Ernie Maresca (August 21, 1938 – July 8, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and record company executive, best known for writing or co-writing some of Dion’s biggest hits, including “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer”. (More from Wikipedia)
The third issue of Who Put the Bomp was subtitled Whenever a Teenager Cries; whereas I grew up with the other two songs and loved them both, I wasn’t familiar with this song. Their 1964 song “Whenever a Teenager Cries” was by one of Greg Shaw’s favorite girl groups, Reparata & the Delrons. (I did find the song on YouTube, and it is another great one without a doubt).
The songwriter is Ernie Maresca; while I didn’t really know that name either, I certainly know his work: He wrote or co-wrote several of the biggest hits by Dion, including “Runaround Sue”, “The Wanderer” and “Donna the Prima Donna”. Maresca was also the songwriter behind one of my own favorite lesser known early 1960’s songs, “Party Girl” by Bernadette Carroll. I stumbled upon the song again on a compilation album not that long ago.
(May 2013)
