Search - Ernie Maresca :: The Original Wanderer

Great Oldies Album

bill miller | Boca Raton, Fl United States | 09/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I listened to this album, all original songs and masters. Hard to find good mastering and great songs and groups. A must buy."

A One-Hit Wonder With A Difference

bill miller | 08/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When Ernie Maresca scored with Shout Shout (Knock Yourself Out) in May of 1962 (# 6 Billboard Hot 100/# 25 R&B) (b/w Crying Like A Baby Over You) little did he realize that that was to be it insofar as charted singles were concerned.



But unlike some one-hit wonders Maresca, born in the Bronx on April 21, 1939, had other talents that would stand him in good stead. He could write a pretty good tune and, prior to his hit, had already proven that with No One Knows, a # 12 R&B/# 19 Top 100 Pop hit for Dion & The Belmonts in 1958 and Runaround Sue, a # 1 Hot 100/# 4 R&B for Dion in 1961.



By that time Dion had left The Belmonts and was backed by The Del-Satins, the same group that backed Maresca on his only hit. It was also in 1962 that Dion would take another Maresca song, The Wanderer, to # 2 Hot 100 (again backed by The Del-Satins), that The Belmonts would have a # 28 Hot 100 with his Come On Little Girl, and The Regents would score with his Runaround (# 28 Hot 100/# 30 R&B). Not a bad year.



By the 1970s Maresca had gone on to a career as an executive with Laurie Records, and while this is certainly an interesting - if unremarkable - compilation, if you only want his charted hit that is available on any number of 1960s retrospective compilations."