Doo

Wop started in the 1940s and the years around World War II and went through to the 50s
and 70s. It was developed by African American communiBes and church gospel groups in the
40s before it became popular and gained more recogniBon in the 50s and 60s.
These groups would be found in places such as New York, Philadelphia, LA, Chicago etc. Doo
Wop music was one of the most mainstream pop oriented, R&B styles at the Bme.

Bill Kenny (1914-1978) is oTen called the Godfather of Doo Wop as he introduced the format
Top and BoXom this format featured a high tenor, singing the lead and a bass singer, reciBng
the lead in the middle of the song.
CharacterisBcs found in a Doo Wop song would be things such as group vocal harmonies,
wordless onomatopoeia, light instrumentaBon and beat and simple lyrics and music.

When You Dance by The Turbans was the rst record to use the actual syllables Doo-Wop in
1955 however in the 1953 hit Good Lovin by The Clovers you can hear the term Doo Wop in
the backing vocals with the scat and the 1954 song Never by Carlyle Dundee and The
Dundees you can too hear the phrase 'Doo Wop in the chorus. The rst Bme the term appeared
in print was 1961 in the 'Chicago Defender.
Italian American groups became notable in the late 1950s by joining the Doo Wop scene.
Soul, Pop and Rock groups of the 1960s used techniques inuenced from Doo Wop and the
genre also makes a comeback numerous Bmes in the 1970s, 80s and the 90s.
Rock and Roll groups in the late 20th Century was also inuenced by the genre along with Jazz

and Blues.
Doo Wop also set up a lot of genres such as
R&B.
The term Doo Wop slowly caught on and
soon became a category, deniBon and
descripBon for the genre R&B.
Billy Ward & His Dominoes song Sixty
Minute Man and The Five Keys Shouldnt I
Know are only two out of many that placed
on the 1951 R&B chart hits.
The last Doo Wop song to be in the Top 10
U.S. Pop Charts was a cover of 'The
Impressions hit Its Alright by Huey Lewis
and the News in 1963.

In 1939 and 1940 'The Ink Spots became very
well known in both Britain and the United
States with songs such as My Prayer, Bless
You, Memories Unknown and Whispering
Grass, following them in 1943 and 1944,
Paper Doll and You Always Hurt The One
You Love by 'The Mills Brothers.
All these songs use simple instrumentaBon,
four part harmonies which mimic the style of
a Barbershop Quartet and a swing Bme beat

which is slow paced.

Things such as Gramaphones, Cinema and
Radio helped incline imitaBon in ciBes in the
United States.

1961 was known the be the peak of Doo Wop,
it featured the return of the nonsense syllable
in the early 60s which would be found in
popular records by groups like 'The Marcels,
'The Rivingtons etc.
A couple of years later songs were released and
the lyrical content was self referenBal to the
musicians. For example Mr Bassman by
Johnny Cymbal and also to the songwriters.

Doo Wop group names were commonly named
aTer cars (e.g. 'The Fleetwoods, 'The Cadillacs
and 'The Impalas) or birds (e.g. 'The Swallow,
'The Ravens, 'The Penguins and 'The
Flamingos). Groups in the late 1940s and early
1950s that were named aTer birds soon
became grouped in with the term 'bird groups.

The harmonies in a Doo Wop song would either
run underneath the lead vocal or echo aTer the

lead vocal.
In the early 50s groups like The 5 Keys pushed vocal techniques found in RnB vocal blending,
such as Blow Harmonies the result of this would be forcing air out of the mouth with the
shape of 'Ha-oo this allowed a dierent sound to be available, this then stopped humming from
being the main form of sound in the background of songs.
A popular introducBon in Doo Wop songs would be when the bass begins and then higher
harmonies add on one at a Bme unBl a full harmony is created; this is known as a progressive
entrance. A good example of this would be Danny and the Juniors At The Hop in this song they
use the progressive technique as the main hook.
The lead singers of Doo Wop groups were usually tenor, although could be a high tenor. Most
song arrangements had a idiosyncraBc bass role, which would normally be the introducBon or
would be found in the chorus or assisBng a percussive beat within the song. The soprano part
(a.k.a falseXo) would be used nearer the end of a song. In Doo Wop ballads the soprano vocals
can be found echoing aTer the lead singer (Close Your Eyes by The Five Keys), runs above the
main vocal, part of the harmonies heard in the background etc.
Vocalists of the Doo Wop genre would sing acapella and use nonsense syllables in order to
mimic instruments.
For example:
The bass would go Bom Bom Bom Bom..etc.
The guitar would go Shang-a-langetc.
The brass would go 'Doo Wop Wop, Doo Wop Wopetc
The Ravens 1950s song Count Every Star shows an example of the vocals using sounds such as
'doomph, doomph" in order to sound like a double bass being plucked at.

