Biography
During the 1950s, Big Dee Irwin first rose to notice as a member of the Pastels, the doo-wop ensemble formed in 1954 by the New York City native—born Defosca Erwin, sometimes rendered Difosco Ervin—while he and three fellow airmen were stationed at a U.S. Air Force base in Greenland. Alongside baritone Jimmy Willingham, first tenor Richard Travis, and second tenor Tony Thomas, lead singer Irwin entered a talent contest for servicemen; when the quartet received new orders that relocated them to Washington, D.C., they began performing at nightspots popular with military personnel and at USO events. After placing strongly in the 1957 Tops in Blue competition staged at Mitchell Air Force Base in New York, the group pursued a recording contract and came close to signing with Central Records that summer, though some accounts claim a long-term deal was secured without any release ever appearing. Instead the Pastels reached Hull Records, where Irwin’s own composition “Been So Long” was recorded and, after minor revisions, issued late in 1957 on the Hull subsidiary Mascot, backed by “My One and Only Dream.”
Discharged from the service the next year, Irwin found his former bandmates already civilians and “Been So Long” climbing the charts, reaching the R&B Top Five and peaking at number 24 on the pop side; Chess Records soon reissued the single on its Argo imprint. The quartet toured the southern states, including Florida and Louisiana, and headlined multiple engagements at Harlem’s Apollo Theater with the Deltones, Little Willie John, and additional acts, as well as joining the Georgie Woods Show at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater alongside Chuck Berry, the Chantels, and Little Joe & the Thrillers. They also appeared on Alan Freed’s rock-and-roll package shows across the country with Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the Diamonds, and Frankie Lymon. Irwin fronted the Pastels’ follow-up singles “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” released in 1958, and “So Far Away” six months afterward, and the group returned to the Apollo for a week-long run that began on Halloween. When the Pastels disbanded in 1959, Irwin stayed in New York to launch a solo career that gained traction in 1963 with his revival of the 1944 Bing Crosby hit “Swinging on a Star,” cut with Little Eva and followed by a lengthy U.K. tour; the pair later teamed again on “Happy Being Fat.”
Irwin continued issuing solo sides through the remainder of the decade and supplied songs for Isaac Hayes, Ray Charles, Bobby Womack, and the Hollies, whose debut album included his “What Kind of Boy.” By the mid-1970s he had adopted the name DiFosco and was cutting disco material for Roxbury. Heart failure ended his life in 1995.
Discharged from the service the next year, Irwin found his former bandmates already civilians and “Been So Long” climbing the charts, reaching the R&B Top Five and peaking at number 24 on the pop side; Chess Records soon reissued the single on its Argo imprint. The quartet toured the southern states, including Florida and Louisiana, and headlined multiple engagements at Harlem’s Apollo Theater with the Deltones, Little Willie John, and additional acts, as well as joining the Georgie Woods Show at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater alongside Chuck Berry, the Chantels, and Little Joe & the Thrillers. They also appeared on Alan Freed’s rock-and-roll package shows across the country with Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the Diamonds, and Frankie Lymon. Irwin fronted the Pastels’ follow-up singles “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” released in 1958, and “So Far Away” six months afterward, and the group returned to the Apollo for a week-long run that began on Halloween. When the Pastels disbanded in 1959, Irwin stayed in New York to launch a solo career that gained traction in 1963 with his revival of the 1944 Bing Crosby hit “Swinging on a Star,” cut with Little Eva and followed by a lengthy U.K. tour; the pair later teamed again on “Happy Being Fat.”
Irwin continued issuing solo sides through the remainder of the decade and supplied songs for Isaac Hayes, Ray Charles, Bobby Womack, and the Hollies, whose debut album included his “What Kind of Boy.” By the mid-1970s he had adopted the name DiFosco and was cutting disco material for Roxbury. Heart failure ended his life in 1995.
Albums