19. I Wonder Why, Dion and the Belmonts

A Morse-Code barrage of “din-din-dins” announces one of the great bass lines in rock, a line that flares and swoons but never lets up. The last “din” in the opening line morphs into the first word of “don’t-know-why-I,” with each word adding a singer to the mix, in harmonic thirds. All join together then for “love-you-like-I-do,” and the Belmonts are off to the races. Surprisingly early, after verse one, the rather grounded falsetto makes its entrance, while the background singers don-don-di-diddity in controlled anarchy that carries through to the end. A pushing backbeat propels the song in a quick 2:16, stopping twice for a dramatic “wop (pause), wop (pause), wop-wop, wopwopwop.” The words – who listens to the words? – are simple but profound, nailing the uncertainty that every lover, however true, at one time or another must feel. “I wonder why I’m sure you’re always true” doesn’t sound so sure, dun-dun-du-does it?

Sidebar: The Doo-wop Canon

I originally intended to make #19 a three-way tie, with Come Go With Me by the Dell-Vikings and Why Do Fools Fall In Love? by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers sharing the spot. Each has the classic elements of up-tempo doo-wop with these two even adding the characteristic sax solo. “Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum, dum-de-dooby-dum” is a Hall-of-Fame doo-wop line, as is “Yip-dum-wop-a-dum, wop-a-dum, wop-a-ye-de.” Further, I could have covered the main strands of the genre with the Belmonts – white Italians, the Teenagers – inner-city blacks, and the Dell Vikings – interracial Californians. But the more I listened to the three songs together, the more I felt I Wonder Why was the only one that never sagged, even for a second. It is hard, of course, to compare doo-wop classics to the Eagles, and in fairness I will prepare a Doo-Wop Top 25 to stand on its own.  But this music of the ‘50s achieved a perfection with a semi-rigid formula: a 45 with a slow side and a fast side. While radio anointed one side as the hit, the flip side that you discovered at a party, say, could be just as good – and more memorable because you felt it was your discovery. Think Danny and the Juniors: At the Hop was the uptempo ‘A’ side; while Sometimes (When I’m All Alone) was just as good to dance to, real close. The harmonies were pleasing, the beat was irresistible, the bass and falsetto gave range, and the lead singer was distinctive (so much so that his or her name often emerged after-the-fact: Cleve Duncan, Fred Parris, Tony Williams, Arlene Smith are among the household names that were never mentioned when their songs were hits.)