Ernie Maresca

Ernest "Ernie" Maresca (born April 21, 1938 in Bronx , New York - † July 8, 2015 ) was an American songwriter , rock'n'roll singer and manager of a record company . He was best known for the top hits that he wrote in the early 1960s for the singer Dion DiMucci and his formation Dion and the Belmonts .

biography

Maresca began his career as a singer and songwriter in the doo-wop group The Regents . He had written the song "No-One Knows" that Dion DiMucci noticed. Dion took on his band The Belmonts . The single was released on Laurie Records in 1958 a top 20 hit in the US charts .

Maresca began to devote himself entirely to songwriting and provided Dion with his great hits "Runaround Sue" (1961, number one in the USA , number 11 in Great Britain ) and "The Wanderer" (number 2 / USA, number 10 / UK; a re-release rose to number 16 in 1976). Other hits for Dion, written by Maresca together with DiMucci, were “Lovers Who Wander” and “Donna the Prima Donna” .

In 1961 Seville , a small New York label , offered him a contract as a singer. Despite his protests that he was not a great singer, recordings were released. The single "Shout Shout (Knock Yourself Out)" became a US top ten hit in 1962. Other, less successful recordings followed in the 1960s. He continued to write songs for other artists, including the hit "Whenever a Teenager Cries" by Reparata & the Delrons .

He became the public relations director for Laurie Records in the 1970s and later served as an executive at the record company.

Web links

• Ernie Maresca at Allmusic (English)
• Interview with Ernie Maresca (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oldies Music News ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.