# Doo-Wop favourites



## Wren (Aug 9, 2017)




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## Wren (Aug 9, 2017)




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## RadishRose (Aug 9, 2017)




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## RadishRose (Aug 9, 2017)




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## HiDesertHal (Aug 9, 2017)

Wren said:


>



That's a nostalgic subject for me, Wren! I have a collection of Audio and Video Doo-Wop recordings by the original artists. 

The 3 audio cassettes contain 102 Doo-Wop tunes, and the Video has 9 performances. I also have some classic Rhythm & Blues recordings on tape too.

Keep 'em coming!
Hal


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

I ran a doo wop thread a few years back and probably posted about 100 songs on it. Someone once asked me what was my all time favorite doo wop song. I could never just have one. However, here's one to kick it off that I always enjoyed. Virgil Johnson is the lead singer, who was a DJ in Lubbock during the 50's and 60's. He died in 2013.


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## HiDesertHal (Aug 9, 2017)

oldman said:


> I ran a doo wop thread a few years back and probably posted about 100 songs on it. Someone once asked me what was my all time favorite doo wop song. I could never just have one. However, here's one to kick it off that I always enjoyed. Virgil Johnson is the lead singer, who was a DJ in Lubbock during the 50's and 60's. He died in 2013.



WOW!

That was a great example of Doo-Wop, oldman, and it had an expensive band and chorus backup too, way more than the pickup group for a recording session!

Hal


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## Sassycakes (Aug 9, 2017)

I love Doo Wop music.


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## terry123 (Aug 9, 2017)

I have a doo wop collection of cds.  They were a boxed set and I alternate them from the car to the bedroom.  My kind of music.


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## Wren (Aug 9, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

Wren said:


>



Definitely, The Ice Man is one of my favorites. Here' another great ballad. Who could ever forget The Chantels with Arlene Smith on lead? This is one of their tours from the PBS series:


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

Kenny Vance sang with doo wop groups and rock 'n roll groups, as well. Kenny then went out on his own singing make-overs, but his one song is still a best seller from "back in the day." See if you remember, "Looking For An Echo."


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## Wren (Aug 9, 2017)

Another great Chantels number


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## Sassycakes (Aug 9, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

I have over 400 Doo Wop songs in my collection on my computer, not the original 45's. If you enjoy really good falsetto, please listen to Kenny Vance's song, "Looking For An Echo," He has one of the better falsettos that are out there. Kenny been gone for a few years. I expect it has to do with throat problems. He is returning to touring in October at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ. I will be there.


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

This little guy is not so little anymore, but he has a really good voice. He still tours, but of course, his voice is no longer the same.


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

From the PBS series, Jimmy Gallagher & The Passions:


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

Another Jimmy, this time it's Jimmy Beaumont & The Skyliners:


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

The late great Johnny Maestro and the Crests.


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

From Belmont Avenue in New York City, Dion & The Belmonts:


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

A great ballad by Robert & Johnny:


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

The Kalin Twins from their show in England invited by Cliff Richards.


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## oldman (Aug 9, 2017)

The Five Satins:


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## SeaBreeze (Aug 9, 2017)

Silhouettes


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## IKE (Aug 9, 2017)

Sassycakes said:


>



They say that most songs will bring back a memory and Blue Moon does for me.......I've just replayed the song five times. 

*the memory time frame.......late 1968 just prior to me leaving for Vietnam*.

 Picture in your mind four already 3/4 lit but still drinking 18 to 19 year old G.I.'s in Panama sitting in the bleachers at the deserted on base ballpark on a Saturday night around midnight rewinding Blue Moon over, and over, and over again on a cassette player and loudly singing drunkenly along.

Thanks for the memory Sassy.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Flamingos.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

Here is a group from the PBS series:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

My favorite "Little Anthony & The Imperials" song. I really like his falsetto.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

This song was recorded by a doo wop group from my home town here in PA. They were all in high school at the time of this recording.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Chimes. This video also shows pictures of classic cars from back in the day.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Mello Kings:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

Another great ballad by The Fireflies:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Royal Teens:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

Another song from the PBS series of Doo Wop:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Edsels:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Charts:


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## Wren (Aug 10, 2017)




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## Sassycakes (Aug 10, 2017)




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## Sassycakes (Aug 10, 2017)




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## HiDesertHal (Aug 10, 2017)

SeaBreeze said:


> Silhouettes


 
This is one of my favorites, but there's a certain place in the song that really gets to me, and that is the KEY CHANGE from G to Ab, when the singer is told that 

he's on the wrong block, and a new joy overcomes him as he rushes to his sweetheart's house!

