Doo Wop: Vocal Group Greats
(Shout! Factory)
Considering the rabid pace of today’s information society, creating attention spans so short that romance becomes an untimely inconvenience, a nostalgic trip back to simpler times is a necessity. By flux capacitor or Shout! Factory retrospective, Fifties era doo wop wafts saccharine-speckled fumes across any thoughts of forgoing a warm embrace for cold digitalia. When Nolan Strong of the Diablos croons, “I know she has gone, but my love lingers on in a dream that the winds bring to me,” his proto-Motown falsetto reminds us that life is far too sublime to be defined by binary code. Imagine Cooley High crushes so intense that knife-wielding street hoods turn to robins, orioles, and cardinals harmonizing their way toward consummation. The complete obliteration of innocence reflected by modern rap and R&B loses itself in the pleas of Frankie Lymon, who’d rather not be labeled a “Juvenile Delinquent.” Where the twain shall meet, busied men and women alike should slow their rolls long enough to relate to the Shirelles wondering, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Listen to the Cleftones foreshadowing the Jamaican rock steady of groups such as the Wailers and Melodians with 1961’s “For Sentimental Reasons.” Behold “I Count the Tears” by the Drifters as its “na na na’s” set the stage for the Grass Roots’ Aquarian anthem “Let’s Live for Today.” Catch Dion and Barry Mann shedding white light on an already-bright idea. With three CDs spanning 60 classics, Doo Wop: Vocal Group Greats augments Rhino’s previous offerings with a heavenly companion to an upcoming PBS documentary.
This article appears in December 9 • 2005.