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Post by Custom Machine on Mar 25, 2020 16:14:22 GMT -5
Some great classics listed here. Some of my favorites of those mentioned so far: You Belong to Me by The Duprees (especially the re-release with the longer ending, which was faded out on the original release) One Summer Night by The Danleers Little Star by The Elegants There's a Moon Out Tonight by The Capris Those Oldies but Goodies by Little Caesar and the Romans (love blasting this one out, especially in the car)
Some other doo-wop favories of mine: Could This Be Magic by The Dubs Tonight Tonight by the Mello Kings Diamonds and Pearls by The Paradons Lover’s Island by The Blue Jays Desiree by The Charts Stay by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs Heart and Soul by Jan & Dean (original is by the Cleftones) Come Go With Me by the Del Vikings (BB version is good, but not near as good as the original) In the Still of the Night by the Five Satins (love the BB version as well) Hushabye by The Beach Boys (the original is by The Mystics) I’m So Young by The Beach Boys (especially the Bonus Track version, the original is by The Students) We Belong Together by Ritchie Valens (the original is by Robert & Johnny) Doobie Doobie Wah by Ritchie Valens (an incredibly talented singer, song writer, and guitarist, who taught guitar to John Maus, who then became Carl Wilson's and Dave Marks' guitar teacher)
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Post by jk on Mar 26, 2020 16:24:02 GMT -5
Hushabye by The Beach Boys (the original is by The Mystics) I’m So Young by The Beach Boys (especially the Bonus Track version, the original is by The Students) We Belong Together by Ritchie Valens (the original is by Robert & Johnny) Agreed that the two BB covers are vastly superior to the originals! I love that Ritchie Valens track! Curiously perhaps, I've always felt "Donna" was 100% doo wop in spirit, even though it may be lacking in the vocal harmony department. Simply superb! It's hard to overestimate what Ritchie would have achieved had he lived...
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Post by jk on Mar 27, 2020 15:35:52 GMT -5
Two later classics that definitely belong here: Gene Chandler's "Duke Of Earl" (love that Mr. Bass Man!)...
...and Jive Five's "My True Story", featuring the irrepressible Eugene Pitt (bottom left):
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Sunflower75
Grommet
Posts: 30
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Favorite Album: Sunflower, Today!, Pet Sounds, Holland, 15 BO, 20/20, & POB.
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Post by Sunflower75 on Apr 17, 2020 22:50:52 GMT -5
Doobie Doobie Wah by Ritchie Valens (an incredibly talented singer, song writer, and guitarist, who taught guitar to John Maus, who then became Carl Wilson's and Dave Marks' guitar teacher) Love learning about that connection! I've become a huge Ritchie Valens fan over the last year. I was a kid when the movie La Bamba was released & that's how I was first introduced to his music. I've come to love & appreciate him & the other pioneers of rock music so much more these days. Heartbreaking that he, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper died so young. And today, marked 60 years that Eddie Cochran died.
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Post by jk on May 26, 2020 16:06:35 GMT -5
Dion and the Belmonts made some lovely records, none lovelier than "Where Or When", one of the most romantic of 45s. If I could dance, I'd be smooching to this all day, preferably with a partner. Dion left after this one to hit the solo trail--with a vengeance.
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Post by jk on Jun 14, 2020 5:00:16 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Jul 31, 2020 6:46:25 GMT -5
Surely Kathy Young with The Innocents' "A Thousand Stars" qualifies as doo wop? The Rivileers first did it in 1954 with nothing like as much success. Sandy Nelson played the drums, and in a even closer BB connection Kathy was married to John Maus for three years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Young
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Post by jk on Aug 19, 2020 13:49:37 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Dec 3, 2020 17:08:26 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Dec 17, 2020 16:36:17 GMT -5
I remember linking at PSF an over-the-top original version of a song made famous in another capacity but couldn't for the life of think of its name. Google is my friend (apparently), as it eventually led me to "Valarie" (or "Valerie") by Jackie & the Starlites. (The version I knew was by The Mothers of Invention at the close of their 1970 album Burnt Weenie Sandwich.) Uploader Manny Mora's blurb is informative enough to reproduce in full:
"Jackie & the Starlites were another one-hit wonder doo wop group -- 'Valerie,' cut for Bobby Robinson's Fury label in 1960, being their one hit; it was cut at the tail end of the doo wop era and, indeed, may have been among the first songs in that style to appeal as an 'oldie' in style. It barely brushed the national charts, but it was embraced by the community of doo wop singers as a standard.
"Jackie La Rue originally started singing with an outfit called the Five Wings in the early '50s, and cut a pair of singles with the group for King Records in 1955 before breaking up that year. Two of their members went on to form the Dubs, but La Rue wasn't heard from again in music until 1960, when the Starlites coalesced, consisting of Jackie Rue, as he was then known, Alton Thomas, John Felix, and Billy Montgomery. Rue was the star of the show as a superb acting singer, whose feigned weeping was apparently utterly convincing to onlookers and listeners. Their records following their successful debut were a mix of soul and upbeat ballads that failed to capture the imagination in the manner of 'Valerie.' By 1963, Fury Records was bankrupt, although the group managed to move on to Mascot Records in 1962 before disbanding sometime in the mid-'60s. Jackie Rue died of a drug overdose sometime in the late '60s or early '70s."
