"I Wonder Why" is a

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, ...

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by

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 ...

Background

It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her but does not know why. The song is noted for

Carlo Mastrangelo Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937 – April 4, 2016) was an American doo-wop and progressive rock singer. Born and raised in The Bronx, he lived in an apartment on the corner of 179th St. and Mapes Ave. He was an original member of The Belmo ...

bass part.

Chart performance

"I Wonder Why" was released as Laurie Records' first single, (number 3013), and was the group's first national pop chart hit, in 1958. The song went to number 22 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

Notable cover versions

*A cover was sung by Showaddywaddy in 1978, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

References

1958 songs 1958 debut singles Dion DiMucci songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Doo-wop songs Laurie Records singles 1978 singles Showaddywaddy songs {{1950s-pop-song-stub