Tenacious_Peaches Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I was watching PBS and saw a concert of doo wop musicians from the 50s and 60s. I have listened to this type of music my whole life, but I didn't appreciate how much I really loved it until that concert. The almighty Wikipedia gives this definition for doo wop: "Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s in the United States." Here is the link to the article. Here is a list of musicians and here is a list of songs. Some of my favorites... A Sunday Kind Of Love - The Harptones Blue Moon - The Marcels Book of Love - The Monotones Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler Earth Angel - The Penguins For Sentimental Reasons - The Cleftones Great Pretender - The Platters He's So Fine - The Chiffons I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos In the Still of the Night - The Five Satins Let it be me- The Isley Brothers Mr. Lee - The Bobbettes Mr. Sandman - Chordettes Only You - The Platters Since I Don't Have You - The Skyliners Stay - Maurice and the Zodiacs Save the Last Dance for Me - Drifters Why Do Fools Fall in Love - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers Master Sir bazooka's nomination for the Top Ten, Eighteen With A Bullet by Pete Wingfield, is also included on the list. Of course as we saw with the new wave topic, some of the songs might not be considered authentic doo wop, but I love them anyway. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 I love doo-wop. That´s all I can say. UncleJoe... where are you? Joe knows a lot about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 This is a topic close to my heart and as soon as I return home I will weigh in on the subject. I have well over 1,000 songs in my doo wop collection not counting my .45's. Yes Ten Pea, that's a great list representing several top doo wop hits and artists. I promise to share many more with you. I'll be home Sunday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 While we're waiting for Uncle Joe to get back... Here's a couple from Rhino Records that I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 That is an impressive list of songs...good stuff. UJ promises to educate us on the finer points of Doo Wop upon his return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazooka Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 I was surprised The Persuasions didn't make the artists list. This amazing a cappella group can take nearly any song ( Beatles, Grateful Dead, U2 ) and create a Doo Wop Delight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 I agree, Zooks. There are some awesome doo wop/acapela groups performing today. The Persuasions are one of the best. They do a wide variety of music types and IMO especially excel at doing soul (Temptations for example). The Persuasions are difficult to find these days as they have curtailed touring. Similarly hard to find is the group Reunion. Again, a wide variety of music turned into doo wop gems. You've got to hear them do Little River Band's, "Cool Change" or Clapton's, "Wonderful Tonight". They don't tour much anymore but can occasionally be seen in the New York/Philadelphia/New Jersey region. Perhaps the most accomplished of all of the current doo wop/acapela groups currently performing nationally and producing new CD's are Rockapella. Catch this group whenever they're in your area. Yes, they do the doo wop classics like Sh Boom, Poppa Oom Mow Mow, For The Longest Time, etc., but they also perfect such popular songs as Brown Eyed Girl, Hey Jude, Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye, Tempted By The Fruit Of Another, etc. You've probably heard of The Manhattan Transfer. While mostly considered a jazz vocal group they are masters of Doo Wop (which is how they started). They tour all over the world and are worth the price of admission no matter what genre of music they're singing. They always include a few doo wop songs in their repertoirre. There are several other groups worth seeing/listening to like Kenny Vance and The Planetones, Pure Gold, Stormy Weather, Street Heart (great girl group), The Showvinistics, The Crystalaires, DaVinci's Kitchen, Cop Shoo Bop and a few more. Meanwhile, several of the original 50's/60's doo wop groups are still performing and many sound as great as ever. For example, if you have the chance to see Johnny Maestro (with either The Crests or Brooklyn Bridge) do so. He sounds just as great as ever. Amazing. Another is Jimmy Beaumont and The Skyliners. His voice has held up over the decades and the group sounds great. Earl "Speedo" Campbell and his Cadillacs put on a great show and sound good, too. There are many more...of course the groups have been decimated by age/health problems but so many can be seen on the PBS specials, like the one Ten Pea mentioned. Some of the songs listed by Peaches may not be true doo wop classics. They may fall under the R&B headding (like Duke Of Earl by Gene Chandler) It's got that doo wop sound but it's by a solo performer. But that's a mere technicality. The current doo wop groups that I mentioned above all perform that song. If you're into collecting classic doo wop besides the groups listed above or by Peaches you must include The Moonglows, The Chantels, the original Drifters (with Clyde McPhatter), The Avalons, The Rivieras, The Classics, The Earls, The Paragons and so many more, too numerous to mention. If you're just discovering doo wop you're in for a real treat and you won't be able to get enough of it. E-mail me and I'll be happy to burn some CD's for you sampling what I consider to be the best. My collection is massive and I'm happy to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-fitter Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 One of my first "favourite bands" was UK doo-wop revival band Darts. Here they are performing their top single "Come Back My Love" in 1977. And "Daddy Cool" about the same time. Recognise the guy introducing this performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 (edited) Solid