I have been listening to doowop for well over 50 years but with the advent of You tube I have been introduced to dozens of songs that I like even better than the standard top ten doowop hits. Can anyone suggest a Top Ten of more or less obscure or regional favorites that I am likely to be unfamiliar with? I would be happy to list mine in exchange if anyone shares my interest in this area. Thanks.
Assuming I understand “doo-wop” correctly, my favorites include:
“You Belong to Me” by the Duprees.
“Since I Don’t have You” by the Skyliners.
“I’ll Be Seeing You” and “Born Too Late” by the Poni-Tails. I actually prefer their version of the former to Jo Stafford’s
Are these sufficiently obscure to qualify?
The Cardinals - The Door Is Still Open
The Nutmegs - Hello.
The Harptones - On Sunday Afternoon.
… for starters…
I’ll check out I’ll be seeing you" thanks.
Thanks jaycat, never heard two of them before.
You might like the Skyliners’ version of “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”
It's very nice, but quite frankly I prefer versions with a little slower tempo, like Karen Carpenter's.
I picked up a “Doo Wop Hits” compilation from iTunes. Lots of bands I hadn’t heard of. Got a Best of Jackie Wilson, too, which may not be DooWop, but it fired the same areas of my brain.
Oh, almost forgot. A lot of the best DooWop I’ve heard in the past decade is done by some of the great acapella bands out there. For old-school street harmonies, I love The Persuasions. Their “People Get Ready” is tasty. For more modern takes on the classics, almost every college has an acapella group; search YouTube.
Songs about girls named Gloria were pretty popular back then.
You’re probably familiar with the most famous one, by The Cadillacs, but The Chariots were also in love with a Gloria.
Checked them out and I agree; thanks for the suggestion.
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You might like the Skyliners’ version of “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”
The Skyliners are from my hometown; I went to high school with Janet Vogel Dean's cousin. Pretty familiar with that group but thanks for the suggestion. If you like them you might check out Janet Dean's "Another Night Alone."I missed the idea that the Chariots song was a completely different song rather than a different version of the same song. Glad I checked it out. Thanks for the suggestion.
One of the best known doowop songs ever; thanks for the suggestion.
You want obscure? Check out the George Blood Archive (78rpm Records Digitized by George Blood, L.P. : Free Audio : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive); in particular: The Du Droppers, The Four Fellows, Nick Noble, The Charms, The Diamonds, Tony Allen and the Champs, The Magnificents, The Schoolboys, and The Cleftones. Some of those Platters tunes also fit the bill, like “Bark, Battle, and Ball”.
To be clear: “in particular” doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more obscure; rather they fit the genre better than some of the others listed there.
Wow! Thanks very much for the suggestion.