Doo-wop

"I could sing you a thousand and one doo-wop songs. I love the simplicity in that music. It's not super-poetic, it's just from the heart."

—Bruno Mars

Doowop or Doo-wop is a style of R&B and pop music characterized by close harmony singing, usually by male choirs. It is influenced by Gospel Music, but less religious. Most doowop songs are love ballads, which suits the beautiful melodies perfectly. Due to Parody Displacement, younger generations who hear other artists use the doowop singing sound may sometimes think musicians are playing it for laughs. The high pitched silly voices and greasy arrangements are nevertheless very typical of the style.

The genre originated in The '40s and The '50s, alongside R&B, sometimes called "bird group" music, since, after the success of The Ravens, an early pioneer of the style, a lot of groups played Follow the Leader and named themselves after birds (as a quick scan of the list below will show). Apart from a few isolated hits, the genre's popularity faded away at the start of the 1960s in favor of Soul. Nevertheless doowop had an enormous impact on pop music. It was the Trope Namer for the Doo-Wop Progression that is still in vogue today. David Bowie also likes using doowop in his music. "Drive-In Saturday" from Aladdin Sane (1973) and "Golden Years" (1975) from Station to Station are sung in this style.

Frank Zappa adored the genre since teenagehood. His singers often sing in a harmony that is typical of the style. Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968), was a straight faced Homage to the genre that baffled a lot of his Avant-Garde Music and Rock fans. The line "my ship of love is ready to attack" in "Dog Breath (In The Year Of The Plague)" from Uncle Meat (1969) is a reference to "Ship of Love" by the Nutmegs. "Valerie", from Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1960) was a doowop cover, originally by Jackie & The Starlites. He namedropped "Sixteen Candles" by The Crests in "Eddie Are You Kidding?" from Just Another Band from L.A. (1973). Zappa quoted from "Nite Owl" by Tony Allen & The Champs (1954) during the Title Track of Joe's Garage and on that same album he also referenced "I'm The Japanese Sandman" by The Cellos. On Them or Us (1984) Zappa covered "The Closer You Are" by The Channels. "Cock-Suckers Ball" on Does Humor Belong in Music? (1986), was a cover of The Clovers. "No No Cherry" from ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Volume 4' (1991) is a cover of The Turbans. The yell "Lu-Ann" Zappa uses in a lot of his music from the 1980s on is a reference to "Lu-Ann" by Little Sunny Day & The Clouds.

Brian Eno also grew up listening to the style and the vocal arrangements on his albums were also often influenced by Doowop.

Several films have used doowop on the soundtrack, including American Graffiti, Back to the Future, Goodfellas, Sixteen Candles, A Bronx Tale, usually as a period piece.

The genre makes uses of the following tropes:

