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History Of Doo-Wop
Paleo-Doo-Wop (1952-1954)
This subgenre retains many visible features of its stylistic ancestors; e.g., r & b in the Drifters' "Money Honey"; gospel in "The Bells of St. Mary's," by Lee Andrews and the Hearts; black pop vocal groups in the Platters' "Only You." These traits had yet to be synthesized into a truly singular style. Other notable records from this period included The Cadillacs--"Gloria" (1954) The Chords--"Sh-Boom" (1954; the cover by the Crewcuts became one of the biggest hits of that year), The Crows--"Gee" (1954), The Drifters--"Honey Love" (1954), The Harptones--"A Sunday Kind of Love" (1954), The Jewels--"Hearts of Stone" (1954), The Orioles--"Crying in the Chapel" (1953), and The Penguins--"Earth Angel" (1954)
Classical Doo-Wop (1955-1959)
This phase featured tight and sweet harmonies; however, the lead singers lost much of the smoothness typifying paleo-doo-wop recordings. Bass singers were given a more prominent role; in the past they had tended to function merely as part of the background harmony. The performers were generally quite young, featuring lyrics primarily concerned with young, idealistic love. Nonsense syllables were employed in the majority of songs. Instrumentation remained in the background, albeit with a heavy backbeat. Key recordings included The Cleftones--"Little Girl of Mine" (1956), The Del Vikings--"Come Go With Me" (1957), The El Dorados--"At My Front Door" (1955), The Five Satins--"In the Still of the Night" (1956), The Flamingos--"I Only Have Eyes For You" (1959), The Heartbeats--"A Thousand Miles Away" (1956), The Monotones--"Book of Love" (1958), The Rays--"Silhouettes" (1957), The Silhouettes--"Get a Job" (1958), and The Willows--"Church Bells May Ring" (1956)
The classical period saw the development of a wide array of spinoff styles, in part a response to newly devised marketing strategies.
(a) Schoolboy Doo-Wop: The focal point here was an ultra-high tenor, usually a male in his early teenage years. While Frankie Lymon was the definitive interpreter from the standpoint of both commercial success and singing prowess, he has many imitators, including brother Lewis Lymon (the Teenchords), the Kodaks, the Schoolboys, and the Students. Among the notable hits were Little Anthony and the Imperials--"Two People in the World" (1958), Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers-"Who Do Fools Fall in Love" (1956), and The Schoolboys--"Shirley" (1957).
(b) Gang Doo-Wop: Lead singers studiously avoided being smooth; rather, they seemed to swagger as they sang. Likewise, harmonies, though intricate, were rough in approach. Major hits included The Channels--"That's My Desire" (1957), The Charts--"Desiree" (1958), and The Collegians--"Zoom Zoom Zoom" (1957).
(c) Italo-Doo-Wop: Like African Americans, Italian Americans accorded music a prime place in their upbringing (through church). Although isolated white groups had appeared in the early 1950s (e.g., the Bay Bops, the Neons, the Three Friends), the first major wave of white doo-wop acts surfaced in 1958. This variant was distinguished by even tighter group harmonies, roughly-hewn tenors pushing their upper registers to produce a "sweet" sound, and the prominence of bass singers (the latter a premonition of the neo-doo-wop phase). Notable recordings included The Capris--"There's a Moon Out Tonight" (1958; 1961), The Classics--"Till Then" (1963), The Elegants--"Little Star" (1958), and The Mystics--"Hushabye" (1959).
(d) Pop Doo-Wop: Heavily influenced by the commercial mainstream going as far back as turn-of-the-century barbershop quartets, this style had little in common with classic doo-wop other than tight harmony. Practitioners developed a number of ploys geared to making inroads into the pop market, most notably (1) cover records, (2) softening the doo-wop sound in order that it might reach a broader range of age groups, and (3) jazzing up adult-oriented standards so as to appeal to youth. Among the more popular records in this vein were The Duprees--"You Belong to Me" (1962), The Echoes--"Baby Blue" (1961), The Fleetwoods--"Come Softly to Me" (1959), The Temptations (white group)--"Barbara" (1960), and The Tymes--"So Much in Love" (1963).
