Doo Wop

[kuranes]

I'm going to do a Zappa thread soon, and this will be cross-linked with that.

Great Doo-Wop song that FZ takes over the top.
YouTube - White port & lemon juice - zappa
Earlier versions of the song.
YouTube - Four Duces - W.P.L.J.
YouTube - Bel-aires -- White Port Lemon Juice
YouTube - WPLJ 2006 TV COMMERCIAL

Here's a song I used to hear on the radio when the station I listened to went off the air. It came on every night and I got used to hearing it and its sentiment. it made me wonder about what kinda stuff I might be getting into as an adult.
YouTube - Paul Anka - Goodnight My Love

The big era of Doo Wop was just a little before my time. Listening to it reminds me of when I saw the guys on my street, a lot older than me, getting their first cars etc. and disassociating themselves from "kid stuff", like our football games. I actually "played" with guys a lot older than me once it became clear that I wasn't going to kvetch about injuries in our somewhat brutal tackle football games. When my family moved away from the city in 8th grade, and I started finally playing with kids my own age, I had a taste of "celebrity" for a while. I remember throwing a touchdown pass to a kid that nobody ever covered because he was considered a dork, and the pleasure I could see it gave him to finally get a little limelight, too.

What does Doo Wop conjure up for you ? Do you like it ? Hate it ? Interesting how it segued into stuff like "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys.
YouTube - The Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby

I remember wondering about what it would be like for me in Viet Nam about that time, which fortunately for me ended before I got there. This song in the Viet Nam oriented "Deer Hunter" movie brought it all back to me. Here we also see a young Night hawk. ( INTPC in-joke . )
YouTube - Can't take my eyes off you /The Deer Hunter Bar Scene

 

[Jack Flak]

I love Don't Worry Baby, always. (Can't be bothered atm to listen to the others, too involved in my music )

 

[kuranes]

I love Don't Worry Baby, always.

I'm surprised. I didn't think you enjoyed this kind of thing.

Are you creating music of your own or listening to "your own" tunes ? If so, that would be something else that I didn't know about you; that you are a composer.

 

[Jack Flak]

I write/play music off and on (I get interested in something and disregard all else for a while), but I was referring to listening to music by others I'm into.

The NT Rationale > NT Personal Threads > Jack Flak's Music Club

 

[Tallulah]

I'm not a big fan of doo wop, mostly because my dad IS a huge fan, and I had to listen to unholy amounts of it on long drives when I was growing up. I also think it's a little too "pure" of a vocal style for me to really get into. I like voices that are a little grittier. I do really love tight harmonies, though, and I can appreciate how difficult it must be to get a really good doowop group together.

It's funny, I guess the Beach Boys could be considered doo-wop, though I never really thought of them that way. I guess I just sort of think of them as their own entity. But obviously the doo-wop influence is there.

I think maybe my other problem with doo-wop as a genre is that the song becomes more about the sound of the harmonies and the lyrics take a backseat. Most 1950s doo-wop was fluffy stuff about teenagers in love, with a bunch of bomb-a-dang-dang stuff thrown in.

What I do love is a good backup group, like the Pips or Stevie Nicks' backup singers, where the harmonies are tight, and they're doing sort of a call-and-response with the lead singer. I also love the Eagles and Crosby, Stills and Nash. And, as you can tell by my av, I love the harmonies of Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Check this out.

YouTube - Heart - Straight On - Liberty Rock Radio
(starts at around 1 min in)

Hope that wasn't too off-topic--to me, doo-wop just kinda goes with the topic of harmonies in general.

 

[Jeffster]

I love it. My favorite Time Life collection infomercial is the one for "Malt Shop Memories." It's not just doo-wop but it's all awesome.