That simple key change of 1/2 step is what *makes* the song for me!

Hal


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## Sassycakes (Aug 10, 2017)

I can't listen to this without wanting to dance !


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## Trade (Aug 10, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

One of the better female groups. The Paris Sisters:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

From the Doo Wop on PBS series, The Willows:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Knockouts:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Demensions:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Fascinators:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Tokens:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Danleers:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

*Old Doo Wop, The Enchantments:

*<strong>


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Dubs:


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

Larry Chance on lead & The Earls: This song was just before Larry discovered that he had cancerous polyps in his throat. Thankfully, Larry made a full recovery and is back on the road.


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## oldman (Aug 10, 2017)

The Duprees w/Richie Rosato on lead:


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## Wren (Aug 10, 2017)




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## ray188 (Aug 10, 2017)

I have a few CDs but my favorite Doo-wop is when me and my buds get together on Thursday afternoons and do it. We simplify the originals to fit our capabilities.

I recommend it highly. The lyrics are easy to find on the net and if you have any instruments available, it helps keeping things together. 

Someone developed a doo-wop chording pattern (I VIm IV V7) and there must be hundreds of songs that fit that pattern. Then someone replaced the IV with a IIm and - batta boom - hundreds more.

Enjoy!!!!


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## oldman (Aug 11, 2017)

The Chords and Crew Cuts:


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## oldman (Aug 11, 2017)

The Four Preps:


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## oldman (Aug 11, 2017)

The Jive Five:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

Check out the dancers in this video:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

The Edsels:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

A really good tear jerker in Doo Wop:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

This song by The Paramours has a history of its own.:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

The Elegants:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

The Del Vikings:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

The Monotones:


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)

Steve Lawrence, really?


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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 12, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 13, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 13, 2017)

(Rev.) Earl Lewis and the Channels. Great falsetto:


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## oldman (Aug 13, 2017)




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## oldman (Aug 15, 2017)

Sonny Till & The Orioles:


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## oldman (Aug 15, 2017)

The Paramours:


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## oldman (Aug 17, 2017)

Norman Fox & The Rob Roys then and now:


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## oldman (Aug 17, 2017)

Tony Passaqualaqua, who was the lead singer for The Fascinators:


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## oldman (Aug 17, 2017)

The Expressions:


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2017)

The Crows:


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2017)

The Edsels:


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2017)

Larry Chance & The Earls:


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2017)

The Elegants:


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2017)

Not really Doo Wop, but still a great song from the era:


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## oldman (Aug 25, 2017)

The Cleftones from the PBS series of Doo Wop:


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## oldman (Aug 28, 2017)

The Nutmegs:


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## oldman (Aug 28, 2017)

The Volumes:


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## oldman (Aug 28, 2017)

The Schoolboys:


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## oldman (Aug 30, 2017)

The Drifters are more R&B, except this song could be considered under the genre of Doo Wop:


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## oldman (Aug 31, 2017)

The Cleftones:


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## Trade (Aug 31, 2017)




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## oldman (Sep 3, 2017)

The Videls:


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## oldman (Sep 3, 2017)

The late, great, Richie Valens:






The original song by Robert & Johnny:


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## oldman (Sep 6, 2017)

The Kodaks:


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## oldman (Sep 6, 2017)

Rochelle & The Candles:


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## HiDesertHal (Sep 6, 2017)

Only the Blacks could do great DooWop!

"Silhouettes" was (and is) one of my faves.

Hal


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## Sassycakes (Sep 6, 2017)

I can't believe I never heard this song before a few weeks ago. It's strange because my name is Barbara.


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## HiDesertHal (Sep 6, 2017)

Trade said:


>



Yeah, the Platters were right there on top, but so were the Penguins, with their immortal "Earth Angel"!

Hal


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## oldman (Sep 7, 2017)




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## Sassycakes (Sep 7, 2017)

I was just listening to this song. When I was in High School I went to Bristol with some friends and that was where I met my Husband.


