I love Doo Wop. I'm not quite as knowledgeable as to who sings what as I am with 60s artists BUT so many great songs. I go running everyday and use Pandora where I set a "Doo-Wop" section as one of my preferences.

Among my favorite groups/songs from that era are: Since I Don't Have You- The Skyliners

Great Pretender/Only You - The Platters (Is Tony Williams the lead singer? Anyway, he had a great voice.)

Tears On My Pillow - Little Anthony/Imperials )

Oh, and two of my absolute favorites are

In The Still Of The Night - The Five Satins

Little Darlin' - The Diamonds (Soooo Doo-wop)

Plus nearly anything by Dion.

Great era. Great music!!


TIS

TIS, most you cited are in my top ten of all time. Of course, the Skyliners being from Pittsburgh are certainly there. Tears on My Pillow reminds me of my days (and nights) with MaryLou who, as I posted before, may have had the best Doo Wop collection of all time. In the Still of the Night is arguably the best ever.

Also as I posted elsewhere, I just discovered that Joe Pesci played guitar with Joey D and the Starliters.

Hi Oli,

Had no idea Pesci was with the Starliters. Interesting.
Btw, when you saw her did you say "Hello Mary Lou"?

Btw, I may be wrong but I think maybe it was SC who said when he was young Dion/Belmonts sang on street corners? That would have been so cool. Then again Dion is from Philly not NY right? LOL Maybe I'm confused.


TIS

Yeah, Dion & the Belmonts started their singing careers as street corner singers just as many other groups did. Two minor corrections, though - they lived in the Belmont section of the Bronx (a mostly Italian section back in the '40s and '50s - the same neighborhood as portrayed in "A Bronx Tale") AND they were already established stars when I heard of them. My sister, ten years older than I, absolutely loved them starting in the late '50s.

FWIW - My brother, eight years older than I, was in a street singing group, too. He and four friends including Rico Petrocelli who later go on to a decent major league baseball career with the Boston Red Sox, used to sing on the boardwalk in Coney Island in the late '50s. They were fairly good and on one night, in particular, they gave a really good performance of a few songs. They attracted a good crowd. Only problem was they were immediately followed by The Tokens, another Brooklyn group who outclassed them. The Tokens would soon release a hit record ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"). Oh well.

Thanks SC

This is why I thought he was from Philly.
Were you at the BB meet in Philly? We were at the famous "Philly Sandwich" place (forgot the name) and there was a big old building that had on it's side wall (old/faded) pics of Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and I THOUGHT the third one was Dion. I assumed they were all from Pilly. Obviously, I had it wrong. Now I'm trying to think of who the third one was.



TIS

Probably Frankie Avalon or Fabian. And no, I wasn't at that sitdown.

Ok, I think it was Fabian

Thanks


TIS

The original of "Little Darlin"--was done by The Gladiolas, a black group whose lead singer, Maurice Williams, later headed the Zodiacs. They had a big hit in '61: "Stay." Great make-out record.

The Diamonds were a white Canadian group that "covered" original records made by black groups. Among their hit covers were "The Stroll" (Chuck Willis) and "Silhouettes" (The Rays).

Oh yea, I love Maurice Williams "Stay." I remember "The Stroll" (was a dance too no?) and "Silhouettes", both great songs.
I actually like the later 60s version of Silhouettes by "Hermans Hermits"

TIS

TIS, you liked the Herman's Hermit's version? Sacrilege

Yes, the Stroll was a dance also.

Since we are posting about oldies, do ya'll recall the novelty songs such as the Purple People eaters and The Flying Saucer song? That was a cool song.

Oli, I like both versions. I suppose the original is always the best, but I DO like HH version.

TB, Ha ha ha!! Yes, I remember that.

You guys remember another silly song "Sitting In The Back Seat With Fred?" (I think that's the title) "Keep your mind on the driving and your hands on the wheel"...

TIS

Btw, I have no idea why that particular song popped in my mind. Haven't heard it in decades.

... keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead."

John Camera, camera downtown.

That was sort of a take off from John Cameron Swazee who did the Timex commercials no? ("Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'") Only us oldsters will remember that.



TIS

Saw the guy from hermans hermits sing Mr. brown in a free concert at the WTC a couple of weeks before the twin towers was hit.

Hi TIS, how are you doing? I think it's funny that you can't hear Dion's THICK New York accent. He says The Wanderuh and re-er-lized for realized. Sa sa for Zsa Zsa Gabor. I just listened to him on YouTube and he still sounds amazing!!

This is a wonderful song by The Solitaires and one of my favorites. Even though he doesn't hit the high note, Herman makes up for it when he sings Well, I do, do, do, do Well, I do... he sounds amazing.

Please Remember My Heart

https://youtu.be/7JAUyiK7GfY

And The Chantels singing Maybe (too bad it skips)
https://youtu.be/vG-dv88RAMY

I saw the Chantels many times at the Alan Freed shows in the Fifties. Arlene Smith, the lead singer, was, uh, a very well-developed teenager, and always performed in a tight white outfit, driving all the horny teenaged boys (like me) crazy. Her uncle, a very churchy-looking, upright man, played piano accompaniment for the group. He glared viciously at the boys in the audience.

The movie "Mean Streets" has a great doo-wop soundtrack. A pearly moment: Charlie (Harvey Keitel) is trying on a new, monogrammed shirt his mother bought for him, looking adoringly at himself in a mirror, and the Chantels are singing, "I Love You So." Brilliant!