• A Cappella: A guitar, piano or soft drum can be used, but even with the voices alone it still sounds magnificent.
• Animal Motifs: Thanks to the success of The Ravens, the Trope Maker for the style, many doowop bands named themselves after song birds: The Swallows, The Orioles, The Blue Jays and The Sky Larks. Some even chose birds that can't sing: The Penguins, The Crows, The Flamingos...! The Eagles was even used as a band name decades before another band made it famous. It also extended to one of the genre's biggest hits, Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".
• Break-Up Song: A recurring genre in a lot of these songs.
• Call-and-Response Song: During slower ballads lead singer will sing, while the backing vocals repeat or reply.
• Careful with That Axe: The voices are often very high pitched.
• Doo-Wop Progression: A chord progression consisting of the following: I vi IV V. If that didn't make sense to you, try playing the following chords: C major, A minor, F major, G major. Repeat.
• Incredibly Long Note: Doowop bands enjoy ending on a literal high note while the music stops for a while then returns as the song starts slowly fading out.
• Larynx Dissonance: Grown men sometimes sing in high pitched goofy voices.
• One-Hit Wonder: Many doowop bands only scored one big hit and then vanished back into obscurity.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis: Despite the fact that there have been Italian-American, Hispanic, and other races of doowop bands, in pop culture all doowop bands will always be portrayed as Afro-American.
• The Power of Love: The majority of the songs are love ballads or songs about break-ups.
• Revolving Door Band: Most doowop bands work as a unity, without one lead singer getting all the credit. This makes it all the more easier for a band to go on for several years and just replace individual members while still performing under the same band name.
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: The genre got its name from the typical scat sounds the singers make.
• Scatting: A staple of the genre: "Sha na na" ("Get A Job" by The Silhouettes), "Shi-bop-shi-bop" ("I Only Have Eyes For You" by the Flamingos) and "Bom-ba-ba-bom bo-dang-be-dang ba-diggy-diggy-diggy dig bam-bom" ("Blue Moon" by the Marcels) are just three examples.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Band members always wear nice suits, bow-ties and neatly combed hair.
• Silly Love Songs: Some doowop songs are sang in goofy sounding voices, which makes their love ballads sound a bit silly.
• Spoken Word in Music: An example of doowop songs in this style would be "The Ten Commandments Of Love" by The Moonglows.

