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Play All The Oldies

melan8tr said:
LARadioRewind said:
I have Ring-A-Ling---and every time I mention the title, I start thinking of Lily Tomlin's "Ernestine" character on Laugh-In: "One ringy-dingy...two ringy-dingies..."---on a 1987 CD titled Classic Old & Gold (Laurie 3CD100). It also includes Denise, Hushabye, A Teenager In Love, the Belmonts' Tell Me Why, the Passions' Just To Be With You, and Tear Drops Follow Me by the Del Satins. There ya go!

By the way, XM Satellite Radio Channel 5, which is known as "'50s On 5" but plays songs from 1960-63 along with the '50s hits, plays quite a few low-charting and non-charting dooi-wop songs. Yesterday I heard Oh Rose Marie by the Fascinators!
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The Carlo and Belmonts are the most underrated group and producers..when Dion dumped them in 1960..they started their own label Sabrina ..later changed to Sabina and had some great hits...they used fledgling producers/songwriters Ernie Maresca and gary granahan... a real coup for Doo-Wop stations is to play The belmonts backing Pete Barin on "So Wrong". and "Shu-Bop" by Dion with the Belmonts. Another good one by the facinators is "Chapel Bells".
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Hate to correct you....but...the Belmonts didn't back Dion of Shu Bop. What Dion did was use the same recording equipment when recording the album. That's a huge problem with most stations play Doo Wop, they only play the hits, they don't give people a musical education AND entertain them at the same time. If left up to station owners, they will only play the hits, if you want to hear great collectors cuts then listen to stations...Internet or Terrestrial...whose shows are hosted by collectors. Listen to this weeks Doo Wop Vault, and checkout the archives too.
www.doowopvault1950s.podomatic.com
 
LARadioRewind said:
I agree with Mister Vault. Go to Amazon and check out all the different Doo-Wop compilations---you'll be amazed at what the record companies consider to be doo-wop. Here is a good example: the three-disc set advertised at http://www.amazon.com/BEST-OF-DOO-W...UTF8&qid=1360437990&sr=8-11&keywords=doo-wop\ includes Shop Around, Ain't Got No Home, Finger Poppin' Time, At The Hop and The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Yikes!
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I did check out that comp, and I actually wasn't amazed. I haven't seen a real definition of Doo Wop, so I can see where all of the songs on that comp could qualify except those by single artists (Fats Domino, Len Barry, Frogman Henry, etc).
 
If Clarence "Frogman" Henry sang "I'm a lonely frog; I ain't got a home" while accompanied by three other frogs croaking "bom-diddy-bom-diddy-ooby-doo-wah" in the background, I might consider it to be doo-wop, but that's still stretching the definition. :D
 
LARadioRewind said:
If Clarence "Frogman" Henry sang "I'm a lonely frog; I ain't got a home" while accompanied by three other frogs croaking "bom-diddy-bom-diddy-ooby-doo-wah" in the background, I might consider it to be doo-wop, but that's still stretching the definition. :D
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How about "Don't Be Cruel"? If the record label read "Joey & the Jordanairs", would it be Doo Wop?
 
TheFonz said:
I haven't seen a real definition of Doo Wop, ...
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This is as complete and good as any: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo-wop

I'm not an authority on Fats but I have never heard a Doo-Wop song from him. And, if you subscribe to the definition above, Doo-Wop can ONLY be performed by a group, never solo (although I guess a record could be overdubbed but that is kind of phoney).
 
Fonz, I can't answer your question. Two reasons: I don't know if you're referring to the Elvis Presley song or to the Bobby Brown song with the same title, and the Jordanaires were Presley's backup singers but there could also be a doo-wop group or gospel group with the same name.

But, in general, whether a song is doo-wop depends on the style, not on the group. A lot of doo-wop groups recorded ballads that were not doo-wop songs. There have also been doo-wop songs recorded by artists who were not known as doo-wop singers. One example---which Mister landtuna will object to---is Billy Joel's The Longest Time, made with the magic of overdubbing. Lots of overdubbing.
 
