Origin of "Doo-wop"

The term "doo-wop" was taken from the ad-lib syllables sung in harmony in doo-wop songs. Two songs in particular may lay claim to being the "first" to contain the syllables "doo wop" in the refrain: the 1955 hit, "When You Dance" by The Turbans, in which the chant "doo wop" can be plainly heard; and the 1956 classic "In the Still of the Night (I Remember)" by The Five Satins, with the plaintive "doo wop, doo wah" refrain in the bridge. It has been erroneously reported that the phrase was coined by radio disc jockey Gus Gossert in the late 1950's However, Gossert himself has said that "doo-wop(p) was already being used [before me] to categorize the music in California  It became the fashion in the 1990's to keep expanding the definition backward to include Rhythm & Blues groups from the mid- 1950's and then even further back to include groups from the early 1950s and even the 1940's There is no consensus as to what constitutes a doo-wop song and many aficionados of R&B music dislike the term intensely, preferring to use the term "group vocal harmony" instead

History of DooWop

The style was at first characterized by harmony vocals that used nonsense syllables from which the name of the style is derived. The name was later extended to group harmony ballads. An example of this includes "Count Every Star" ( 1950 ), which includes vocalizations imitating the plucking of a double bass. This created a template for later groups.

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 Flamingos, whose song, "Golden Teardrops," is a classic of the genre. Other groups, like The Castelles and The Penguins, innovated new styles, most famously uptempo doo wop, established by The Crows' 1954, song, "Gee" and The Cleftones' 1956 hit "Little Girl of Mine". 1956 was also the year that Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers became a teen pop sensation with songs like "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" Many consider the forementioned Five Satins hit, "In the Still of the Night (I Remember)," to be the quintessential doo-wop recording, but in terms of popular sales, "Get a Job" by The Silhouettes, a hit in 1958, was arguably the most successful doo-wop song of all time.

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