Doo Wop songs would vary

between both slow and fast
beats however they were
usually in swing Bme
providing a light and happy
feel. Doo Wop songs were
simplisBc so the vocalists
would clap their hands or
snap their ngers in order to
provide a beat focusing on
the 2nd and 4th beat of a
Common Time bar (4/4).
Other instruments found in
this genre that would
accompany the vocalists are
piano, guitars, saxophones
and drums however it would
be rare to have a solo from
any of these instruments as
they would remain more in
the background although
there would be breaks in the
song where there would only
be instruments present.
Doo Wop music and lyrics

tended to be quite simple,

repeBBve, dialecBcal and
awkwardly-phased. Song
lyrics would be about things
such as love and desire etc.

The general chord
progression of this genre is I-
VI-IV-V (For example, in C
major: C Am F G) this chord
progression was behind
1930s hits such as Blue
Moon by Rodger and
Hart(1934) and also Hoagy
Carmichaels Heart and
Soul (1938). However the
chord progression became so
common in Doo Wop music
that it soon was referred to
as the '50s progression. This
harmonic design was married
up with the AABA format
which would typically be
found in Tin Pan Alley Pop.

Doo Wop groups in 1954

assisted the Rock & Roll era;
songs like Gee by The Crows
and Sh-Boom by The Chords
which were originally two R&B
hits, crossed over onto the Pop
Music Charts and not long aTer
the same happened in 1955
where Doo Wop hits such as
Earth Angel by The Penguins
also landed in the Pop Charts.
The PlaXers song The Great
Pretender was number one on
the Pop Charts that same year.
Songs like Earth Angel by The
Penguins and Only You by
The PlaXers were R&B vocal
groups that entered the pop
charts as crossover Doo Wop
hits in 1955.
The Monotones song Book Of
Love (1958) soon became the
portrait of the style.

IniBally African American Doo

Wop groups would either be
found performing at churches,
urban neighbourhoods,
subways and street corners
most likely to be found in
groups varying from three to
six.
Italian American Doo Wop
groups enlarged in 1958.
Similarly to African Americans,
Italian Americans would also
aXend church, which is where
the majority of them would
would gain their singing
experience, they would be seen
singing on street corners in
urban ciBes in the late 1950s
like New York (Bronx and
Brooklyn). Examples of Italian
American groups with NaBonal
Chart Hits would be Dion and
the Belmonts with I Wonder
Why (1958) and Randy and
the Rainbows hit single

Denise which charted in

1963.

Hispanics are oTen over looked
however it wasnt rare to nd
Puerto Ricans singing lead in
Doo Wop groups, however they
would normally be in a group
with both black and white
members (e.g. The Crests and
The Tune Weavers).
Although it was rare at the Bme
you would nd yourself a
couple of racially integrated
groups. For example Come Go
With Me by The Del-Vikings
was a hit in 1957.
In the early days female singers
for this style was rare however
the lead singer of The
Mellows(1953-1958), Lillian
Leach, proved that wasnt an
issue and is oTen known to be
an inuence by other
performers.

Important groups such as

The DriTers, The
Midnighters and The
PlaXers helped link the
genre to the mainstream
and the future sound of Soul
Music, for example: Whos
Lovin You this is a Motown
Soul song form 1960 wriXen
by Smokey Robinson,
although it has been
recorded with many
dierent arBsts the most
popular version in the
Jackson 5 one.
The Doo Wop inuence
stayed with certain genres
for example Soul and Pop
groups of the 60s including
The Four Seasons and Surf
Groups such as The Beach
Boys e.g. Surn and
Surfer Girl.

There have been many modern recreaBons of Doo Wop songs over the years. It started with
Beach music which was revolved around Carolina (and surrounding states) Britain soon
contributed in the mid to late 1970s, the group 'Darts who successfully brought back songs like
Daddy Cool and Come Back My Love keeping the authenBcity of the original songs.
Robert Johns 1972 version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight also showed hints of Doo Wop
inuences along with other musicians belonging to genres such as Rock, Punk and New Wave.
For example The Ramones.
A new style of Doo Wop was released when Soul and Funk bands like Zapp released songs such
as Doo Wah DiXy

Nowadays arBsts such as Bruno Mars and Meghan Trainer incorporate Doo Wop characterisBcs
in their music.
In an interview with Bruno Mars he speaks about how he has a special place in his heart for old
school music
Technology has now allowed Doo Wop themed arBsts to be soloists using things such as Loop
StaBons, to gradually build sounds and layer them to create a Doo Wop sound.
Heres an example of a young Ariana Grande using a loop staBon to create India Aries 'Theres
Hope:
hXps://[Link]/watch?v=_sEjGp2WmDA

Doo Wop evolved many genres; for example classic Soul/R&B songs show
signs of Doo Wop characterisBcs, mainly in their use of harmonies it is
noBceable.

Slide 6: hXp://[Link]/i/u/300x300/[Link]