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.
Franklin Joseph Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. He was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
The Teenagers are an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead singer, is also noted for being rock's first all-teenaged act. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Vito & the Salutations is an Italian/Irish/Jewish-American New York City doo-wop group from the 1960s. They began performing their four-part harmonies while still in high school, getting practice by singing in subways and at railroad stations. But they never expected anything to come of it, until one of the band members was introduced to someone at a local record company, and the band was asked to make some recordings. Their first popular record, "Gloria," was a regional hit. But Vito & the Salutations became best known for a surprise million-selling hit a year later, in the summer of 1963: they took "Unchained Melody," a 1955 hit ballad by Al Hibbler that they heard on the car radio, as they drove to perform at a concert, and transformed it into an up-tempo, doo-wop song. "Unchained Melody" reached number 66 on the Cash Box hit parade, and it made the top ten in many cities: for example, in New York City, the song reached #3 on top-40 powerhouse WABC. The record was originally released on Herald (H-583). The original group consisted of: Barry Solomon, Bob DiPaolo, Bobby Mitchel and Vito Balsamo That group broke up after their success with their song Gloria. Another group was formed by their manager Dave Rick. That second group consisted of: Frankie Fox, Sheldon Buchansky, Raymond JP Russell and Vito Balsamo. Balsamo came from an immigrant family: his parents were from Palermo, Italy and he grew up in Brooklyn, listening to opera. But he fell in love with rock and roll, much to the dismay of his parents. Vito joined a group and recorded his first song when he was only fifteen. The B side of "Unchained Melody" was "Hey, Hey, Baby," a tune composed by Murray Kanner, Frankie Fox and Dave Rick. Vito & the Salutations also performed their version of "Unchained Melody" on American Bandstand.
Herman Santiago is a Puerto Rican rock and roll pioneer and songwriter who was previously a member of the vocal group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. He (disputedly) co-wrote the group's iconic hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".
George Goldner was an American record label owner, record producer and promoter who played an important role in establishing the popularity of rock and roll in the 1950s, by recording and promoting many groups and records that appealed to young people across racial boundaries. Among the acts he discovered were the Crows, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Little Anthony and the Imperials.
Why Do Fools Fall in Love may refer to:
Why Do Fools Fall in Love is a 1998 American romantic drama film directed by Gregory Nava. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film is a biographical film of R&B/Rock and roll singer Frankie Lymon, lead singer of the pioneering rock and roll group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers for one year. Moreover, the film highlights the three women in his life, each of whom claim to have married Lymon and lay claim to his estate.
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a song by American rock and roll band Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers that was released on January 10, 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in July. Many renditions of the song by other artists have also been hit records in the U.S., including versions by the Diamonds, the Beach Boys, and Diana Ross.
Joe Negroni was an American singer of Puerto Rican descent. He was a rock and roll pioneer and founding member of the rock and roll group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass). They were most noted for interpreting and introducing rhythm and blues vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. Contrary to a popular myth, the father of Tom Hanks was never a member of the group.
The Doo Wop Royal All Stars was formed in 1992 as one of the first "supergroups" in to the doo wop music genre, combining members from other groups. "It's a show within a show," remarked longtime WCBS FM deejay Bobby Jay. The group remains active today, with various members and led by Daniel Loria, son of founding member Art Loria. It originally performed and recorded as "The Royal All Stars", and has also been known as "Golden Group Memories".
The Golden Group Memories is an American touring music group that contains former members of doo-wop groups. The 2006 line-up included:
Jamboree, known as Disc Jockey Jamboree in the United Kingdom, is a 1957 American rock and roll film directed by Roy Lockwood. Its story is about a boy and girl, Pete Porter and Honey Wynn, who become overnight sensations as a romantic singing duo who run into trouble when their squabbling managers, try to turn them into solo acts. Against this backdrop in cameo performances appear some of the biggest names of rock and roll in the 1950s lip-syncing to their recordings.
The Solitaires are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1957 hit single "Walking Along". Although they never had a national chart hit, they were one of the most popular vocal groups in New York in the late 1950s.
The Willows are an American doo-wop group formed in Harlem, New York, in 1952. The group was an influential musical act that performed into the mid-1960s and had a Top 20 R&B hit with "Church Bells May Ring", a song which was covered with greater commercial success by The Diamonds.
The Vocaleers were an American doo-wop group formed in Harlem, New York, in 1952. Managed by record producer Bobby Robinson, the group released a string of regional hits and scored one national R&B hit with the song "Is It a Dream" in 1953. Highlighted by the distinctive vocal delivery of Joe Duncan, "Is It a Dream" became a standard component of several R&B acts in Harlem and, briefly, the Vocaleers were among the most popular attractions of the city's music scene.
The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon is the only album by The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon and was released in 1956.
Sherman Garnes was an American singer and member of the doo-wop group, The Teenagers. Garnes attended Edward W. Stitt Junior High School where he met Jimmy Merchant. Garnes and Merchant formed a group called The Earth Angels, and in 1954 formed the Coupe De Villes along with Herman Santiago and Joe Negroni. This group, with the addition of Frankie Lymon, later became The Teenagers and had a hit song with Why Do Fools Fall in Love. Garnes died on February 26, 1977 from a heart attack when he was only 36 years old. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers.
Stacy Johnson was an American R&B singer and songwriter best known as a vocalist in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Johnson also released solo records and sang in the St. Louis based group the Sharpees led by Benny Sharp.