Ted, 'nuff said. The Darts sound great doing The Wrens classic. I like their version of Daddy Cool, too. The black chick can shake it. Is that Sir Elton seen at the beginning? Edited April 2, 2007 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-fitter Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 It certainly was. (He popped up for a second or two longer at the end of the clip...) Rita Ray was "the black chick": she was fabulous, wasn't she? They were a terrific band; real performers, as these clips demonstrated. They had a string of top hits, mostly covers of traditional rock'n'doowop numbers. They continued for quite a while after the departure of "Big" Den Hegarty. (From these clips, you can guess which one he was, right?). But without Den, the magic was gone (for me). Rob Davies, former guitarist of ham-glam rock'n'rollers Mud,("Tiger Feet", "The Cat Crept In", etc.) also joined Darts for some of their later chart hits, but this coincided with a decline in the band's fortunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 I think I saw them live in the late seventies... British bands were touring in Spain... with a band called The Shades. They were part of a tour labelled as "rockabilly"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-fitter Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Not as good as Darts, but also part of a UK doo-wop revival in the mid/late 70s: "Rocky Sharpe & The Replays" - Rama Lama Ding-Dong Personally, I preferred their follow-up "Imagination", but can't find a clip of that one. Apologies if any of these old clips suffer from terrible sound: I can't listen to them before posting when I'm at work. (It's tricky enough getting to see them....) Can't understand Darts being branded as "rockabilly". They were essentially an old style rock'n'roll band with strong doo-wop influences. "Rock'n'doo-wop", if you like, but definitely not rockabilly, which is a different tub of brylcreem entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucksfan_Margo Posted April 7, 2007 Report Share Posted April 7, 2007 Why do most of the doo wop music have all those weird sounds like: I don't know something like "doo bee doo wa wa da da nana na" you know those weird voices WHY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otokichi Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Some thoughts on "Fifties phrases": 1) With up to six dissimilar voices melding, it's a way of keeping synchronization through the song. 2) When you're trying to impress the girls passing by, a nonsense word/refrain gets their attention. 3) Exuberance of the moment. 4) It's a phrase that ticks off the older generation. 5) It's updated Scat singing. 6) They can't Rap, so they sing instead. 7) It's Larrikin code for "let's play house." 8) If ya need an explanation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLD 55 Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 "doo bee doo wa wa da da nana na" That song is "Blue Angel" - Roy Orbison, Margo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Why do most of the doo wop music have all those weird sounds like: I don't know something like "doo bee doo wa wa da da nana na" you know those weird voices WHY? Those weird sounds (like doo wop shoo bop) are what make doo wop, well...doo wop! The phrase is based upon the doo wop (street corner harmony) practice of substituting voices for musical instruments to provide background to the lead. In parting I offer this: Ramma lamma ding dong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Doo-wop is for gangsters and hobos living near railheads ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 6) They can't Rap, so they sing instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 The phrase is based upon the doo wop (street corner harmony) practice of substituting voices for musical instruments to provide background to the lead. Joe this is almost word for word the phrase I used after reading the question. Not really knowing anything that I could intelligently relate about the subject, I kept silent. Thanks for helping me realize that I knew more than I thought I did !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulEdwardWagemann Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Doo-wap seems like rap music for the 50s... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Doo-wap seems like rap music for the 50s... Somehow PaulEdwardWagemann, I expected more from you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Funny, I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongorock Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Even tho many of the songs in your list were recorded during the doo wop era, I do not consider them "doo wop". "I only have eyes for you" and "the great pretender" seem more like classic contemporary 1950s music. While doo wop, to me, seems more like songs that had those crazy/cute vocal runs in them( "Do bop see boop, boom-ba-boom boom boom", "Sha na na na na na na na na ahh, yip yip yip yip yip yip mum mum mum mum mum mum", Yip, yip yip yip, bome bo bo bo oompappacowow ringadingadingding", etc.) I would consider "zoom zoom zoom" by the collegiates "doo wop" But maybe the era or the people who classify/name music genres just lump everything in the 50s into one name, like doo wop. moussette.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 You are right. Doo Wop is a distinct genre that stands apart from other musical stylings of the 50's. Doo Wop is an image and mindset too.... My favorite Jersey Shore town is Wildwood...Doo Wop architecture is all around...take a look at this Wildwood, New Jersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvish Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 My two year old is a huge fan of Sh-Boom by The Chords. We discovered it on the Cars soundtrack: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ExjHrKZUpOc The song is intact on the link, but the cars speak French Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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