LARadioRewind said:
But, in general, whether a song is doo-wop depends on the style, not on the group. A lot of doo-wop groups recorded ballads that were not doo-wop songs. There have also been doo-wop songs recorded by artists who were not known as doo-wop singers. One example---which Mister landtuna will object to---is Billy Joel's The Longest Time, made with the magic of overdubbing. Lots of overdubbing.
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True Doo-Wop songs would be sung by a true Doo-Wop group but The Longest Time meets the definition of a DW song even though it was not sung by a group. I've got no objection - probably because I've always liked that song. ;D
 
TheFonz said:
How about "Don't Be Cruel"? If the record label read "Joey & the Jordanairs", would it be Doo Wop?
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It would only be Doo-Wop if the song met the definition of a DW song. An individual singer or a group could belong to multiple genres depending upon the songs they sung. Elvis had RnR, ballads, gospel songs and even show tunes. So what was he?
 
TheFonz said:
It does seem like "Don't Be Cruel" meets all of those requirements.
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I would not classify it as Doo-Wop.

The song has backup but no "talking bass" and none of the "nonsense" vocals for which DW is known. It is also sung at a faster pace than most DW songs.

I cannot recall Elvis singing a genuine DW song but then I wasn't a big fan so he might have snuck one in there.
 
landtuna said:
TheFonz said:
It does seem like "Don't Be Cruel" meets all of those requirements.
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I would not classify it as Doo-Wop.

The song has backup but no "talking bass" and none of the "nonsense" vocals for which DW is known. It is also sung at a faster pace than most DW songs.

I cannot recall Elvis singing a genuine DW song but then I wasn't a big fan so he might have snuck one in there.
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Wikipedia didn't say anything about "talking bass" or "pace". As for "nonsense vocals", I think that the Jordanaires' "bop bop" in the background would qualify.
 
I could find only one example of a doo-wop song recorded by Elvis Presley: His version of the Penguins' Earth Angel appeared on a 1984 LP, A Golden Celebration, and on a 1992 compilation, Elvis: The King Of Rock 'N' Roll - The Complete '50s Masters. I have no idea why it wasn't released in the '50s.
 
TheFonz said:
Wikipedia didn't say anything about "talking bass" or "pace".
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Yes it does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo-wop

"Singer Bill Kenny is often noted as the father of Doo-wop for his introduction of the "top & bottom" format used by most Doo-wop groups. This format features a high tenor lead with a "talking bass" in the song's middle."
 
Bill Kenny was a tenor with the Ink Spots from 1936 to 1954. There is a biography at http://inkspots.ca/BILL-BIO.html and paragraph 2 mentions the "talking bass." The Ink Spots' songs may have been predecessors of
doo-wop but I certainly wouldn't consider them to be doo-wop.
 
LARadioRewind said:
I could find only one example of a doo-wop song recorded by Elvis Presley: His version of the Penguins' Earth Angel appeared on a 1984 LP, A Golden Celebration, and on a 1992 compilation, Elvis: The King Of Rock 'N' Roll - The Complete '50s Masters. I have no idea why it wasn't released in the '50s.
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I don't think the way Elvis sings it would be considered Doo-Wop. The beat is too slow and it sounds just like an ordinary vocal with standard backing. No DW SFX.
 
landtuna said:
TheFonz said:
It does seem like "Don't Be Cruel" meets all of those requirements.
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I would not classify it as Doo-Wop.

The song has backup but no "talking bass" and none of the "nonsense" vocals for which DW is known. It is also sung at a faster pace than most DW songs.

I cannot recall Elvis singing a genuine DW song but then I wasn't a big fan so he might have snuck one in there.
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As you've probably guessed, I'm just trying to be a smart a**. I don't believe that there IS a clear definition of Doo Wop music.
 
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