Neo-Doo-Wop (1960-1963)
The impetus for this phase was the oldies revival (largely focused on doo-wop) which began in 1959. Although neo-doo-wop maintained the simple melody lines and preoccupation with love lyrics typifying the classical phase, the distinctive features of doo-wop were greatly exaggerated; e.g., a greater preponderance of falsetto leads, heavier and more pronounced bass singing. Instruments also figured more prominently in song arrangements. Notable hits included Gene Chandler with the Dukays--"Duke of Earl" (1961), The Devotions--"Rip Van Winkle" (1961; 1964), Dion with the Del Satins--"Runaround Sue" (1961), Curtis Lee With the Halos--"Pretty Little Angel Eyes" (1961), The Paradons--"Diamonds and Pearls" (1960), The Reflections--"(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" (1964), The Regents--"Barbara Ann" (1961), and The Stereos--"I Really Love You" (1961).
The absorption of new talent from a variety of backgrounds spurred the development of new stylistic subcategories.
(a) Tin Pan Alley Doo-Wop: Exposed to doo-wop as well as schooled in music composition, young songwriters (e.g., Gerry Goffin/Carole King, Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil, Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich) and producers (Phil Spector) created their own formula. They melded doo-wop conventions (e.g., tight harmony, pronounced bass, nonsense syllables) with more complex melodies, augmented instrumentation, and thoroughgoing production values. Key recordings included The Chiffons--"He's So Fine" (1963), The Crystals--"Da Doo Ron Ron" (1963), The Raindrops--"The Kind of Boy You Can't Forget" (1963), Randy and the Rainbows--"Denise" (1963), and The Tokens--"Tonight I Fell in Love" (1961)
(b) Distaff Doo-Wop: With few exceptions (e.g., the Chantels, the Bobbettes, the Shirelles, and fronting male groups such as the Platters), women didn't play a prominent role in doo-wop until the Tin Pan Alley variant achieved popularity. Notable hits included Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles--"You'll Never Walk Alone" (1963), The Cookies--"Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Baby" (1963), and Reperata and the Delrons--"Whenever a Teenager Cries" (1964)
(c) Garage Band Doo-Wop: Denotes material recorded on substandard equipment. Representative examples included the Laddins' "Did It" and the Contenders' "The Clock."
(d) Novelty Doo-Wop: Almost without exception, this genre encompasses humorous, uptempo material. Themes covered include fantasy (e.g., the Eternals' "Rockin' in the Jungle," the Cadets' "Stranded in the Jungle"), rebellion (e.g., the Coasters' "Yakety Yak"), fads (e.g., the Royal Teens' "Short Shorts"), and media heroes (e.g., Dante and the Evergreens' "Alley Oop").
(e) Pseudo-Doo-Wop: This category refers to the doo-wop style minus the vocal group format. Major strains have included solo efforts (e.g., Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds' "Love You So," Rosie and the Originals' "Angel Baby") and duos (e.g., Skip and Flip's "Cherry Pie," Don and Juan's "What's Your Name," Robert and Johnny's "Over the Mountain").
Post Doo-Wop (1964-)
For all practical purposes, the genre ceased to function in a creative sense as elements associated with it virtually disappear from recordings. With few exceptions, words replaced nonsense syllables as background responses, harmony receded into the background, falsetto appeared less frequently, the bass was used less as a separate voice, instrumentation took on much greater importance, and melodies exhibited a much greater degree of variation. A number of groups--most notably the Drifters, the Four Seasons, and Little Anthony and the Imperials--crossed over into the pop mainstream. The primary innovations in vocal group singing now took place within the a cappella genre.