Scorsese had good sound tracks in his movies. He was an assistant in the Woodstock movie. Listen to the way deniro talked in the mean streets Movie. It was a fake Italian street accent. He got better at it through the years. He sounded exactly like Steven Segal when he did the movie when he was supposed to be a guy from Brooklyn. That is why I call deniro a fake Italian. You know what Irene Cara used to call him. Robert the Nigro because he likes black women. He got Joe Pesci to ask Cara's girl friend to sing at De Niro birthday party. I guess her girl friend liked him and thought they could get together, but nothing happened except he got free entertainment at his birthday.

Scorsese always selects the best music for his movies. He even used Jimmy Roselli's Malafemmena in Mean Streets.

Yeah I know what you mean about DeNiro with his bankers and brokers wannabe tough guy speech in that movie. I agree, he and Harvey K didn't pull off the Brooklyn accents too well. But, I liked De Niro better years ago than I do now. David Proval, plays a good wise guy. I know you know the movie Family Enforcer with Pesci and I think the guy who plays Anthony, actor's name is Lou Criscuolo does a damn good job as a wise guy. He reminds me of my Pops too. Same talk and mannerisms. You know when he starts yelling a little bit telling Jerry (Joe Cortese) he didn't do the right thing etc and has to apologize. That's my second favorite scene next to the dice game scene.

Here's Anthony played by Lou C but I'll still try to find the scene I'm talking about

https://youtu.be/timIJv1Imp4


I wish Pizzaboy was on here so I can show him the sunglasses I like. We had a whole discussion about it and the shades Anthony is wearing are the ones I'm talking about.

So funny TB. Great story. Arlene Smith still sounds amazing.

The soundtrack has Deserie on it by The Charts which I never re-er-lized (inside joke) until I was watching the movie LAST YEAR. There are so many great songs in the film. Good scene. You don't miss a beat, TB.

I was either reading or watching something on Doo Wop music and it said that when new groups competed in singing contests, the most popular song chosen to sing was "This Is My Love" by The Passions. Good song.


https://youtu.be/hTIHz1YfTV8

The best Doo Wop lyric: "My prayer is to linger with you ..." The Platters.

I saw it in the movies when the death collector first came out. That was the original name of the movie. I thought Joey Cortese would be a star. Never happen he would have made a great sonny in The Godfather. I met him at the Mayflower hotel when I lived there. I had a piece of art I tried to sell it to him. He was afraid to buy stolen property . Pesci told me while they were filming that movie Cortese and him had a fist fight. He said he was beating the crap Cortese before the crew broke it up. I mention this on a site that Cortese was on he said it never happen. Then someone on the crew of that movie said it did happen.

Scorsese often used Italian songs when violence was about to happen--just as Coppola often used religious music or pageantry when violence was impending.

Astute observation TB. I especially like the use of religious stuff in the Trilogy.

There were so many great songs used at just the right moments in "Mean Streets." For instance: Charlie, Johnny Boy, Tony and Jimmy Mook are driving to Joey Catucci's pool room, and the song playing is "Florence" by the Paragons--one of the greatest. Then, at the party for the returning soldier, Charlie is drunk and the song playing is "Rubber Biscuit" by the Chips ("Desiree" by the Charts played later in that scene, as did two other greats: "Ship of Love" by the Nutmegs and "Pledging my Love" by Johnny Ace). The movie closes with Italian street singing, the last song is the same one Johnny Fontaine sang at Connie's wedding in "Godfather."

"Goodfellas" continued Scorsese's tradition. Near the beginning, when young Henry is running errands for the Mob, we hear "Can't We Be Sweethearts" by the Cleftones (one of Freed's favorite groups)--perfect match! As Henry and Tommy are about to steal a truck at a diner near Kennedy Airport, he's playing "Stardust" by Billy Ward and the Dominos (the great Eugene Mumford was the lead singer on that one). "Life is But a Dream" by the Harptones (my favorite group) plays, appropriately, at Henry and Karen's wedding. Scorsese also uses "He's Still the Boy I love" by the Crystals and "Frosty the Snowman" by the Ronettes at perfect spots.

David Proval, who was so gentle as Tony in "Mean Streets," turned into a vicious bastard in "Sopranos."

What a wonderful song with such beautiful lyrics!!! I agree.

When I was younger my Grandma told me that a woman needs to take care of her man, no matter how tired or sick she is. She MUST NEVER let him eat alone at the dinner table or sit in the parlor by himself. This is the song she played for me. It's not a Doo Wop song, though. But, it really demonstrates what a woman's role is in the relationship and what a man needs from his woman. Simple, yet a powerful song.

A Fellow Needs a Girl

https://youtu.be/5r3s7HHFB2A

TB, I like the Paragons' music too. I was looking for a live performance by them thinking they may have been part of a NY doo wop show, but only found them singing in what appeared to be a coffee shop, so I didn't post the link. Now, I'm thinking I should put on Mean Streets again so I can listen to all this great music. That scene where Charlie is drunk makes me dizzy. Scorsese has them singing the Neapolitan song at the end called O' Marenariello. I Have But One Heart as you stated which is in The Godfather film.

Scorsese NEVER disappoints with his selection of music in his films, ESPECIALLY in Goodfellas.

David Proval played one mean SOB in Soprano's.

I found a few of The Harptones for you, TB. Beautiful songs. Beautiful voices. I can close my eyes and hear their songs playing at one of our family's weddings or parties. Cry Like I Cried and That's The Way It Goes, those songs I remember the most. I fell asleep listening to them as a kid many times on the couch while my parents played cards til the wee hours of the morning

Life Is But a Dream
https://youtu.be/a3Nbj4EOg-w

Sunday Kind of Love
https://youtu.be/fiPopG0qJLI


Remember this song? Shout Shout Knock Yourself Out

https://youtu.be/p6k3BEU1aQM