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Post by jk on Mar 23, 2021 16:12:42 GMT -5
Love the way each sung "commandment" is repeated as a spoken line! Harvey and The Moonglows took "Ten Commandments Of Love" to #22 in the US in 1958: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moonglows
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Post by jk on Aug 10, 2022 16:29:27 GMT -5
"The Jury" (b/w "Little Did I Know") gave Lou Christie his first modest glimpse of success (it reached #112 on the national charts). Credited to Lugee & The Lions (Lou was born Lugee Sacco), it was Lou's first single written by Twyla Herbert, who would be his songwrting partner for the next 30 years. Singing on the record were Lou, Bill Fabac, Twyla's daughter Shirley and a friend from school, Kay Chick. (From the YouTube blurb.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Christie
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Post by Rick Bartlett on Aug 11, 2022 12:46:17 GMT -5
A great doo wop and popular song of course is the Del-Vikings: Come Go With Me. I only recently learned the lead vocalist on the hit version, was a guy named Gus Backus. Well, I went to find out more about him, but came across another singer with the same name. A german folk/polka singer from the 60's who had quite a big career over there. He seemed to have done a mix of songs in other languages and made a career of it. The more I tried researching my American Doo-Wop lead singer, I found out this German guy also made songs in English and even had a few minor hits. Then it occurred, it was the same guy all along! I really didn't put the pieces together considering the style of songs and where and how this American guy ended up in Germany singing Polkas and Singalongs!! The man put his 50's rock n roll years behind, but not long before he died, his family got him to have another go at 'Come Go With Me'. While they are joking and messing about, I really love this bit of footage which kind of synchronizes how I got so confused...
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Post by jk on Aug 11, 2022 16:31:04 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Mar 14, 2023 16:59:25 GMT -5
Mr Tubey fed me this gem yesterday and I immediately recognized the name of the group. I know I heard it at the time, but... Can it be called doo-wop, when there's no Mr Bass Man? Yes it can, if the genre's wiki is to be believed. These are The Majors with their first and biggest hit, the joyous "A Wonderful Dream", which reached #22 in the U.S. charts in 1962: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Majors_(band)
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Post by Rick Bartlett on Mar 21, 2023 3:41:11 GMT -5
One of the great 'doo wop' songs of all time, by a guy who is still with us! 'Little Anthony and the Imperials - Tears On My Piillow' I have a beat up 45 of this, but it still sounds pretty good. Love how raw and even out of tune the background vocals seem to be, but it's still a great record. The song is from 1958, but this mimed version is from 1960:
For additional viewing, here is a documentary on Little Anthony, showing he is still goin' strong! A survivor from the 50's!
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Post by catchascatchcan on Mar 22, 2023 0:43:19 GMT -5
Something a little different. Postmodern Jukebox doing a doo-wop version of Hanson’s MMMBop.
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Post by jk on Mar 22, 2023 4:15:32 GMT -5
Something a little different. Postmodern Jukebox doing a doo-wop version of Hanson’s MMMBop.
That's fantastic. The song was made for that treatment! Thanks, cacc. Thinking about later doo-wop, my favourite interpreter is Frank Zappa, who cut some valiant stabs at the genre, such as this gorgeous version of Jackie & the Starlites' "Valarie" (the uploader gets the spelling wrong) off 1970's Burnt Weenie Sandwich. Roy Estrada's "high weazlings" are a thing of wonder:
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Post by catchascatchcan on Mar 22, 2023 8:44:21 GMT -5
jk. This is brilliant! I love Zappa.
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Post by jk on Mar 22, 2023 9:12:43 GMT -5
jk . This is brilliant! I love Zappa. Glad you like it! I have a love-hate relationship with Frank's work. His straight instrumental and vocal music is mostly incredible but I'm not into the theatrical side at all! (To say nothing of his "mid-life crisis" stuff, if you know what I mean.) I bought all his LPs at the time of their release up to and including the patchy Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which is when my interest waned. Later, my interest was rekindled with the likes of Overnite Sensation, Apostrophe, Zoot Allures and the Shut Up solo guitar trilogy... Here's another FZ track for this thread (one I use to bang out on the piano in the late '60s), the doo-wop version of "I'm Not Satisfied":
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Post by jk on Mar 28, 2023 5:24:39 GMT -5
Here's some great Philadelphia doo-wop courtesy of The Dovells, introduced here by Chubby Checker. I heard "Bristol Stomp", a US #2 in 1961, just once -- and just the first half, which was standard practice on Radio Luxembourg (lead singer Len Borisoff would better that chart position four years later as Len Barry with "1-2-3"): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dovells
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Post by jk on May 25, 2023 15:52:44 GMT -5
This is as close to doo wop as makes a difference. The gorgeous "Gee Whiz" was a US #10 for Carla Thomas in 1961:
To quote commenter lbht, "There's a great story about this recording session in Rob Bowman's Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records. The session ran hours late because the guy who was supposed to write the string arrangement was up late gigging the night before and forgot about it completely. This led label head Jim Stewart to be rushing around Memphis looking for him while the musicians waited at the studio getting paid union rates plus overtime. Eventually he went back to the studio and basically told the string players to play whole notes throughout and then wing it in the bridge. Amazing."
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