Doo-Wop favourites

I was just listening to this song. When I was in High School I went to Bristol with some friends and that was where I met my Husband.

 

Re: the Curtis Lee song- might anybody know if the dance the kids are doing was an actual dance that had a name?
I've always loved doo-wop, but the dancing looks like it was before I started watching music/dance shows on t.v.
 
oldman said:
I think the dance was originally made for the song by Shirley Ellis named, "The Nitty Gritty."

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I don't mean to go off topic with a question instead of a video, but I'm kinda confused- I'd guess the main dancer looks to be 15-16 yrs old, but bio said he was born in 1933. From the video (1963) and he also appeared in West Side Story around the same time, it'd make him 30 yrs old at the time! Huh???
 
I am going to a Doo Wop concert this coming Saturday evening in Red Bank, New Jersey. The only reason that I am going to this concert is to see the group, "Kenny Vance and The Planatones" from Brooklyn, NY. Kenny is just coming back from a 3 year vacation (sort of). If and when you have time, maybe you would enjoy reading about Kenny's vast resume. He is one of the better doo wop greasers from back in the day.

 
I have always thought that East Coast Doo Wop was much better than West Coast Doo Wop. This should not come as any surprise since Doo Wop got it's start on the East Coast, primarily in New York and Philadelphia. I never did or make a scientific research as to how many white groups there were compared to black groups or vice versa, but if I had to guess, I would say that professional and successful black groups out-numbered white groups by maybe 2 or 3 to 1. There were a few reasons why this happened. One is that black teenagers in that era had limited funds and opportunities compared to white teens. While white teens were roller skating, going to drive-ins, etc., the black kids were gathering together on street corners and singing songs that they may have heard on the radio from old artists that their moms or dads may have had. They would take an old song and put their own flavor and melody to it and make it into a completely different sound.

After listening and collecting some 2000 Doo Wop records and studying the genre and it's roots, the only thing that ever bothered me was when it was played on the radios, DJ's would sometimes play an R&B song and introduce it as a Doo Wop song and that's just plain wrong. As an example of what I'm talking about, I would tell people that just as an example take the wonderful, smooth melody of The Platters and the song "Harbor Lights." Normally, this song would have been classified as an R&B melody genre, however, since so many other artists sang their own version of this old classic, it has been mostly considered as an "oldie" with and R&B flair.

For a song to be considered Doo Wop, it must have had nonsensical lyrics or background lyrics using words that had no meaning. For example; take the song "Remember When"; which was originally sung by Larry Chance and the Earls. The background lyrics uses words like: Re-mem-mem, Re-mem-mem-ber and oop-shoot. No kidding. Check it out here: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_earls/remember_then.html And, a true Doo Wop song always had to have harmony, which is where Dion and The Belmonts come in. Harmonizing and using nonsensical lyrics was a true trademark of most all of the Dion and The Belmont songs.

So, listen to these two most popular Doo Wop recordings and you will learn what true Doo Wop music is all about:

First up is Sha Na Na with John Contardo singing falsetto, "Remember When", which was sung originally by The Earls:

Second is a true harmony Doo Wop song that also has nonsensical background lyrics. Dion and The Belmonts singing: "I Wonder Why.":
 
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