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Will The Real DOO-WOP Please stand up-who are you

H

hornet61

Guest
Will the real Doo-Wop please stand-up?

This consensus is, or at least 90% of us agree on this board, the following:

Rock N’ Roll - coined about 1955 by probably Alan Freed, and that Rock N’Roll evolved from Blues, R&B, Rockabilly and a little POP. Evolved from as far back as the early forties.

The British Invasion – Evolved from British Groups covering mostly American songs, mostly Blues or R&B, and created this unique sound by Brits trying to sound like American/R&b/Groups.

Lets not nor re-hash the about statements I am just leading up to my point.

Starting about 1958 up to 1964 there were many groups in NY City and Philly, mostly Italian groups (about 90%), Some Jewish Groups (About 10%) and 10% other. The reason I bring up the Ethnic aspect because these groups recorded the defining sound that I am alluding too.
4-5 Five Part Harmony, a lot of nonsense syllables, simple arrangements, staccato delivery….. These were all elements of Rock N’ Roll , but they combined them all, and took them to the next level.
Like the British Invasion they were Caucasian kids raised on mostly Black R&B, who emulated this sound and created this unique sound at the time simply called Rock N’ Roll.
Dion and the Belmonts
The Earls
Elegents
Duprees
Tokens
Fireflies
Danny and the JRs
Orients
Vito and the Salutaions
Eternals
These groups created an incredible body of work and a Gold Mine of untapped gems, they had the misfortune of coming along during The British Invasion which changed the face of Rock N’ Roll and killed that very sound that this group was starting to expound.
Consequently a lot of this music never charted, but this music is as incredible as the one that did chart. And Like I said earlier the body of work is huge

Like I said on my Hit Parade Subject lets leave the Market Value aspect out and debate the real Identity of DOO-WOP

Here is where the question begins:
It is generally accepted that about the early 70’s Richard Nader or Gus Gossett coined the term DOO-WOP for some Rock N’ Roll shows in NY, featuring those groups that I referenced above or similar to, I believe they were describing this unique style which combined a lot of aspects of Rock N’Roll , but still specific to a hybrid sound that came from those NY and Philly groups.

Here is where I have a problem in that thru lazy or incompetent radio people, the term DOO-WOP has been retroactively applied to everything as far back as 1948. To me the Platters (POP) and Little Anthony (POP?R&B) are not DOO-WOP, even the Penguins to me are not DOO-WOP….they are R&B.
80% of DJ’s on the talk out of their ear, and get so many facts wrong that the DOO-WOP definition has been perpetuated into an equal definition of /R&B/Rock N Roll and it isn’t.
This become so prevalent that it has become accepted by everyone and most reference sources such wikipedia has DOO-WOP mapped back to 1954.
So don’t quote me out of wikipedia , I want to hear your opinion, not a quote from WIKI or some other reference site. Is there a true DOO-WOP definition or are you content with retro version, be prepared to defend the Platters as DOO-WOP

This is what I’m talking about incompetent DJ’s …I don’t listen to the local Doo-Wop show often, because he is awful , in his defense the only reason he got the job is because he is free, but I question the judgment of the person who put him on the air to represent their station.
He said “I’ll be right back with Johnny Maestro and his first gig the Elegents (Hello, Crests and the Brooklyn Bridge”)

He later played the Dave Clark Five (Hello, the DC Five on a DOO-WOP show????) and If that wasn’t enough he said “they(DC Five) had also done Love Potion #9..(Hello, The Searchers are the British Group that covered the Clovers - Love potion # 9)

This next one may be nit-picking but don’t let a New Yorker hear you referring to the “Earls” as a Philly group…forget-about-it) Bronx baby all the way
He does this every time I tune–in, and other doo-wop shows refer to very basic R&B as DOO-WOP so matter –o – factly…….

On last thing he was trying to talk about the Del-Satins backing Dion when the Belmonts left and he screwed that all up.. Never got to the part that the Del Satins evolved into the Brooklyn Bridge, and later with Johnny Maestro (Mastrangelo, if I remember correctly)

Let me hear your opnion where DOO-WOP starts and ends.
 
