The Very Best of Doo-Wop

I have always been a fan of the home-made, street-corner Doo-Wop vocal harmony sounds, having grown up with this music on the oldies radio and have had vinyl collections in the past (which seem to have disappeared somehow over the years) but I have been remiss in replenishing my collection with digital media. This 2-CD set is a terrific compilation of some of the best-known classic Doo-Wop sounds.

This runs the gamut from the sublime ("I Only Have Eyes For You") to the goofy ("Speedo"), to the fun ("Love Potion No. 9" - the original by the Clovers) to R'n'B-flavored ("60 Minute Man") to the romantic ("Earth Angel" - the original by the Penguins) and everything in between. With 50 cuts representing groups like Dion and the Belmonts, the Flamingos, the Platters, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (with their wonderfully timely "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent"), the Penguins, the Orioles, the Silhouettes, Little Anthony and the Imperials and innumerable addition cuts, this covers a fine selection of some of the best. Especially cool are the original versions of songs like "Sincerely" (the Moonglows), "Sh-Boom" (the Chords), "Barbara-Ann" (the Regents), "Dedicated to the One I Love" (with some hip, bluesy guitar work) along with the previously mentioned numbers, and a rocked up take on "Stormy Weather" by the Spaniels.

Of course, even with 50 songs, they couldn't represent every group or hit from the time, but this is a grand start to anyone's Doo-Wop stockpile. Now it's time to dig further and find more of the oddball groups and sounds!