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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 Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher, and Barbara Ellis.
The Avons were a British pop vocal group. Originally composed of Valerie Murtagh and Elaine Murtagh, and known as 'The Avon Sisters', they added Raymond S. Adams, and changed their name to 'The Avons'.
Shep and the Limelites was an American doo-wop trio of the early 1960s, composed of James "Shep" Sheppard, Clarence Bassett and Charles Baskerville. They are best known for their 1961 hit recording, "Daddy's Home", co-written by Sheppard.
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 were 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.
"Heart and Soul" is a popular song composed by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Frank Loesser. It charted with different artists between 1938 and 1961. A simplified version is a popular piano duet.
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for 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.
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.
"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a romantic love song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, written for the film Dames (1934) when Dick Powell introduced it. Several successful recordings of the song were made in 1934; later, there were charted versions by The Flamingos (1959) and Art Garfunkel (1975).
"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.
"Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra.
The Teen Queens were an American musical group from the 1950s, most remembered for their hit single "Eddie My Love", which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on the R&B Best Sellers charts in March 1956.
Kathy Young is an American musician; she was a teen pop singer during the early 1960s, whose rendition of "A Thousand Stars", at age 15, rose to No. 3 on Billboard Hot 100.
"Little Darlin'" is a popular Top 40 song, made famous by the Diamonds.
"Bad Girl" is a 1959 doo-wop single by The Miracles. Issued locally on the Motown Records label, it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records because the fledgling Motown Record Corporation did not, at that time, have national distribution. It was the first single released on the Motown label – all previous singles from the company were released on Motown's Tamla label. Although The Miracles had charted regionally and on the R&B charts with several earlier songs, including "Got a Job", "I Cry", "I Need a Change", and "(You Can) Depend on Me", "Bad Girl" was their first national chart hit, reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records' President and Founder Berry Gordy, "Bad Girl" is a sad, remorseful ballad about a young woman, whom Robinson, as the narrator, says "was so good at the start", but who later in the song "is breaking my heart". It is in the popular doo-wop style, as several of The Miracles' songs were during the late 1950s. The record's success, coupled with the distributor's failure to pay Gordy and The Miracles properly for its sales, prompted Robinson to urge Gordy to "go national" with it, meaning that Motown should do its own national distribution of its songs, and eliminate the middleman, to ensure that all money from sales of its records would go directly to the label.
"There's a Moon Out Tonight" is a song originally released in 1958 by The Capris. The initial release on the Planet label saw very limited sales, and the Capris disbanded. In 1960, after a disk jockey played the song on air, the public interest in the song that was generated led to it being re-released on the Lost Nite label, and later that year the Old Town label. The group reunited shortly thereafter.
"Daddy's Home" is a famous song by American doo-wop group Shep and the Limelites. The song was written by the three members of the band, James "Shep" Sheppard (1935–1970), Clarence Bassett (1936–2005) and Charles Baskerville. The group recorded the original version of "Daddy's Home" on February 1, 1961, and it was released on Hull Records in March 1961 with the B-side being "This I Know".
"Pretty Little Angel Eyes" is a 1961 song by American singer Curtis Lee. It was released on Dunes Records, #45-2007. Phil Spector served as producer, and also produced Lee's follow-up hit "Under the Moon of Love".
Indigo Records was an American pop record label formed in 1960. Within two years the label issued nearly 50 singles and five LPs.
References
- ↑ "Doo-Wop Groups, Biography & Discography: The Innocents aka The Echoes". Doo-wop.blogg.org. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1229/30. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com.
- ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com.
- ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com.
- ↑ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 95. CN 5585.
