Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated among African-American youth in the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, DC, 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 Belmonts are an American doo-wop group from the Bronx, New York, that originated in the mid-1950s. The original group consisted of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo Mastrangelo, and Fred Milano. They took their name from Belmont, the Bronx neighborhood in which they lived, known as the Little Italy of the Bronx. There were several stages in their history, including the 1958–60 period with Dion DiMucci when the group was named Dion and the Belmonts. At this time Mastrangelo sang the bass parts, Milano the second tenor, D'Aleo the falsetto, and DiMucci did lead vocals.
The Turbans were an American doo-wop vocal group that formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1953. The original members were: Al Banks, Matthew Platt, Charlie Williams (baritone), and Andrew "Chet" Jones (bass). They came from Downtown Philadelphia.
The Marcels was an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and signed to Colpix Records with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave, by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla.
The Tokens were an American male doo-wop-style vocal group and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-topping 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
The Brooklyn Bridge is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Worst That Could Happen" (1968).
"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song by the R&B vocal group The Chords. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and William Edwards, members of The Chords, and published in 1954. It was a U.S. top-10 hit that year for both the Chords and The Crew-Cuts.
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.
The Edsels were an American doo-wop group active during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The name of the group was originally The Essos, after the oil company, but was changed to match the new Ford automobile, the Edsel. They recorded over 25 songs and had multiple performances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. The Edsels were one of the few doo-wop groups to sign with a major record label, as most groups of that era found success with small independent labels; before their national hit "Rama Lama Ding Dong", songs like "What Brought Us Together", "Bone Shaker Joe" and "Do You Love Me" helped the group land a major recording contract with Capitol Records in 1961.
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.
The Mystics are an American rock and roll group that began in Brooklyn, New York, United States, in the late 1950s. The group was known as The Overons, a quintet that, when signed to Laurie Records, consisted of Phil Cracolici, Albee Cracolici, George Galfo, Bob Ferrante, and Al Contrera. Under the direction of their manager, Jim Gribble, The Overons became The Mystics when each group member wrote a name they liked on a slip of paper, placed the papers in a hat and Contrera's choice was drawn.
The Rays were an American group formed in New York City in 1955, and active into the early 1960s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes", a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957 on Cameo after being initially released on the small XYZ Records. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, Jr. Also on XYZ, they had a minor hit with "Mediterranean Moon" a mid-chart hit with "Magic Moon".
The Capris are an American doo wop group who became a one-hit wonder in 1961 with "There's a Moon Out Tonight." They experienced a popularity and performing resurgence in the 1980s, when three members reformed and The Manhattan Transfer recorded their song, "Morse Code of Love," which reached the US Hot 100 and the U.S. AC top 20.
"Runaround Sue" is a rock and roll song, in a modified doo-wop style, originally a US No. 1 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 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 Mighty Echoes, an American a cappella doo-wop quartet from Los Angeles, California, United States, was formed backstage at the Olio Theater in Silverlake, California during the production of Harvey Shield’s 1986 musical "1284: The Pied Piper".
The Chimes were an American doo wop group from Brooklyn.
The Students were an American doo-wop vocal group, which formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, in 1957. Although they only released four 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.
The Passions are an American doo-wop group from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The quintet recorded a few demos in 1958, at which time Tony, Albee and Vinny began looking for replacements who were more career-minded. Another group in Bensonhurst had what they needed; when the three Sinceres heard Runarounds lead singer Jimmy Gallagher, they knew he was the one for them. The Sinceres weren’t sure how to approach Jimmy, so they followed him home one night and knocked on his door. After convincing his mother that they only wanted to sing with her son, not mug him, the foursome went to a nearby park and ended up harmonizing for hours. They were now a quartet, with Jimmy on lead, Tony on first tenor, Albee on second tenor, and Vinnie on baritone. In 1959, while the Mystics were recording "Hushabye" at their first session, their friend Tony Armato was there cheering them on promoting his own group to their manager, Jim Gribble. Gribble soon signed the Sinceres and renamed them the Passions. He gave them a demo by a duo of studio singers who called themselves the Cousins. The song was "Just to Be with You" written by Mary Kalfin. The Cousins were Paul Simon and Carole King. By the time the group recorded "Gloria" Vinny had left and been replaced by Gallagher’s friend Lou Rotondo. Also in 1960 Lou Rotondo and Albie Galione, along with Albie Contrera of the Mystics, sang behind Clay Cole on "Here, There, Everywhere" (Roulette), single that became popular in the New York area. Audicon Records lost the group’s next release, the harmony rocker "Made for Lovers." The group recorded a few more sides for Audicon which were leased to Jubilee and Octavia. Released in August 1959 on Sol Winkler’s Audicon label, the Passions’ impeccable harmonies and Gallagher’s impassioned lead put "Just to Be with You" on radios across America. It was a top 20 hit in many eastern cities and it charted nationally, rising to number 69. The follow-up out of Audicon’s 1674 Broadway digs was twice as good. Both sides—the harmony filled "I Only Want You" and the beautiful Billy Dawn Smith ballad "This Is My Love" –vied for radio play and sales throughout the states. They were managed by Jim Gribble who managed several doo-wop groups including the Mystics and The Jarmels, and worked with producer songwriter Stan Vincent. In the late 1990s, they reunited with the Mystics and the Classics for the Brooklyn Reunion Show. Lead singer Jimmy Gallagher left the Passions in 1960 to join the Navy, but later sang with The Legends of Doo Wop in 1998.
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.
