Opinion by Bonnie Henry : Don of doo-wop

Meet Gus DiBiasi, aka Gus D Oldie. And, boy, does he ever deliver the oldies, especially those known as doo-wop.

Think the Platters, the Shirelles, the Tokens, the Flamingos. Think Gene Chandler singing "Duke of Earl," or Dion and the Belmonts wondering, "Why must I be a teenager in love?"

Hugely popular in the 1950s and early '60s, doo-wop, says DiBiasi, "is the nonsensical phrasing of words. It's boy meets girl. It's all about love. It brings you back to a better time."

For years now, DiBiasi has been bringing back those better times over the radio waves, on cruise ships and, more recently, over the Internet.

DiBiasi, who lives in Oro Valley, also does local doo-wop DJ shows in town, such as the recent one he put on at Heritage Highlands.

"Anyone can spin records. I'm an entertainer," says DiBiasi, who gets down with the crowd, dances, gives away prizes. Whatever it takes.

He's also a walking encyclopedia of doo-wop trivia and the stars who sang it. A quick pass through his den reveals walls covered with doo-wop mementos and autographed photos of various stars, many of them posing with DiBiasi.

"I grew up with it. I love it," says DiBiasi, who was born in Brooklyn in 1942 and attended rock 'n' roll shows put on by radio DJ Alan Freed at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater.

"We'd sleep out all night to get good tickets, which cost $1.25, see 13 or 14 acts."

He still remembers the first doo-wop song he ever bought: "Earth Angel" by the Penguins. "I bought it on a 78," he says.

By the time he hit high school, he was playing guitar and performing with a group called The Four Chants. Their price: $15. Total.

After a stint at Brooklyn College, DiBiasi started a job on Wall Street, working his way up from the mail room to trader.

But the music never left him. "In the early '70s, I was part of a band called True Blue. We played oldies to disco on Wall Street."

In 1990, he left his high-stress job behind, relocating to Hilton Head, S.C. "I'd been there before on business trips. I loved the fishing."

There he started up a disc jockey business, available for weddings, parties, bar mitzvahs. A radio program manager at one of those parties invited him to host a radio show. "I said OK, but it had to be doo-wop."

He was given the 7-10 p.m. time slot on Wednesdays — and three months to prove himself.

Within six weeks, the show had expanded an hour. "It was a live show. There were call-in dedications. I was on the phone until we went off the air."

The show was moved twice, first to Friday nights, then to Sundays, where it occupied the 6 p.m. to midnight time slot.

"I'd play 20 songs an hour," says DiBiasi, whose doo-wop library numbers close to 10,000 songs, all on CD.

Then a travel agent asked him if he'd be interested in hosting a doo-wop cruise. He was.

Forty cruises later, he's introduced everyone from the Drifters to the Coasters to the Shirelles on the high seas.

But he will not hire a group that does not have at least one original member.

He also put on several doo-wop shows in the Hilton Head area and took part in one of the first doo-wop specials for the PBS network.

"It was down in Atlanta. We had 2,000 people in the audience," says DiBiasi, whose show was shown in the Southeast.

Tired of the hurricanes — "we were evacuated four times" — DiBiasi moved to Tucson in 2005 with his companion, Gina Silva, who helps with the shows. The two bill themselves as Gus D Oldie and Ms. Gina.

Once a week, DiBiasi records three hours of doo-wop and patter for his Internet show, which runs three times a week.

Instead of live call-ins, he takes e-mail requests and plays them in future shows. In a few months, he'll be off on another doo-wop cruise.

"I'm the perpetual Peter Pan of doo-wop," he says. "We pretend like we're 16 again."

Give a listen

Gus DiBiasi's three-hour doo-wop show runs locally at 9 a.m. Thursdays, 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 p.m. Wednesdays on www.cruisinoldiesradio.com. You can also reach him at gusdoldiesdoowops@yahoo.com or at 730-0360.