Uploaded by Ben Morehead, Associate Publisher of Policy Review magazine and authorized agent for the copyright owner(s). YAKKITY-YAK, IT'S COMING BACK The Family Harmony of Doo-Wop Music by Mark Gerson From the Summer 1993 issue of Policy Review To subscribe to Policy Review, call (800) 544-4843 "I know why you're all here. You're here because you want some good, clean, non-suggestive fun!" roared Lenny Coco of the Chimes to a packed audience of 15,000 people in East Rutherford, New Jersey's Brendan Byrne Arena during a Doo-Wop concert extravaganza on December 26, 1992. Doo-Wop is back. Thirty-five years after the music fad that marked the birth of American rock and roll, Doo-Wop, the music of the jukebox and the sock hop, is filling arenas like Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall. While champions of the bandstand like the Cleftones and the Channels draw halls full of reminiscing baby boomers, the music of the 1950s is also gaining in popularity with young people. Very often, the hottest attraction of Doo-Wop shows are a cappella groups of college-age youth, such as Vito and the Twilights and the Monels. Although Doo-Wop's heyday was the late 1950s to early 1960s, the music has proved durable. Some of America's most recognizable songs come from this genre, including "Speedo" by the Cadillacs, "Sixteen Candles" by Johnny Maestro and the Crests, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and "In the Still of the Night" by Freddy Paris and the Five Satins. The harmony in the background of many of these early hits is the phrase, "Doo-Wop," which is where the music gets its name. While the Doo-Wop craze started around 35 years ago in New York and Philadelphia, its renaissance has spread across the country. The United In Group Harmony Association (UGHA), a New Jersey-based group dedicated to preserving and presenting Doo-Wop music, fills 18 concert halls a year, from New York to Germany. Richard Nader, the leading Doo-Wop concert promoter in America, puts on dozens of shows a year all across the country. Nader says that those who perform at and attend his concerts cover all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds because the music is so universally appealing. Perhaps the man most directly responsible for the revival of Doo-Wop music in New York is Don K. Reed, a disc jockey at WCBS-FM, an oldies station. Reed's show, "The Doo-Wop Shop," airs every Sunday night from 7 P.M. to midnight, and is the number-one radio show in its time slot in the metropolitan area. He attrib- utes the revival of interest in Doo-Wop to the fact that, "Doo-Wop music is fun, enjoyable, and a forgotten and original American art form. It is popular today because it helps people to remember better days." The Doo-Wop craze earned a cover story on the "Arts and Leisure" section of the New York Times in January 1993. Why the burgeoning interest in Doo-Wop? The melodious vocal harmony that is the basis for Doo-Wop surely is part of its attraction, but the traditional, conservative themes in Doo-Wop lyrics may be just as important. Doo-Wop songs are full of hope, love, family, and responsibility. Playing the Edsels' "Rama Lama Ding Dong" backwards won't reveal any hidden meaning, and the Monotones' "Book of Love" does not suggest anything more provocative than a yearning for a monogamous spouse and a whole- some lifestyle. Much of today's popular music, including some rap and heavy metal, is angry and hostile. Doo-Wop music reflects the innocence of the 1950s; such artists as the Eternals and the Elegants follow in the conservative tradition of celebrating life's simple beauty and everyday pleasures with such classics as "Babalu's Wedding Day" and "Little Star." Twilight Harmony It is Doo-Wop's traditional themes and vocal harmony that unite those who perform in and attend Doo-Wop revival concerts. Vito Nole, the lead singer of Vito and the Twilights, a group of male vocalists in their early twenties, describes this. "The lyrics of Doo-Wop music are beautiful; they come from the heart. Today's music, more or less, comes from below the belt. In ad- dition to the great vocal harmony, Doo-Wop is special because it is a family experience. My whole family can come to my concerts without having to worry about the elders or the kids hearing anything suggestive. The music is terrific because its happy and hopeful lyrics are enjoyed by everyone and bring everybody to- gether." This inclusiveness is an important aspect of Doo-Wop's growing appeal. Vito and the Twilights is a Doo-Wop a cappella group from Rutgers University. The group leader, Vito, long felt he had Doo-Wop in his blood; his father was a Doo-Wop singer in his youth, and the two spent countless hours listening to and discussing Doo-Wop. At Rutgers, Vito met Chris Serrulo, another Doo-Wop fan, and the two started singing together. They realized that they sounded good and had considerable talent. Vito figured that he and Chris could put together a group as good as the Monels, a popular Doo-Wop group their age. They responded when the opportunity struck. Chris was in a college theater company and recruited three other students to join Vito and him in a singing group. Their first performance opened to rave reviews from a campus previously unexposed to this music. Vito and the Twilights, as they called themselves, blossomed, and the group regularly performed in clubs and opened for Doo-Wop groups in the New York metropolitan area. The highlight of this experience came in September 1992, when they opened a major concert at the Meadowlands where such