Doo Wop

Doo wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music which developed in African-American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s to the early 1960s. An African-American vocal style known as doo wop emerged from the streets of North-eastern cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. With its smooth, consonant vocal harmonies, doo-wop was one of the most mainstream, pop-oriented R&B styles of the 1950s.

Doo wop had its roots in the 1930s and 1940s music, and evolved from groups that sang gospel in churches in African-American urban areas. It was gospel music from these churches, where doo-wop truly began. However, influences of the blues were also added at this time, giving the music its own identity.

Doo wop remained popular until just before the British Invasion of 1964. 1961 might have been the peak of doo wop, with hits that include The Marcels' "Blue Moon". There was a revival of the nonsense-syllable form of doo wop in the early 1960s, with popular records by The Marcels, The Rivingtons and Vito & The Salutations. A few years later, the genre had reached the self-referential stage, with songs about the singers, such as "Mr. Bass Man" by Johnny Cymbal and the songwriters, such as "Who Put the Bomp?" by Barry Mann.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Doo-wop".