Doo-wop
Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based Rhythm and blues music popular in the mid- to late 1950s in America. The style was at first characterized by upbeat harmony vocals ("Gee," by the Crows, for example) that used nonsense syllables from which the name of the style is derived. The name was later extended to group harmony ballads. Examples of doo-wop can be found in the music of The Turbans, The Penguins, and Jackie & the Starlites.
There was a revival of the nonsense-syllable form in the early 1960s, with popular records by The Marcels, The Rivingtons, and Vito and the Salutations. A few years later, the genre had reached the self-referential stage, with songs about the singers ("Mr. Bass Man") and the songwriters ("Who Put the Bomp?")
See also Scat singing, Vocalese.
Referenced By
Barbershop (musical style) | Barbershop music | Barbershop quartet | Barbershop quintet
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