famous groups as the Students, the Five Satins, the Five Discs, and the Danleers were performing. Such groups as Willie Winfield and the Harptones and the Cleftones spent a lot of time with Vito and the Twilights backstage, reminiscing and giving them points on their performances. The singers also got acquainted with the fans who attended the concerts. Vito says that a special bond exists among those in the Doo-Wop community, with the elders encouraging the youths to keep the music alive. Vito maintains that the burgeoning love of Doo-Wop is emblematic of something larger in the culture. He cites the sensation of "MTV Unplugged," where viewers of music television are enthralled by music harmony like that of Doo-Wop, free of electrical accompaniment. The harmony specific to Doo-Wop also is making larger inroads, with such popular groups as Boys II Men performing remakes of standards from the 1950s. Now, with several recordings to their credit, the group is thrilled by their success, and intend to continue performing after they graduate from college this year. Respect for Parents The themes of romantic love in Doo-Wop music are rarely sexually suggestive. The furthest anyone ever gets in a Doo-Wop song is kissing. Relationships in Doo-Wop are based not only on love, but on example. The lack of male responsibility today-- which has contributed to the rising incidence of single parent- hood, welfare, divorce, and abortion--has no place in Doo-Wop. Relationships in Doo-Wop songs are hard-earned treasures that demand respect and appreciation. Typical of these lyrics is the Doo-Wop classic that was perhaps the ultimate make-out song of the 1950s, "One Summer Night" by the Danleers. One summer night, I held you close, you and I under the moon of love/You kissed me oh so tenderly, and I knew this was love/And as I held you, oh so close, I knew no one could ever take your place. The thrill is not so much in the physical, but in the emotional bond that is established by love. The complete lack of sexual implication in Doo-Wop music is, paradoxically, almost shocking to the modern sensibility. Few people today would have to think twice of what is implied by the title of the Velours classic, "Tonight Could be the Night." However, what the Velours anticipate is not wild lovemaking, but the elusive possibility that, "Tonight, could be the night, when I fall in love, with someone like you." There is no confusion as to the ultimate goal of a boy when he is chasing a girl. In- variably, he wants to marry her, often when they are both still too young. The desire to marry as a teenager provides one of the few sources of generational conflict in Doo-Wop music. Generally, the teenagers respect their parents and agree not to "talk back" as in "Yakkity-Yak" by the Coasters, and realize that they must "Get a Job," as in the Silhouettes' classic. Love and respect for par- ents is an important theme of Doo-Wop, as in Paul Peterson's "My Dad": "My Dad, to me, he is everything strong, he can't do anything wrong, my dad." However, when the subject of marriage comes up, parents discourage their children, as in the Miracles song "Shop Around." But when Doo-Wop lovers do get married, they do so in a church. Religion is an important element of Doo-Wop, as seen in many song titles: "Chapel of Dreams" by the Dubs, "Chapel Bells" by the Fascinators, "You Saw Me Crying in the Chapel" by Sonny Till and the Orioles, and "Church Bells May Ring" by the Willows. While respect for religion is an integral part of songs dealing with marriage, it is also a component in songs about other topics. Some examples include the Moonglows, "Ten Commandments of Love," and "My Prayer" by the Platters. The importance of religion to Doo-Wop music is clearly demonstrated by the song that quiets every crowd at a Doo-Wop concert. This song, "I Believe," is an old standard revived and made popular by Larry Chance and the Earls. The song--which champions religious faith and the heavenly rewards of leading a good life--has become so popular that it perennially appears on the top-five list of WCBS's top-500 rock-and-roll songs. I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard/I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word/Every time I hear a new-born baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky/Then I know I believe, I BELIEVE! The revival of Doo-Wop music alone does not signify a cultural transformation, but it may be significant that there has been an explosion of interest in an art form that glorifies traditional values. As Richard Nader says, "Music is simply a re- flection of the time.... [T]he music of today has gone well beyond suggestive, and in fact incorporates blatant sexual overtones ... Doo-Wop music speaks of the way we actually commu- nicate, or wish we could communicate." As the booming market in Doo-Wop paraphernalia attests, this revival reaches people on a level that extends beyond appreciation of good music. Fans want Doo-Wop back not only for its great sound but for the times and ideas it represents. The music of Doo-Wop is about appreciation of simplicity, family, religion, and community--values that are not as prevalent as they have been or should be, and values that may be coming back if the Doo-Wop fans have anything to say about it. MARK GERSON is a senior at Williams College and president of the James A. Garfield Republican Club. To reprint more than short quotations, please write or FAX Ben Morehead, Associate Publisher, Policy Review, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002, FAX (202) 675-1778.