Nice thread, Joan. I hope, it ain' t die to soon. ... and quite educational, like Solium already said.
From your description, I got immediately some songs in my head, but not sure, if they' re really " doo wops ". Some of them, I found on lists.
I didn' t know the term " doo wop " either and after you already wrote a lot about it, I got more curious and searched on google. Most of them didn' t make it here to germany. Which, who made it, we just called " oldies " , like other songs from the fifties or sixties.
I do love Dion a lot. The songs you put on were new to me. One of my favorit is " Runaround Sue " , which Bob already put on.
So I would like to ad " The Wanderer " , not quite sure, if really " doo wop ".
Still I like the sweet infectious melodies and rhythms of Doo Wop.
I don' t think, that all " doo wops " have silly lyrics, Joan. ... but that' s just perhaps english isn' t my mother language and I don' t understand always 100 percent.
... but what I do say for me, almost all singers have great voices and the rhythm and melodies are just sweeping/ rousing. They' re just fun listen to. I like playing the guitar and they' re great songs to play at the camp fire.
... especially " The Lion sleeps tonight " , if everybody joins the " A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh " .
Bob, you said you, “Can’t have Doo Wop without background singers.” That is new information for me. I did find the following definitions of Doo Wop.
“style of pop music marked by the use of close harmony vocals using nonsense phrases, originating in the US in the 1950s.”
“Doo-wop, style of rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll vocal music popular in the 1950s and ’60s. The structure of doo-wop music generally featured a tenor lead vocalist singing the melody of the song with a trio or quartet singing background harmony. The term doo-wop is derived from the sounds made by the group as they provided harmonic background for the lead singer.”
Guess I never thought of a single artist without extra singers as not singing Doo Wop.
Welcome Wolfsshohn. I like your picks. I always thought At The Hop, The Wanderer, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight as very good Doo Wop songs. I want to join your campfire.
We should come up with some Doo Wop songs sung by ladies and their groups. I’ll work on it.
