Yakkity-Yak, It's Coming Back: The Family Harmony of Doo-Wop Music
1993; Hoover Institution; Issue: 65 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0146-5945
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoI 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 concert extravaganza on December 26, 1992. is back. Thirty-five years after the music fad that marked the birth of American rock and roll, 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 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, Do Fools Fall in Love by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and the Still of the Night by Freddy Paris and the Five Satins. 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 craze started around 35 years ago in New York and Philadelphia, its renaissance has spread across the country. United In Group Harmony Association (UGHA), a New Jersey-based group dedicated to preserving and presenting music, fills 18 concert halls a year, from New York to Germany. Richard Nader, the leading 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 music in New York is Don K. Reed, a disc jockey at WCBS-FM, an oldies station. Reed's show, The 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 attributes the revival of interest in 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. 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? melodious vocal harmony that is the basis for surely is part of its attraction, but the traditional, conservative themes in lyrics may be just as important. 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 wholesome lifestyle. Much of today's popular music, including some rap and heavy metal, is angry and hostile. 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 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 music are beautiful; they come from the heart. Today's music, more or less, comes from below the belt. In addition to the great vocal harmony, 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. …
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