Blame it on the Bossa Nova? "No!" says Billy Reed, "Blame it on Doo-Wop!"

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 What happens when a girl changes 

 from bobby sox to stockings? 


"Bobby Sox to Stockings" - Frankie Avalon 
(July 1959, highest chart position #8) 




 What happens to a boy? 


"Next Door to an Angel" - Neil Sedaka 
(November 1962, highest chart position #5) 




 FACT: Girls mature at an earlier age 

 than boys. 


"The Girl Can't Help It" - Little Richard 
(February 1957, highest chart position #49) 




 What's a guy to do?  

 What happens when Venus and Mars 

 collide on the dance floor? 

 I'll be exploring that touchy topic 

 in this post and the next. 

In February of 1964 the Monarchs, a doo-wop vocal group
based in Louisville, Kentucky, released their rendition of
"Look Homeward Angel," a ballad that had been recorded in 1956 by the Four Esquires and in 1957 by Johnny Ray. The timing wasn't the greatest. The Beatles were red hot. So were other emerging British bands. During the early months of 1964 there wasn't much of a market for Eisenhower era doo-wop. As a result, the Monarchs' excellent single spent 13 weeks trying to gain traction on the Billboard chart but only made it to the halfway point. Had it been released a
few years earlier it surely would have made the top 10 and perhaps would have gone all the way to number one.

"Look Homeward Angel" - Monarchs 
(April 1964, highest chart position #47) 

The Monarchs are still together and in 2008 veteran Kentucky newspaper columnist, radio and TV personality Billy Reed attended one of their concerts. When the Monarchs performed their version of the Five Satins' hit "In the Still of the Nite" Billy was awe-inspired to publish an article entitled In Praise of Doo-wop. Billy's essay does an excellent job of describing the thoughts, feelings and sensations that race through an adolescent male when he merges with a young lady on the dance floor. When I read Billy's article I was compelled to share part of it with you
and punctuate it with a few of my favorite doo-wop oldies.
I made arrangements with Billy to reprint a portion of his column. Here, courtesy of Billy Reed Enterprises LLC and billyreedsays.com are some of Billy's astute observations.


 Even in winter, a lion is 
 still a lion, if you get my 
 drift, and that music – 
 the 1950s and ‘60s stuff 
 the Monarchs do better 
 than just about anybody 
 – always revives bitter- 
 sweet memories of what 
 it was like to be young 
 and clumsy and not 
 exactly sure of what to 
 make of this amazing 
 creature with whom you 
 happened to be slow- 
 dancing on the polished 
 floor of a dim auditorium 
 at the high school or the 
 VFW post or the neighbor- 
 hood parish. 

"You Were Mine" - Fireflies 
(November 1959, highest chart 
position #21) 



 In my mind, she always had big, luminous eyes and thick, 
 lustrous hair and – yes! – a sweet soft body that felt so 
 light in my arms. Maybe her name was Betty or Alice or 
 Martha. Maybe, if you were lucky, she would snuggle up 
 so close you were sure your heart was going to pound 
 right out of your chest. 

"Why Don't You Believe Me" - Duprees 
(September 1963, highest chart 
position #37) 



 And you prayed: 
 God, please don’t let me step on her feet…please don’t let 
 me break out into a sweat…please let this song last forever 
 so I can keep smelling her hair and hugging her waist and 
 feeling her breasts up against me. 

"Have You Heard" - Duprees 
(December 1963, highest chart 
position #18) 



 When my friend Leon Middleton, who has been the 
 Monarchs’ sax player for a mere 46 years, told me 
 about the group’s new gig, I knew immediately that it 
 was a stroke of genius.  He told me they were going to 
 put together a show that would pay tribute to Doo-Wop. 

"One Summer Night" - Danleers 
(August 1958, highest chart position #7) 



 Now if I have to explain what Doo-Wop is, it probably 
 means you’re either very young, very culturally deprived, 
 or very unworthy of serious conversation. In brief, Doo- 
 Wop is what the Belmonts did behind Dion...what the 
 Teenagers did behind Frankie Lymon...and what the 
 Imperials did behind Little Anthony. 

"I'm on the Outside (Looking in)" 
- Little Anthony and the Imperials 
(September 1964, highest chart 
position #15) 



 Doo-Wop is the background music, in other words, that 
 usually is accompanied by synchronized movements. For 
 example, when the Capris did their 1961 classic There’s A 
 Moon Out Tonight (Wuh-huh-ho-ho), the Doo-Wop guys, 
 in unison, would slowly point upward, as if at the moon, 
 before moving their arms slowly downward, also in unison. 
 That’s a classic Doo-Wop move. 

"There's a Moon Out Tonight" - Capris 
(March 1961, highest chart position #3) 



 It’s tough to find Doo-Wop these days and, frankly, I think 
 that’s a major reason the world is in such a mess. Because, 
 you see, Doo-Wop is good for the soul. Doo-Wop makes 
 you mellow and romantic. Doo-Wop makes you want to 
 smile and sing-along and wink at your life’s partner – 
 or maybe just your partner for the night. 

"Since I Don't Have You" - Skyliners 
(April 1959, highest chart position #12) 



 Thanks, Billy Reed. 

 You nailed it! 


Your description of what it was like for a young man to hold a girl in his arms and sway to doo-wop sounds hit home. It brought back powerful, wistful memories of my very first slow dance. My true story is coming up in the next post.

Have a Shady day!