Street Corner Harmony: They Call It Doo Wop In the early 1950's, black music was categorized as "race music" in the record and radio industries. White artists did "cover" releases of black soul harmony. The Crew Cuts, who changed Doo Wop into Boo Wabba pop, re-recorded "Sh Boom" by the Chords, "Earth Angel" by the Penguins, and countless other "black music" and despite theirs were poor renditions, they got the top 40 radio air play, the credit and the record sales. Despite the fact that The Moonglows wrote and recorded the legendary "Goodnight Sweetheart," it was The Mc Guire Sisters who zoomed to #1 because few radio stations would play "race music."

Decca, Mercury, Coral and Lawrence Welk's Dot Records were notorious for stealing and re-recording black street corner harmony. Pat Boone rose to stardom singing Little Richard's "Tutti Fruiti" and Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," for Dot and it's A&R guy, Randy Wood (Welk's son in law).

A popular, but discredited disc jockey, Alan Freed would change all that from a powerful radio station in New York, WOR-AM. He defied the station administration and played the original black versions of blues adapted to rock and roll (as he named the music) and immediately the young audiences "dug it." Frankie Lymon & The Teenager's classic "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" zoomed to the top of the "white" charts and once the hole in the damn was made. R&B flooded the airwaves. Perhaps then, Freed became a "marked man" by the powers that be.

The Jive Five were neck and neck with Dion & The Belmonts, The Dubs were right along with The Duprees. The Five Satins' "In The Still Of The Night" became the anthem of Doo Wop and when 60's-80's "Best Hits" (a CBS radio invention to kill the demographically unfavorable 50's in their opinion) air their annual listener's top 100 survey, they are constrained to play the 1957 "In The Still Of The Night" which unvariably comes up to the top 3.

In the 80's and 90's, many radio stations aired their local Sunday night Doo Wop weekly shows. Don K. Reid had "The Doo Wop Shop" on WCBS-FM 101 in New York, John Summers hosted "Sunday Night Doo Wops" on Dallas/Fort Worth's KLUV-FM 98.7,the late Hubcap Carter did the same on Plano, TX KAAM, and Golden Gup Gascione drove listeners to "Doo Wop Drive" on AM 1250, WMTR on Friday nights. These to name a few of many

Doo Wop lives on. It gets pledges for the public television station when New Jersey's T. J. Labinsky, grandson of Herman Lubinsky, owner of Savoy-De Lite Records and producer of Kool & The Gang, produced several Doo Wop re-union concerts as well as 50's and 60's pop concerts, getting together aged but still great sounding original members of such groups as The Cadillacs, The Marigolds (who first recorded "Little Darlin,'" not The Diamonds). The Regents (first to record. "Barbara Ann," not The Beach Boys) and many others.

In middle school talent shows, kids are still singing the old Doo Wop tunes like The Eldorado's "Crazy Little Mama" or even the somewhat obscured "Darling Lorraine," originally done by The Knockouts on Doo Wop producer Bobby Shad's label. You can find many of these tweens performances on YouTube.

To hear "Darling Lorraine" and commentary on Doo Wop music by Don K. Reed, host of "The Doo Wop Shop" on CBS-FM for over a quarter of a century, click the link underneath "comments" below. Be assured we at Oldies Television are working hard to bring you more 50's and 60's street corner harmony performances both on our TV menu channels and our Classic Oldies Video Juke Box, also on our main directory (banner link also below).

Doo Wop music, archived in many boxed sets on Rhino, Time-Life, Collectibles and Candlelite, also on the web mp3 download services such as Amazon.com (amazon.com/mp3, enter doo wop song title or group in search box), will live on forever.

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