Lists of doowop artists

• Richard Berry: The original artist who sang "Louie Louie" (1956), which would become a bigger hit thanks to the Kingsmen in 1963.
• Hank Ballard and the Midnights: "Work With Me Annie" (1954) and "Annie Had A Baby (1954). He was also the first to record a song called "The Twist", which would later become a bigger hit thanks to Chubby Checker.
• Big Daddy: A 1990s doowop band, known for redoing songs from the 1960s onwards in the style of specific other songs from the 1950s. Perhaps the epitome of this would be their 1992 CD Sgt. Pepper's, in which they completely recreate The Beatles' Sergeant Peppers in 1950s musical styles.
• James Brown: His very early work with the Famous Flames: "Please Please Please" (1956), "Try Me" (1958) and "Bewildered" (1959)
• The Beach Boys: "Surfer Girl", "In My Room," "Little Deuce Coupe" (1963), and a cover of the Del Vikings' "Come Go With Me" (1978)
• The Cellos: They had a hit with their cover of "I'm The Japanese Sandman" (1957), which they dubbed "Rang Tang Ding Dong" to avoid copyright issues. Unfortunately many interested buyers failed to find this single because of its different title.
• The Champs: Best known for "Nite Owl" (1955), sang together with Tony Allen.
• The Charts: "Desiree" (1957)
• The Channels: "The Closer You Are" (1956)
• The Chords: "Sh-Boom" (1954), which was Covered Up by the Crew-Cuts later that year.
• The Chordettes: "Mr. Sandman" (1954) and "Lollipop" (1958)
• The Clovers: One of the few doowop bands to have a whole string of hits: "Don't You Know I Love You?" (1951), "One Mint Julep" (1951), "Fool, Fool, Fool" (1951) and "Love Potion #9" (1959). They are also notorious for a bawdy parody of "Darktown Strutter's Ball" called "Cock-Suckers' Ball" (1954).
• The Coasters: Very notable for their comedic songs: "Yakety Yak", "Along Came Jones", "Charlie Brown" and "Poison Ivy".
• The Crests: "Sixteen Candles" (1958).
• The Crows: "Gee" (1953) is an often-mentioned candidate for "the first Rock & Roll hit".
• The Darts: A 1970s Doo-Wop revival act
• The Dell-Vikings: "Come Go With Me" (1957)
• Dion and the Belmonts: "I Wonder Why" (1958)
• The Dreamlovers: "When We Get Married" (1961)
• The El Dorados: "At My Front Door" (1955) and "I'll Be Forever Loving You" (1956).
• The Feathers: "Johnny Darling" (1954)
• The Five Campbells: "Morrine" (1956)
• The Five Satins: "In the Still of the Night" (1956)
• The Flamingos: Best remembered for "I Only Have Eyes For You" (1959), with the amazing "shi-bop-she-bop" echo effect, produced by the band's close harmony; a lush romantic classic recorded on, believe it or not, Halloween day. Also one of the first big hits of the Rock era to exceed three minutes in length (3:20).
• Flash Cadillac (and the Continental Kids): Performed in American Graffiti (1973) covering three songs: "At the Hop", "Louie Louie" and "She's so Fine"
• Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers: "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" (1956)
• Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons: "Mack The Knife" (1960), "Sherry" (1962)
• The Gaylarks: "Tell Me Darling" (1955)
• Gene Chandler: "Duke of Earl" (1962)
• Gene & Eunice: "Kokomo" (1954)
• The Harptones: They never had a hit, but their best known recordings were "Sunday Kind of Love" (1953), "Why Should I Love You?" (1954), "Life is But a Dream" (1955), and "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" (1956).
• The Hawks: "Joe the Grinder" and "Candy Girl" (1954).
• The Ink Spots: 1930s and 1940s R&B band who were pioneering forerunners of the genre, best known for "If I Didn't Care".
• Jackie & The Starlites: "Valerie" (1960)
• The Jewels: "Hearts Of Stone" (1954), which was later covered by The Charms as a much bigger hit.
• The Kingsmen: "Louie Louie" (1963) and "The Name Of The Place Is I Like It Like That" (1965)
• Little Sunny Day & The Clouds: "Lu-Ann" (1961)
• Labelle: "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)" (1963), "You'll Never Walk Alone" (1964), and "Over the Rainbow" (1966)
• The Marcels: "Blue Moon" (1961)
• The Medallions: "The Letter" and "Buick '59" (1954)
• The Monotones: "The Book Of Love" (1958)
• The Moonglows: "Sincerly" (1955) and "The Ten Commandments Of Love" (1958)
• The Nutmegs: "Story Untold" (1955) and "Ship Of Love" (1956)
• The Olympics: "Western Movies" (1958) and "Baby Hully Gully" (1961)
• The Orchids: "Newly Wed" (1955)
• The Orioles: "It's Too Soon To Know" (1948) and "Crying In The Chapel" (1953).
• The Osmonds: Started out as an acapella and barbershop act in the late 1950s.
• The Paragons: "Florence" (1957), "Let's Start All Over Again" (1957) and "Twilight" (1958).
• The Penguins: "Earth Angel" (1954)
• The Platters: Scored a monster hit with "The Great Pretender" (1955) and "Only You" (1956).
• The Regents: "Barbara-Ann" (1961)
• The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" (1962) and "The Bird's the Word" (1963)
• The Robins: "Riot In Cell Block #9" (1954)
• Sha Na Na: A 1950s tribute band who were popular in the 1960s and even performed at Woodstock (1969) .
• The Silhouettes: "Get A Job" (1958). The band Sha Na Na got their name from the lyrics of this song.
• The Solitaires: "The Wedding" (1955), "The Angels Sang" (1956), and "Walking Along" (1957)
• The Spaniels: "Baby It's You" (1953) and "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" (1954)
• Twin Temple: A doo-wop revival band, specialising in mixing classic riffs and crooning vocals with Satanism.
• The Turbans: "When You Dance" (1955), the first song to use the syllable "doo-wop" in the refrain.
• The Tymes: "So Much in Love" (1963), probably the last genuine doo-wop song to reach #1 on the Billboard chart, though it also took obvious inspiration from Johnny Mathis-style pop (and they followed it up with a Cover Version of Mathis' debut hit "Wonderful! Wonderful!"). Later switched to Soul.
• The Velours: "Can I Come Over Tonight?" (1957)
• The Velvets: "I" (1954)
• Frank Zappa: He incorporated doowop in his music, along with other musical styles, but he also released an entire doowop album:
  • Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968)