Ohhhhh boooooyyyyyyy......here we go again. OK. I'll play.

Doo Wop began in the mid-50's when "streetcorner harmony" groups recorded some of their home-grown music. The earliest forms of Doo Wop somewhat emulated the older Barbershop Quartet type music where intricate harmonies filled in a basic melody. Most of the earliest Doo Wop songs were completely vocal and featured a strong bass. Later versions tended to have instrumentation. Although there are some common components of Doo Wop and R&B they are two distinct music forms. Some groups performed both and others went from Doo Wop to more mainstream popular music (Dion & The Belmonts).

IMHO the Platters were a 'standards' group. The Four Seasons were a 'pop' group. Danny & The Juniors a 'bebop' group. And I'd also suggest that Doo Wop was a product of the 50's and didn't exist in the 40's.

The pie cart should be here any minute........
 
hornet61 said:
It is generally accepted that about the early 70’s Richard Nader or Gus Gossett coined the term DOO-WOP for some Rock N’ Roll shows in NY, featuring those groups that I referenced above or similar to, I believe they were describing this unique style which combined a lot of aspects of Rock N’Roll , but still specific to a hybrid sound that came from those NY and Philly groups.

I don't see this as being "generally accepted". Therefore, the rest of your post is just an opinion..
 
OK landtuna ...accapella which is a component of DOO WOP and the harmonies, and seems like we both agree about the difference with which artists are DOO-WOP and POP and R&B....but the biggest component is the nonsense syllables and the staccato delivery really more common to such things as.......

"I Hear Those Bells" - Jay and the Deltas....great example of pure DOO-WOP
a record like "Morse Code Of Love" .......Dip Da doodot do do da and it's endlessw nonsense syllables.
"Chapel Bells" - Facinators
"Don't Run Away" - Nino and the EBB Tides
Hushabye My Love - Dino And the diplomats
Then there is the Capris' 70's recording "There a Moon Out Again" where the do do bop she bop bop is all background and not in the lead by Nick Santo. this was also a major style of the NY and PHILLY groups


Like Alan freed is credited with coining R n R the comment is that "this generrally accepted" ... until someone else beside Nader or Gossett is credited, which what I am Basing my question on.....

Yes this is my opnion which is what I stated earlier, and alot of people share my opnion , all I'm asking is if you have other facts lets hear them. I said this has been perpetuated from myth to mythology...I didn'y ask this to argue with any one....I just ask tell me your story......and we will see where this whole thing leads.

The biggest problem with this question that the best DOO-WOP by major artists actually never charted and what did chart probably is not DOO-WOP the best example:
"I Feel so Lonely" by Danny and The Jr's.........is pure Doo-Wop ..."At The Hop" Is Not.
 
landtuna said:
Ohhhhh boooooyyyyyyy......here we go again. OK. I'll play.

Doo Wop began in the mid-50's
I disagree, doo-wop goes back to as early as 1948. It just didn't have that name attached at the time.
 
hornet61 said:
Like Alan freed is credited with coining R n R the comment is that "this generrally accepted" ... until someone else beside Nader or Gossett is credited, which what I am Basing my question on.....

I can't dispute Gossert or Nader..........................I have no idea who created the term "Doo Wop". I do dispute the groups and regions of the country that you mentioned as being responsible for the name. But if you're comfortable with your definination, that's fine. In my book, just because the Flamingos and Spaniels were black and from Chicago doesn't mean they can't be called Doo Wop. Personally, I don't like the name. It was all rock & roll to those of us who listened to it back in the day.
 
TheFonz said:
In my book, just because the Flamingos and Spaniels were black and from Chicago doesn't mean they can't be called Doo Wop. Personally, I don't like the name. It was all rock & roll to those of us who listened to it back in the day.

Who said Doo Wop groups couldn't be Black? Many of the finest examples of this genre were composed of Black musicians and, obviously, many more could be called pioneers of Bebop and/or Rock 'n Roll.

