Related Research Articles
The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at No. 8 on the 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 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.
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Flamingos are an American doo-wop group formed in Chicago in 1953. The band became popular in mid-to-late 1950s and are known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". They have since been hailed as one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop and doo wop music history. In 2001, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Regents were an American doo-wop vocal group from New York, operating in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The Crows were an American R&B singing group formed in 1951 who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first rock n’ roll hit by a rock and roll group. It peaked at position #14 and #2, respectively, on the Billboard magazine pop and rhythm-and-blues charts in 1954. Although Gee fell into the Doo Wop genre, and "was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records" in that genre, some consider it as the first of the "rock n' roll records".
The Del-Vikings were an American doo-wop musical group that recorded several hit singles in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group is notable for the hit songs "Come Go with Me" and "Whispering Bells", and for having been a successful racially mixed musical group during a period of time when such groups were rare.
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.
The Jive Five are an American doo-wop group. They are best known for their debut hit single, "My True Story" (1961), the Nickelodeon bumper jingles in the 1980s and 1990s, and the fact that they outlasted most of their musical peers by re-modeling themselves as a soul group in the 1970s and beyond.
For Real! is an album by Ruben and the Jets, and the debut of musician Rubén Guevara Jr.'s new lineup, after the group name had previously been used as an alias of The Mothers of Invention in 1968. Released in 1973, For Real! was produced by Frank Zappa, who wrote the first track and played guitar on the second track. The album consists of blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music.
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).
The Chords were an American doo-wop vocal group formed in 1951 in The Bronx, New York, known for their 1954 hit "Sh-Boom", which they wrote. It is the only song they created that reached mainstream popularity.
"The Wanderer" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and originally recorded by Dion, released on his 1961 album Runaround Sue. The song, with a 12-bar blues-base verse and an eight-bar bridge, tells the story of a travelling man and his many loves. The song is ranked number 243 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Danleers were an American doo-wop group formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1958. The group's original and most famous lineup consisted of Jimmy Weston, Johnny Lee, Willie Ephraim, Nat McCune, and Roosevelt Mays. One of many streetcorner vocal groups in Brooklyn, they rose to prominence in 1958 on the strength of the single "One Summer Night", written by their manager, Danny Webb, who also named the group. The single was one of the biggest hits of that year and sold over one million copies. Further releases were not so successful and the group mostly dissolved by the mid-1960s. It continued to tour for several decades with Weston as the main original member.
The Del-Satins were an American vocal group, most active in the early 1960s, who recorded on their own but are best remembered for their harmonies on hit records for Dion and others. They have been described as having "few peers as practitioners of white doo-wop."
"Runaround Sue" is a rock and roll song, originally a US No. 1 Hot 100 hit for the singer Dion during 1961, after he split with the Belmonts. It was written by Dion with Ernie Maresca, and tells the story of a disloyal lover. The song ranked No. 351 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The Solitaires were 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 Innocents were an American pop group from Sun Valley, California, United States. The trio existed primarily between 1958 and 1964, although they did reform in the 1990s.
Joseph Cook, known as Little Joe Cook, was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of Little Joe & The Thrillers, whose song "Peanuts" reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957.
The Hollywood Saxons were a Los Angeles R&B group who recorded under various other names. They were well known on the LA R&B circuit. Their recording history ran from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. Their discography is complex due to the various names they recorded under and labels they recorded on.
References
- ↑ Anthony M. Musso (2008). Setting the Record Straight: The Music and Careers of Recording Artists from the 1950s and Early 1960s ... In Their Own Words. AuthorHouse. pp. 93–97. ISBN 9781438952925.
- 1 2 Joe Favale & the Emotions, Biography. Emotionsecho.com, Retrieved 19 April 2016
- 1 2 The Emotions Biography, Doo-Wop Groups. Doo-wop.blogg.org, Retrieved 19 April 2016
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 225. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
