Dion & the Belmonts: Reunion; The Belmonts: Cigars, Acapella, Candy; Dion's Greatest Hits
Greg Shaw, Rolling Stone, 29 March 1973
DION WAS the original punk. Stand him up next to his contemporary male teen idols Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, Bobby Rydell, Adam Wade, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Mark Valentino, etc and the difference is obvious. They were all simpering, heartstruck, crybabies, with the possible exception of Fabian, and the best he could come up with was "yay yay yay Im like a tiger" which, needless to say, was somewhat less than convincing. But when Dion sang "I love em and I leave em, they dont even know my name!" there was no doubting him. He was tough, arrogant, not really dangerous like Elvis, but unquestionably mean. A punk.
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