Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth album by the Mothers of Invention, and fifth overall by Frank Zappa, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo-wop and rock and roll. The album's concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo-wop band called Ruben & the Jets, represented by the cover illustration by Cal Schenkel, which depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.
Ruben and the Jets was an American rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California. The band originated as an alias for The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa's band, to release Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968). Later, musician Rubén Guevara Jr. continued the band with his own lineup. Guevara's "Jets" recorded two albums, For Real! (1973) and Con Safos (1974).
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as the lead single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on August 10, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. No commercial release was originally intended for the single in the US, but limited-quantity physical formats were issued two months later, on October 27.
Lee Andrews & the Hearts were an American doo-wop quintet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formed in 1953. They recorded on the Gotham, Rainbow, Mainline, Chess, United Artists, Grand and Gowen labels. Managed by Kae Williams, in 1957 and 1958 they had their three biggest hits, "Tear Drops", "Long Lonely Nights" and "Try the Impossible".
Wes Carroll is known as a pioneer and teacher of mouth drumming, a form of vocal percussion from the musical genre of contemporary a cappella, now widely known as beatboxing.
Ralph Molina is an American musician, best known as the drummer for Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse.
The Mighty Echoes are an American a cappella doo-wop quartet from Los Angeles, California. The group was formed backstage at the Olio Theater in Silverlake, California during the production of Harvey Shield's 1986 musical 1284: The Pied Piper.
Kenny Vance is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer who was a founding member of Jay and the Americans. His career spans from the 1950s to today, with projects ranging from starting doo-wop groups to music supervising to creating solo albums.
Parliament-Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove is a documentary broadcast in the USA on PBS in October 2005 as part of the Independent Lens series. The documentary chronicles the development of the Parliament-Funkadelic musical collective, led by the producer, writer and arranger George Clinton. Parliament-Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove was developed by Brazen Hussy Productions, based in New York City and led by director Yvonne Smith.
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from many Western cultures ranging from folk songs and musical theater pieces to rock ballads. In the simplest style of vocal harmony, the main vocal melody is supported by a single backup vocal line, either at a pitch which is above or below the main vocal line, often in thirds or sixths which fit in with the chord progression used in the song. In more complex vocal harmony arrangements, different backup singers may sing two or even three other notes at the same time as each of the main melody notes, mostly with a consonant, pleasing-sounding thirds, sixths, and fifths.
"Bad Girl" is a 1959 doo-wop single by The Miracles. Issued locally on the Motown Records label, it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records because the fledgling Motown Record Corporation did not, at that time, have national distribution. It was the first single released on the Motown label – all previous singles from the company were released on Motown's Tamla label. Although The Miracles had charted regionally and on the R&B charts with several earlier songs, including "Got a Job", "I Cry", "I Need a Change", and "(You Can) Depend on Me", "Bad Girl" was their first national chart hit, reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records' President and Founder Berry Gordy, "Bad Girl" is a sad, remorseful ballad about a young woman, whom Robinson, as the narrator, says "was so good at the start", but who later in the song "is breaking my heart". It is in the popular doo-wop style, as several of The Miracles' songs were during the late 1950s. The record's success, coupled with the distributor's failure to pay Gordy and The Miracles properly for its sales, prompted Robinson to urge Gordy to "go national" with it, meaning that Motown should do its own national distribution of its songs, and eliminate the middleman, to ensure that all money from sales of its records would go directly to the label.
"Guess Things Happen That Way" is a 1958 cross over single by Johnny Cash, which was written by Jack Clement. The single was Johnny Cash's fourth #1 on the country chart spending eight weeks at #1, and a total of 24 weeks on the chart.
The Earth Angels are a Spanish doo-wop vocal group from Barcelona, Catalonia which performs a cappella music. On tour, they also sing on city streets. The group formed in 2007, when bass-baritone Christian Carrasco announced that he was looking for a doo-wop singer and found lead vocalist Jordi Majó.
Doo-Wops & Hooligans is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released on October 4, 2010, by Atlantic and Elektra Records and was made available to listen before its official release on September 24, 2010. After the release of the EP It's Better If You Don't Understand, Mars's writing and production team, the Smeezingtons, began working on the album with Needlz, Supa Dups and Jeff Bhasker as producers. The album title was chosen to reflect simplicity and appeal to males and females.
"Runaway Baby" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). It was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Brody Brown. The former three produced the track under their alias, the Smeezingtons. "Runaway Baby" is a funk, pop rock, doo-wop and soul record. Its lyrics detail a playboy who is willing to break every woman's heart regardless of their feelings. Instrumentally, the track relies on finger snaps, police sirens, hand claps and raspy guitar lines. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who considered it one of the standouts in the album, but criticized its lyrical content.
The Alley Cats may refer to:
The Monarchs are an American doo-wop band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1961. They are known mainly for their 1964 recording of "Look Homeward Angel". This single went to #47 on Billboard Hot 100 and also reached #1 on local and regional charts. Their first recording was "Over The Mountain" recorded in 1962 and released on the Reegal Label. "This Old Heart" by James Brown, was recorded in 1963 and topped local charts. In 1965 they recorded and released "Climb Every Mountain" on the Sound Stage 7 label.
Jimmy Merchant is an American singer and musician. He was a member of the doo-wop group The Teenagers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. He retired from The Teenagers in 2005.
The 60th Japan Record Awards was held on 30 December 2018. The Tokyo Broadcasting System Television network televised the show live from the New National Theatre Tokyo in Tokyo. This is the last Heisei-era Japan Record Awards.
