Content Starts Here
doo-wop
Encyclopaedia Search
Doo-wop
US pop-music form of the 1950s, a style of harmony singing without instrumental accompaniment or nearly so, almost exclusively by male groups. The name derives from the practice of having the lead vocalist singing the lyrics against a backing of nonsense syllables from the other members of the group.
Doo-wop had roots in the 1930s with rhythm-and-blues groups like the Ink Spots and in gospel music. It was practised by street-corner groups in the inner cities, some of whom went on to make hit records; for example, ‘Earth Angel’ (1954) by the Penguins and ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ (1956) by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. The first doo-wop record to be a number-one US pop hit was ‘The Great Pretender’ (1955) by the Platters.
© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Related Links
Hungary Flag
Red stands for strength. White symbolizes faithfulness. Green represents hope. Effective date: 1 October 1957.
>>
Advertorial
Find out how to buy the things you've always wanted and sell the things you don't on ebay.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Page Footer
Access keys
You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
- (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
- (1) Navigate to Home page.
- (2) Navigate to My email.
- (3) Navigate to My Account.
- (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
- (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
- (6) Navigate to Members channel.
- (7) Navigate to Services channel.
- (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
- (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
- ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
- (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
- (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
- (x) Text only version of this page.
