DOO WOP! GOLDEN OLDIES!

I am often asked how I feel about DOO WOP? Why? Because I was fortunate enough to be exposed to that music before they were golden oldies! My uncle was a diehard fan and dragged me, when I was a little boy, to see them perform in monumental holiday shows at the New York Paramount, Brooklyn Paramount and Brooklyn Fox.
In later years, after I became a professional musician, I got to hang out backstage with some of them. I went even further then that. My group at the time, The Jewels, backed many of them live when we were on the same bill. Let me tell you something, they put on some terrific shows and were very talented. The sad thing is that most of the money they generated didn’t go to them, but to their greedy management. So, what happened to them? Where did they go?
After The Beatles and the English invasion, where could they go?? Where they went and what they did was to try to keep working, wherever and however they could. When the going gets tough, the tough get going!! Keep in mind that most of them started out on street corners and under highway overpasses and in subway stations, any place that could generate echoes. Also keep in mind that most of them were self taught and came up with some phenomenal harmonies acapella. They couldn’t afford instruments, or to hire backup bands, so they became their own backup band, with their ooh-ahh harmonies.
They were and still are ingenious. They had such a great following that they kept playing, and their loyal fans supported them. My problem was why they never progressed with some new music. Dion left the Belmont’s, went solo with “Abraham, Martin and John”, and by doing that kept the memory of Dion and the Belmont’s alive! Johnny Maestro left The Crests to start The Brooklyn Bridge with their hit “The Worst That Could Happen” and still leads the charge for all of his Doo Wop peers. But what you don’t know is that he worked for many years at the Peppermint Lounge, as Johnny Maestro and The Crests!
Back in the 90’s a lot of the “boy bands” emerged using some of the same type of harmonies, to mass appeal. Sometimes you have to change with the times to survive and I wish that they had. I kept myself working by moving from my first love, jazz, to R&B, to rock and production rock! I’d love to see some of these older groups re-emerge with some new music, with their old flare. Now with the advent of podcasting, you can produce and own all of your own music and sell it on the internet, in a way becoming an older version of the indie groups! You can charge for downloads or burn some of your own CD’s. KEEP THE FLAME BURNING…DON’T LET IT BURN OUT! There are a lot of younger, talented replacement singers out there, to fill in the gaps and keep this music alive!! Go for it!!