Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music developed in the 1940s by African American youth, mainly in the large cities of the upper East Coast, including New York. 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, ornamented with nonsense syllables, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop enjoyed its peak successes in the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.
The Flamingos are a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted doo-wop group from the United States, most popular in the mid- to late 1950s and best known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". Billboard magazine wrote: "Universally hailed as one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop music history, the Flamingos defined doo wop at its most elegant and sophisticated."
Doo Wop 50 was a PBS pledge drive special created and produced for PBS member station WQED-TV by TJ Lubinsky, grandson of Herman Lubinsky. The special was inspired by a 1994 CD box-set of doo wop music produced and sold by Rhino Records, which was also a development and production partner in the special. It aired on December 5, 1999.
Terry James "TJ" Lubinsky is primarily a Pittsburgh radio host. He is also executive producer/director of many Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) pledge-drive programs. He presents oldies-format music programs airing on PBS.
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.
Ruben and the Jets was an American, Los Angeles-based rock band, active between 1972 and 1974. Led by Ruben Guevara, band members included, Ruben and the Jets released two albums, the first of which was produced by Frank Zappa, whose band The Mothers of Invention had previously released an album titled Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, for which Guevera had named his band.
The Cadets were an American doo-wop group, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States. The group began as a gospel group, the Santa Monica Soul Seekers, in the late 1940s. The members were Lloyd McCraw, Willie Davis, Austin "Ted" Taylor, Aaron Collins, Glendon Kingsby, and Will "Dub" Jones. In 1955, the group auditioned for Modern Records, and were accepted. The group decided to switch to the popular R&B style, with the exception of Kingsby, who left to continue in gospel music.
"Doo Wop " is the debut solo single from American recording artist Lauryn Hill. The song is taken from her debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Written and produced by Hill, the song was released as the album's lead single in July 1998. It was Hill's first and only US Billboard Hot 100 number-one to date; it debuted at number one on the Hot 100, making it the tenth song in the chart's history to do so and the first debut single to do so. The song experienced similar success abroad, reaching number one in Iceland, number two in Canada, number three in the United Kingdom and number eight in Australia. The song won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 1999 Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999.
The Crests were an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, "16 Candles", rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1959 selling over one million copies and earning a gold disc status. The group's other hits include "Step By Step", "The Angels Listened In", "Trouble In Paradise", "Six Nights A Week", and "A Year Ago Tonight". The Crests were the first interracially mixed doo-wop group, consisting of three African American members, one Puerto Rican, and one Italian American.
Most well known as a Doo Wop standard, "Gloria" is a song written by Leon René in the 1940s.
Charlee Johnson is an American drummer, guitarist and songwriter, originally from San Bernardino, California. Johnson was a founding member and chief songwriter of Utah punk band Deviance / 3½ Girls. The band relocated to Boston, Massachusetts and signed with Curve of the Earth Records for their sole EP, "Rule". Johnson then left to form Halfcocked with guitarist Tommy O'Neil, bassist/backing vocalist Jhen Kobran and lead vocalist Sarah Reitkopp, later adding guitarist Johnny Rock Heatley who guested on debut album Sell Out and joined as a full member with second album Occupation: Rock Star. Halfcocked relocated to Los Angeles and signed with DreamWorks in early 2000 by Powerman 5000 frontman Spider One, released final album The Last Star in 2001, then folded after a brief tour. Johnsson went on to join childhood hero Danzig for a brief stint as "Charlee X", before joining award-winning Nirvana tribute band, Pennyroyal. In 2004 he went on to start a Rick Astley Doo-wop group, "The Never Gonna Give You Ups" but due to the lack of support and interest in Doo-wop acts from major labels and a heated argument over a corndog in a denny's bathroom on a mid summer tour the group folded In 2006 Charlee admitted to a news media outlet that after the group folded he fell into a great depression and that he lost hope in the music world once his doo-wop passion project fell through, but he found hope and a newfound purpose in the world when he started stripping at local San Francisco strip club, "Sweet Cheeks". In 2012 he opened a bakery in Denver, Colorado called "Charlee's Buns" to much surprise the bakery was a success and won multiple business awards for its cleanliness and customer service. In 2016 in a blog post which was shortly taken down due to Johnsson' fear it would spark an unintended outrage, he admitted to loving animals, he is the proud owner of a cat "Destiny's Child" named after the popular girl group, "there was just something about that girl group that really hit home with me, you know? when i first heard their hit song bootylicious i fell in love, i knew from that moment on i was going to buy a cat and name it after them" he explained in the since deleted blog post. In 2018 in an interview Charlee admitted that he was not to fond on World War II, "you know it had potential definitely, but it just didn't live up to the first and honestly what's the point of doing a sequel if you're not going to out do the original, but if for some unknown reason they do a World War III, id really like to see some of the original people involved with the first come back, maybe throw a cameo of someone from the second to appeal to the few fans of the one but the third should outdo to original", he has since gone into hiding due to the outrage from his comments
The Chimes were an American doo wop group from Brooklyn.
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 consonant, pleasing-sounding thirds, sixths, and fifths.
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, which was released on October 4, 2010 by Atlantic and Elektra Records. After the release of the EP It's Better If You Don't Understand (2010), Mars' writing and production team The Smeezingtons began working on the album with Needlz, Supa Dups and Jeff Bhasker as producers. Doo-Wops & Hooligans draws on a variety of influences. Lyrically, the album visualizes carefree optimism along with failed relationships, pain and loneliness. It was promoted primarily through the Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010–2012) and a number of television appearances. The album title was chosen to reflect simplicity and appeal to males and females.
The Enchanters were an American vocal group based in Detroit, Michigan. They produced several local hit records in the doo-wop genre during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Decades later, some of their songs have been re-released on Christmas and doo-wop compilations.
"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' debut extended play, It's Better If You Don't Understand (2010), as its last track. It was written by Bruno 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" serves as the record's sixth track, and is R&B power ballad about a failed relationship, solitude, and sadness. Instrumentally, the track relies on drum percussion and piano.
The Students were an American doo-wop vocal group, which formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, in 1957. Although they only released five sides, two of them – "I'm So Young" and "Every Day of the Week" – became doo-wop standards. "I'm So Young" in particular became popular and durable, and has been covered by the Beach Boys, Rosie and the Originals, and The Ronettes.
14 Karat Soul is an a cappella group from East Orange, N.J. active in the 1980s. They were originally a strictly doo-wop group, but later branched out into other genres. The group featured in the 1980 Mabou Mines short film Sister Suzie Cinema, a 20-minute doo-wop opera by Bob Telson and Lee Breuer.
