Thursday 8 December 2016

Doo-Wop (dee doo wop wop)

I absolutely love the style of close harmony singing called Doo-Wop. Of which this is probably (for me) The Classic Song - "I wonder why" - here done by Dion and the Belmonts singing in a lip-synched 'live' performance - you can find better sound quality of this performance elsewhere on YouTube, but this video is priceless (the sponsor made chewing gum, as you might be able to infer):


My own introduction to Doo-Wop came from the late 70s revival band The Incredible Darts, with some very nice production - and the remarkable vocal (and visual craziness) talents of Den Heggerty as their Bass:


The above track inspired my one one-and-only venture into Doo-Wop which was written and sung by me in a medical review in front of a backing group - a dream fulfilled. There is no record of the performance, but my tune was a pastiche of the 50s style and the lyrics were a medicalised version of a joke I stole from Bill Oddie on the radio series I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again.

As I recall, there was an introductory verse addressed to an imaginary girl describing how I loved her so much that I could only spell it out, then came the chorus:

F is for the Flatulence that keeps me awake at night
E is for your prosthetic Eye, which gave me such a fright
N is for the Nausea that you inspire in me
S is for the Sputum you left floating in my tea
A is for the Agony, when we made love in the sand
S is for the Sweatiness when I hold your hand
H is for your Hernia, which I reduce for you...

Put them all together and it All... Spells...
F.E.N.S.A.S.H...

(Awkward pause, shrugs, and skulks off the stage)

Anyway, another favourite from The Darts - a real beauty, this one!