kazoo The kazoo is a 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'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

. Other members included Kenny Sambolin, Richie Goggin, Bill Golden and Chris Gentile. In late 1971, they recorded the LP ''Pulse feat. 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 and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and fuzz guitar. The LP is noted for being one of the few

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

albums featuring a kazoo solo. After Pulse disbanded, Mastrangelo formed and sang lead for The Midnite Sun, a popular New York City area nightclub band. Members included fellow ex-Pulse bassist Kenny Sambolin, lead guitarist Bobby Coleman, backup vocalist Judy Purse, and Mastrangelo's cousin Joey DeMaria on drums. Mastrangelo later replaced DeMaria on drums, with Charlie Carlisi replacing Coleman on lead guitar. 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. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, 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, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the Borough (New York City), borough of Q ...

on Long Island, NY with no recording ever being issued. Although no longer an official member of the Belmonts, Mastrangelo sang 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 "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. It first became a popular top five hit single for the American girl group the Crystals in 1963. American teen idol Shaun Cassidy r ...

", even received considerable airplay on progressive rock station WLIR. Mastrangelo lived in Boynton Beach, Florida, 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 / 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