ENTERTAINMENT

Oldies show includes original doo-wop vocalist

BILL NUTT
CORRESPONDENT

Lenny Dell has come a long way from the days when he and a few buddies would harmonize before music class at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx.

But Dell, now 72, says that the enthusiasm for music he felt as a teenager in the 1950s has remained undimmed.

In particular, Dell is committed to the doo-wop sounds created by the Demensions, the group he and his friend Howie Margolin founded nearly 60 years ago.

“It’s music that is all about love and harmonies,” says Dell. “It’s pleasing to the ear. It’s still appropriate today.”

Dell will bring the current line-up of the Demensions to the Newton Theatre this Saturday, May 9, as part of the Doo-Wop Extravaganza, Vol. 2.

The show also includes a performance by Linda Jansen, an original member of the Angels. Jansen sang lead on the song “’Til” but left before the group recorded its Top Ten single, “My Boyfriend’s Back.”

The Demensions (the name is deliberately misspelled) had their own flirtation with fame. Their slow doo-wop version of “Over the Rainbow” charted in 1960.

The vocal group coalesced around Dell and Howie Margolin when they were high school students in the Bronx. Dell credits their music teacher, the late Jack Finestone, with encouraging the young singers.

“He heard us chiming, and he didn’t put us down,” says Dell. “At the end of 1958, we started thinking about doing something serious with music.”

They were especially inspired by an up-tempo vocal cover of “Over the Rainbow.” “I thought, ‘Why don’t we do our own version, only slower and very different?’ We came up with an arrangement tailor-made to our own sound.”

Rounding out the sound of that first line-up of the Demensions were soprano Marisa Montelli and Phil Del Giudice (Dell’s uncle) as top tenor. “Uncle Phil was almost twice our age, but he was young at heart,” Dell says.

With the support of Dell’s father, Lou Dell (an in-demand trumpeter), the Demensions cut “Over the Rainbow” for Mohawk Records in 1960. DJs and radio programmers balked at its 3:13 length, a minute longer than most doo-wop songs.

Enter “Cousin” Bruce Morrow, at the time an influential DJ on WINS. “Cousin Brucie single-handedly broke ‘Over the Rainbow’ in New York,” Dell says. “He believed in that song. He recognized that we had our own sound.”

Dell recalls with pride that at least one other celebrity enjoyed the song. “Judy Garland sent us a letter of congratulations,” he says.

Though “Over the Rainbow” reached the Billboard Top 20, subsequent singles did not match that success. The arrival of the Beatles effectively ended the doo-wop era. By the late 1960s, the Demensions had disbanded, and Dell pursued his own career.

In the early 1990s, however, Dell was persuaded to revive the Demensions. The group’s original master tapes were purchased from Mohawk Records, and the new owner wanted to release the songs, along with newly recorded material.

With the blessings of his friend Margolin, Dell then formed a new version of the Demensions. After a few changes, the current line-up includes Dell, soprano Robin Robbert, baritone Tom Clemente (who also plays keyboards), and top tenor Joe Reinleib.

Dell points out that the original line-up of the Demensions was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame this past March. He adds that the current group continues to perform for appreciative audiences.

“I would have never dreamed in a million years that I’d still be doing this after all these years,” Dell says. “Thanks to the grace of God, I’m still able to sing without embarrassing myself. If I thought I couldn’t do this anymore, I’d hang up my spikes.”

DOO-WOP EXTRAVAGANZA, VOL. 2

WHAT: The Demensions, featuring co-founder and original lead vocalist Lenny Dell, who had a hit version of “Over the Rainbow” in 1960, will perform as part of this package show. Also on the bill are Linda Jansen (an original member of the Angels), and the current line-up of the Duprees.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, May 9

WHERE: Newton Theatre, 234 Spring St., Newton

TICKETS: $44 to $64

INFORMATION: 973-383-3700 or www.thenewtontheatre.com.