The Penguins were an American doo-wop group from Los Angeles, California, that were active during the 1950s and early 1960s. They are known for their 1954 hit song, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues songs to cross over to the pop charts. The song would ultimately prove to be their only success. The song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores pop chart but had a three-week run at No. 1 on the R&B chart.
Doo-wop is a subgenre 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 and continued to influence performers in other genres.
The Moonglows were an American R&B group in the 1950s. Their song "Sincerely" went to number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 20 on the Billboard Juke Box chart.
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.
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 rapper and singer Lauryn Hill from her debut solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as her solo debut and 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.
Phillip Augustus Griffiths IV is an American mathematician, known for his work in the field of geometry, and in particular for the complex manifold approach to algebraic geometry. He is a major developer in particular of the theory of variation of Hodge structure in Hodge theory and moduli theory, which forms part of transcendental algebraic geometry and which also touches upon major and distant areas of differential geometry. He also worked on partial differential equations, coauthored with Shiing-Shen Chern, Robert Bryant and Robert Gardner on Exterior Differential Systems.
Arthur T. Benjamin is an American mathematician who specializes in combinatorics. Since 1989 he has been a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, where he is the Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics.
Adolph Jacobs, later known as Al Jacobs, was an American guitar player, best known as an original member of The Coasters.
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.
Robert Leamon Bryant is an American mathematician. He works at Duke University and specializes in differential geometry.
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 both males and females.
"Runaway Baby" is a song by American singer-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 woman's heart regardless of their feelings. Instrumentally, the track relies on finger snaps, police sirens, hand claps and guitar. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who considered it one of the standouts in the album, but criticized its lyrical content.
"Talking to the Moon" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). The song was first unveiled on Mars's debut extended play, It's Better If You Don't Understand (2010), as its last track. It was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Albert Winkler, and Jeff Bhasker, while production was handled by the Smeezingtons in collaboration with Bhasker. "Talking to the Moon" is a pop and R&B power ballad about a failed relationship, solitude, and sadness. Instrumentally, the track relies on drum percussion and piano.
Christopher Watt Purves is an English bass-baritone.
George John Bednar was an American college football player for the University of Notre Dame, who later became as a business executive. He is most well known for his tenure as a marketing executive for McKesson Imports Company, where he was instrumental in popularizing the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail.
Harvey and the Wallbangers were a 1980s jazz vocal harmony group, playing major festivals and the main concert halls in Europe and the UK, such as the Royal Albert Hall, Sadler's Wells, The Forum, Ronnie Scotts and the Berlin Tempodrom. The group also appeared on the Royal Variety Show and scores of other television programmes including Wogan, Russell Harty and Carrott's Lib.
Harvey Brough is an English tenor, instrumentalist, composer, producer and arranger. Starting at the age of six as a chorister at Coventry Cathedral, and achieving greatest prominence as founder, leader, musical director and producer of Harvey and the Wallbangers, he has worked in a wide range of musical genres including classical, early music, pop and soul, jazz, folk and world music.
Sir Henry Thirkill was an English physicist and academic administrator.