The name Doo Wop came about from the type of harmonies common to the streetcorner singers.
 
landtuna said:
Who said Doo Wop groups couldn't be Black?


I think that hornet61 is saying that in his original post. He says that black groups should be called r&b and white groups that picked up on the sound are the true doo wop groups. Correct me if I'm wrong. hornet.
 
hornet61 said:
Will the real Doo-Wop please stand-up?

Here is where I have a problem in that thru lazy or incompetent radio people, the term DOO-WOP has been retroactively applied to everything as far back as 1948.

This is what I’m talking about incompetent DJ’s …I don’t listen to the local Doo-Wop show often, because he is awful , in his defense the only reason he got the job is because he is free, but I question the judgment of the person who put him on the air to represent their station.
He said “I’ll be right back with Johnny Maestro and his first gig the Elegents (Hello, Crests and the Brooklyn Bridge”)

This next one may be nit-picking but don’t let a New Yorker hear you referring to the “Earls” as a Philly group…forget-about-it) Bronx baby all the way

He does this every time I tune–in, and other doo-wop shows refer to very basic R&B as DOO-WOP so matter –o – factly…….

On last thing he was trying to talk about the Del-Satins backing Dion when the Belmonts left and he screwed that all up.. Never got to the part that the Del Satins evolved into the Brooklyn Bridge, and later with Johnny Maestro (Mastrangelo, if I remember correctly)

Hornet, I think you make reference to a #69 market station, and I’m betting it is a Vanguard Media AM, true? Are you willing to post just his initials, or the time period of the Doo-wop show? This isn’t a witch hunt, I’m just trying to get inside your frame of reference, because the majority of doo-wop jocks I’ve heard are usually well-rounded with fairly accurate knowledge of the genre.
 
hornet61 said:
The biggest problem with this question that the best DOO-WOP by major artists actually never charted and what did chart probably is not DOO-WOP
I'm puzzled by this statement, so I ask you to provide some some definitions:
Best Doo-wop = ?
Major artists = ?
Charted: To which chart do you refer, and what position?

This is not a challenge, merely a need for clarification. I may agree with you, or disagree, depending.
 
Fonz,GLB,landtuna,.....thank you, this the kind if discussion I was looking for you all make good points,
My orginal statement that the NY and Philly groups In my opnion and only my opnion recorded what I considered the defining Doo-Wop based the solely on the revival that occurred between approx. 1972-1982 culminating with some wonderful recordings provided by a label called Ambient Sound....this included the Capris 1982 recording ..There's a Moon Out Again (sounds like it was recorded in 1962). Ambient Sound recorded an equal amount of Black Groups Also.

My point was that these groups emulated the black groups and created this hybrid sound, again, I didn't mean to imply there we no black DOO-WOP groups.......there exists a few (DOO-WOP purists) we are a minority who call this the Pure DOO-WOP based (we base too much of our criteria on the non-stop nonsense syllables..and remember I said most of this didn't chart) on our understanding of the term DOO-WOP, during the revival. But we are a few , and If no one agrees with our dfinition, then I have to throw in the towel and yield to the majority. You all gave me the info I needed to see just where our groups stands vs the rest of the oldies listeners, since our groups consist mostly of New Yorkers and One Philly dude, we may be a little slanted....thanks.

gridleakbias....don't care to embarrass the gentleman any further......he is doing too good of a job himself already, on a national level there are some great shows.
 
hornet61 said:
Fonz,GLB,landtuna,.....thank you, this the kind if discussion I was looking for you all make good points,
My orginal statement that the NY and Philly groups In my opnion and only my opnion recorded what I considered the defining Doo-Wop based the solely on the revival that occurred between approx. 1972-1982 culminating with some wonderful recordings provided by a label called Ambient Sound....this included the Capris 1982 recording ..There's a Moon Out Again (sounds like it was recorded in 1962). Ambient Sound recorded an equal amount of Black Groups Also.

