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Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid 1950's 1950s to the early 1960's in America.
The style was at first characterized by upbeat harmony vocals that used nonsense syllables from which the name of the style is derived. The name was later extended to group harmony ballads. Examples of doo-wop can be found in the music of The Clovers, The Ravens and The Larks. The Ink Spots, however, were the first doo wop group, and it was their style that groups went on to copy.
1951 was perhaps the year doo wop broke into the mainstream in a consistent manner. Hit songs included "My Reverie" by The Larks, "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" by The Mello-Moods, "Glory of Love" by The Five Keys, "Shouldn't I Know" by The Cardinals and "It Ain't the Meat" by The Swallows.
By 1953, doo wop was extremely popular, and disc jockey Alan Freed began introducing black groups' music to his white audiences, with great success. Groups included The Spaniels, The Moonglows and The Flamingoes. Other groups, like The Castelles and The Penguins, innovated new styles, most famously uptempo doo wop, established by The Crows 1954 "Gee" and Cleftones' 1956 "Little Girl of Mine. That same year, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers became a teen pop sensation with songs like "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?".
Doo wop remained popular until the British Invasion in the early to mid 1960s. Dion & the Belmonts' "I Wonder Why" (1958) was a major hit that is sometimes regarded as the anthem for doo wop, while The Five Discs added a wide range of sounds and pitched vocals.
1961 may be the peak of doo wop, with hits that include The Marcels', an interracial group, "Blue Moon". There was a revival of the nonsense-syllable form of doo wop in the early 1960s, with popular records by The Marcels, The Rivingtons, and Vito & the Salutations. A few years later, the genre had reached the self-referential stage, with songs about the singers ("Mr. Bass Man") and the songwriters ("Who Put the Bomp?")
The genere has seen mild surges throughout the years, with many radio shows dedicated to doo wop. It has its roots in 1930s and 40s music, like songs by the Ink Spots and Mills Brothers. Its main artists are concentrated in urban areas (New York Metro Area, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles etc), with a few exceptions. Revival shows on TV, and boxed CD sets, have kept interest in the music. Groups have done remakes of doo wops with great success over the years.
It has been noted that doo wop groups tend to be named after birds an awful lot. These include The Ravens, The Cardinals, The Crows, The Wrens, The Robins, The Swallows, The Larks, The Flamingoes, The Penguins and The Feathers.
See also Scat singing, Vocalese
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