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## Sassycakes (Sep 7, 2017)

HiDesertHal said:


> Only the Blacks could do great DooWop!
> 
> "Silhouettes" was (and is) one of my faves.
> 
> Hal




I love this song too.


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## oldman (Sep 9, 2017)

The Roommates:


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## oldman (Sep 9, 2017)

The Royal Teens:


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## oldman (Sep 15, 2017)

Old Philly Doo Wop:


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## JaniceM (Sep 22, 2017)




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## JaniceM (Sep 24, 2017)

Re:  the Curtis Lee song-  might anybody know if the dance the kids are doing was an actual dance that had a name?  
I've always loved doo-wop, but the dancing looks like it was before I started watching music/dance shows on t.v.


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## oldman (Sep 24, 2017)

I think the dance was originally made for the song by Shirley Ellis named, "The Nitty Gritty."


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## JaniceM (Sep 24, 2017)

oldman said:


> I think the dance was originally made for the song by Shirley Ellis named, "The Nitty Gritty."



Thank you!!!


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## JaniceM (Sep 26, 2017)

oldman said:


> I think the dance was originally made for the song by Shirley Ellis named, "The Nitty Gritty."



I don't mean to go off topic with a question instead of a video, but I'm kinda confused-  I'd guess the main dancer looks to be 15-16 yrs old, but bio said he was born in 1933.  From the video (1963) and he also appeared in West Side Story around the same time, it'd make him 30 yrs old at the time!  Huh???


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## oldman (Oct 5, 2017)

I am going to a Doo Wop concert this coming Saturday evening in Red Bank, New Jersey. The only reason that I am going to this concert is to see the group, "Kenny Vance and The Planatones" from Brooklyn, NY. Kenny is just coming back from a 3 year vacation (sort of). If and when you have time, maybe you would enjoy reading about Kenny's vast resume. He is one of the better doo wop greasers from back in the day.


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## Sassycakes (Oct 5, 2017)




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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)

The Elgins:


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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)

I have always thought that East Coast Doo Wop was much better than West Coast Doo Wop. This should not come as any surprise since Doo Wop got it's start on the East Coast, primarily in New York and Philadelphia. I never did or make a scientific research as to how many white groups there were compared to black groups or vice versa, but if I had to guess, I would say that professional and successful black groups out-numbered white groups by maybe 2 or 3 to 1. There were a few reasons why this happened. One is that black teenagers in that era had limited funds and opportunities compared to white teens. While white teens were roller skating, going to drive-ins, etc., the black kids were gathering together on street corners and singing songs that they may have heard on the radio from old artists that their moms or dads may have had. They would take an old song and put their own flavor and melody to it and make it into a completely different sound. 

After listening and collecting some 2000 Doo Wop records and studying the genre and it's roots, the only thing that ever bothered me was when it was played on the radios, DJ's would sometimes play an R&B song and introduce it as a Doo Wop song and that's just plain wrong. As an example of what I'm talking about, I would tell people that just as an example take the wonderful, smooth melody of The Platters and the song "Harbor Lights." Normally, this song would have been classified as an R&B melody genre, however, since so many other artists sang their own version of this old classic, it has been mostly considered as an "oldie" with and R&B flair.

For a song to be considered Doo Wop, it must have had nonsensical lyrics or background lyrics using words that had no meaning. For example; take the song "Remember When"; which was originally sung by Larry Chance and the Earls. The background lyrics uses words like: Re-mem-mem, Re-mem-mem-ber and oop-shoot. No kidding. Check it out here: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_earls/remember_then.html And, a true Doo Wop song always had to have harmony, which is where Dion and The Belmonts come in. Harmonizing and using nonsensical lyrics was a true trademark of most all of the Dion and The Belmont songs.

So, listen to these two most popular Doo Wop recordings and you will learn what true Doo Wop music is all about:

First up is Sha Na Na with John Contardo singing falsetto, "Remember When", which was sung originally by The Earls: 





Second is a true harmony Doo Wop song that also has nonsensical background lyrics. Dion  and The Belmonts singing: "I Wonder Why.":


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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)




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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)




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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)




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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)




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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)

Old Doo Wop!


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## oldman (Oct 6, 2017)




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## SeaBreeze (Jan 19, 2018)




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## oldman (Jan 20, 2018)

The Five Discs:


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