My point was that these groups emulated the black groups and created this hybrid sound, again, I didn't mean to imply there we no black DOO-WOP groups.......there exists a few (DOO-WOP purists) we are a minority who call this the Pure DOO-WOP based (we base too much of our criteria on the non-stop nonsense syllables..and remember I said most of this didn't chart) on our understanding of the term DOO-WOP, during the revival. But we are a few , and If no one agrees with our dfinition, then I have to throw in the towel and yield to the majority. You all gave me the info I needed to see just where our groups stands vs the rest of the oldies listeners, since our groups consist mostly of New Yorkers and One Philly dude, we may be a little slanted....thanks.

gridleakbias....don't care to embarrass the gentleman any further......he is doing too good of a job himself already, on a national level there are some great shows.
In my opinion, the Doo-wop years can be categorized thus:

1948-1955 - the birth years
1955-1957 - a lull due to the R&R explosion
1957-1959 – Doo-wop’s golden years
1959-1987 – the Doo-wop revival years

Doo-wop, as a genre, is often rather widely defined. The variations are numerous, i.e., a cappella, with/without instrumentation, strong bass lead, high falsetto lead, group vocals without a defined lead, 4 part harmony, 5 part harmony, etc.

True, there are some recordings which should never be categorized as “doo-wop” and shame on the jock who doesn’t know the difference.

In place of having a strict and unbending definition, why not just sit back and enjoy the music? Rather than attempt to generalize and state that a “doo-wop” song must meet all of certain criteria, I’m willing to grade on a curve. Meanwhile, I believe the merits of a given recording by a given artist and/or group should be open for discussion and classification. Do we agree?
 
GridLeakBias said:
In place of having a strict and unbending definition, why not just sit back and enjoy the music? Rather than attempt to generalize and state that a “doo-wop” song must meet all of certain criteria, I’m willing to grade on a curve. Meanwhile, I believe the merits of a given recording by a given artist and/or group should be open for discussion and classification. Do we agree?

It seems it is/was the music industry, including radio, that categorized the various genre's and groups. Some groups broke the mold and others couldn't and didn't get airplay because of it. Sad.

I agree that we should just enjoy what we like and not sweat the "official" definitions. But we know if we're in the business it isn't easy to do that. You'd be absolutely amazed at the wide variety of music in my library so I, for one, defy easy definition (as a listener). And I can't think of any genre that is 100% satisfying either.

The only thing I'll say is the music stopped sometime in 1983....except for (oops, here we go again). ::)
 
amen to all of the above

landtuna you must young......the music stopped for me in 1973.
 
The street corner sound of Doo-Wopp. You have barely scratched the surface of some of the great doo-wopp groups. (yes, btw, it is doo-wopp, with 2 p's)
 
hornet61 said:
landtuna you must young......the music stopped for me in 1973.

Nope - not young. But some of the later 70's and very early 80's music appealed to me (but not Disco, grunge or metal).
 
Silkie said:
The street corner sound of Doo-Wopp. You have barely scratched the surface of some of the great doo-wopp groups. (yes, btw, it is doo-wopp, with 2 p's)

Yup. Some of those groups are like jazz musicians. They could just go on harmonizing for hour upon hour.
 
Silkie said:
The street corner sound of Doo-Wopp. You have barely scratched the surface of some of the great doo-wopp groups. (yes, btw, it is doo-wopp, with 2 p's)
Interesting, can you cite a reference for this spelling?
 
http://www.geocities.com/doowopp21/
http://calendar.boston.com/boston-m...opp-hall-of-fame-of-america-induction-concert
http://www.ticketsreview.com/concer...ets/fox_theatre_-_foxwoods_casino_7572323.php
http://www.harveyrobbins.net/id26.htm


Not sure whether that is enough to satisfy your interest, but there is much more. The Doo-Wopp Hall of Fame might be sufficiently credible and authoritative, along with a not quite as recent concert. I could probably scan in the box cover of my complete doo-wopp set. If it is misspelled regularly it does not make it correct, whether by tradition or otherwise, i.e. phonics.
 
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