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| The Capris The Six Teens |
At one point in my teenage life I thought about becoming a
disc jockey and I seemed to have a sense for discovering the very coolest records
of the time. This began in the late 50s
when I was in junior high school, and for the first time became aware of music
meant for my young ears. Records were
being played at parties and on the radio and before long I acquired a three
speed record player and made the first of many trips to the local record shop
when I bought three 45s: Come and Go with Me (The Dell Vikings), Little Darlin’ (The Diamonds), and School Days (Chuck Berry). Before long I was buying and collecting all
the coolest sounds. As my interest grew
I learned more about rock and roll and rhythm and blues (aka Doo Wop) through
other avid collectors and disc jockeys like Hunter Hancock, Art Laboe, and the
Duke of Wax.
The songs that attracted me most were not the popular fare
of the times, but rather those that leaned strongly towards simplicity and with
limited or no background accompaniment.
Uniqueness and howling were plusses, but safe, studied pieces were
anathemas. If Perry Como, Paul Anka,
Frankie Avalon, Pat Boone, Bobby Rydell, et al came on the radio the channel
was immediately changed, but this didn’t happen much on the programs we
listened to.
This musical niche clearly emanated primarily from the black
communities throughout the country. The
more obscure the songs the better as long as they elicited that anti-mainstream,
simple teenage love, edgy sound. They
were “bitchin’.” By the early 60s Motown began dominating the youthful record
industry and to this day I resent Motown music for it.
Many of the internet lists of the best Doo Wop songs (we
called them R & B) just don’t make sense to me – they seem like they’ve been
assembled by folks who didn’t really live the music at the time. In the
Still of the Night (The Five Satins), Earth
Angel (The Penguins), Maybe (The Chantels),
The Closer You Are (The Channels), et
al are firmly entrenched at or near the top of any serious Best 100 Doo Wop
list, but I want to give credit to some of the great songs that have mostly
remained on the periphery of the popular charts. Here are a mere half dozen examples of the
numerous vocal groups’ records (with You Tube links) I would play if I were DJing oldies:
God Only Knows (The
Capris)
A Casual Look (The Six Teens)
The Way You Look Tonight (The Jaguars)
Deserie (The Charts)
6 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, 1 Hour (Sharps)
100 Years from Today (Alice Jean and The
Mondellos)
Perhaps one day I will share some male and female vocalists,
couples, and instrumentals…
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