DooWop Drive Archive
Check here to hear our Featured "Classic" DooWop Drive show of the week!
Featured Classic DWD Shows:
• Show # 102 Pt.1 (April 2013)
• Show # 82 Pt.1 (September 2012)
• Show # 82 Pt.2 (September 2012)
• Show # 142 Segment One (4/13/14)
• Show # 142 Segment Two (4/13/14)
• Show # 142 Segment Three (4/13/14)
FINAL SHOW on WOBM AM
DooWop Drive's Top 20 Vocal Groups of all time (as voted by you, our listeners):
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The Flamingos
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The Duprees
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The Heartbeats / Shep & the Limelites
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The Skyliners
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The Crests
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The Five Satins
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The Platters
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The Cadillacs
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The Channels
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Dion & The Belmonts
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Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
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The Harptones
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The Moonglows
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Lee Andrews & The Hearts
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The Drifters
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The Dell-Vikings
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The Earls
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The Passions
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The Penguins
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The Spaniels
Show #214
ABC's of DooWop, letters O & P.. a playlist that's filled with some great music. Some O's, a lot of P's! More than 5 songs that we've never featured before this show, not to mention a few acapella tracks that we truly love. As always, plenty of classic hits, deep cuts, and forgotten favorites..
Song Highlight: The Orioles "It's Too Soon to Know".. considered by some to be the first ever DooWop song (and even first ever R&R song), released back in 1948! This was the first time that a black band, on what was then known as a "race record", crossed over onto the pop charts from the R&B charts (#1 on R&B charts).
Spinning this week: The Olympics, The Pentagons, The Platters, The Orioles, The Passions, The Persuasions, Patti & the Emblems, The Penguins, The Playmates, The Perfect Blend, The Opals, The Paragons, Paul Peek, and much more!
Show #213
Today's show will feature the letters "M" & "N", as we reach the midway point of our ABC's of DooWop (highlighting the best DooWop artists, letter by letter). Some letters are stuffed with classic artists (The Monotones, The Moonglows, etc), and others leave us reaching a bit (enter the letter "N", and artists like The Nylons & Neil Sedaka). Either way, this edition is not short on classics.. so we hope you enjoy.
Song Highlight: The Moonglows "We Go Together".. One of a string of hits released in '55 & '56 by the Moonglows. For most of the Moonglows' tenure, leads were split between Bobby Lester and Harvey Fuqua. Lester preferred the doo-wop ballads while Fuqua preferred rock and roll numbers. At other times, the two recorded vocal duets, and met somewhere in the middle. This is one of those 'middle ground' tracks, adored by many.
Spinning this week: The Nutmegs, Nathaniel Mayer & the Twilights, The Monotones, The Moonglows, Neil Sedaka, Mello Kings, The Metroliners, The Mello Moods, The Magnets, The Magnificents, Nolan Strong & the Diablos, The Marvellows, The Marvelettes, and much more!
Show #212
The ABC's of Doowop, Letters K & L, are the focus of this week's edition of the show. We have several repeat artists (inc. several songs from Little Anthony & the Imperials & Lee Andrews & The Hearts), but we're not short on classics!
Song Highlight: Lee Andrews & The Hearts "Try the Impossible".. a song that combines street corner harmonies, with Nat King Cole-esque vocals standing alone up front in the mix. Like The Flamingoes & The Heartbeats, Lee Andrews never sounded like he was breaking a sweat, and this song is no different.
Spinning this week: The Ly-Dells, The Lovetones, Les Charts, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Kathy Young & the Innocents, The Knockouts, The Kensingtons, Lewis Lymon & the Teenchords, Little Joe & The Thrillers, Little Joey & the Flips, Kenny Vance & the Planotones, The Larkings, and much more.
Show #211
Continuing the ABC's of DooWop.. we'll feature artist that start with the letters I & J. Expect a few tracks from the Jive Five (including "What Time Is It?" and its flipside, "Beggin' You Please", an often forgotten gem), The Impalas, and Jay & The Americans. But you'll also hear 10 songs we've never featured on a prior DooWop Drive show, and we're pretty sure you'll enjoy them.
Song Highlight: Notice the unique style of The Jive Bombers "Bad Boy" (Seg 2, Song 2), mashing up the styles of Louis Armstrong and Tony Williams of the Platters to create something very appealing.
Spinning this week: Johnny Maestro & The Crests, Jive Bombers, The Imaginations, The Jive Five, Joel & The Connotations, The Impalas, The Impressions, Jackie & The Vagrants, Jay & The Americans, The Jesters, The Jewels, The Jive-A-Tones, The Innocents, and much more.
Show #210
Hard to imagine it's already Labor Day Weekend! It doesn't seem like long ago that we were celebrating the start of Summer.. but now we can feel the crisper air signaling the start of Football season and longsleeves. It's always sad to see the longer days slowly start to fade into early nights.. but there's always something about the Fall.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves..
Show #210 will see us feature bands and artists starting with G & H for The ABC's of DooWop. Given the opportunity to highlight a few extra songs from The Heartbeats, we jumped at the chance.. so you'll hear four: "People are Talking", "Darling How Long" (one of the most underappreciated, yet finest deep DooWop cuts of all time), "A Thousand Miles Away", and "Down on my Knees".
Spinning this week: The Harptones, The Halos, The Genies, Gene Pitney, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, The Globetrotters, Gene Chandler, G Clefs, The Honey Bees, The High Tones, Harry & The Tributes, Hollywood Flames, Huey Smith & The Clowns, and much more!
- Gregg & Frank
(9/5/15)
Show #209
The ABC's of DooWop; Letters E & F.
Show #208
For this show we'll be continuing the ABC's of DooWop, featuring artists starting with the letters C & D.
We will start the show with the only non C or D related artist- The Knickerboxers version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" (as well as a clip of the Brooklyn Bridge's version as a point of comparison). If you've been following the dialog between my Father and I, you'll know we passionately disagree on which is the better version of the song. Please feel free to email us (DoowopDrive@Gmail.com), or contact us using the form at the bottom of this page, telling us which you prefer!
Last note - in Segment #3, listen for a classic aircheck from Jocko Henderson (circa 1965 on WADO - 1280 AM). Amazing to hear how he TRULY might've been the first ever "rapper", rhythmically weaving his way through the music like no other before him (or after him, for that matter). The music he's freestyling over is also quite thrilling.. makes you want to go back and hear radio from the 60's all over again.
Spinning this week: The Cadillacs, The Dreamlovers, Dion & The Belmonts, The Diamonds, The Cardinals, Dons of Doowop, The Dubs, The Chaperones, Don & Juan, The Capris, The Castels, The Dovells, The Chevrons, The Chantels, The Del Teens, and much more!
-Gregg & Frank
(8/21/15)
Show #207
The ABC's of DooWop... or at least that's KIND-OF what we're doing, starting with show 207. We'll be featuring artists that start with the letters A & B, which means you can probably guess at least a few of the performers on the show.
Some highlights on the show: The Angels "Cry Baby Cry", one of the most beautiful & melancholy songs ever written; The Avons "Our Love Will Never End", an often overlooked uptempo classic; Bill Deal & The Rhondells "I've Been Hurt", not a DooWop song in the pure form, but a thumping soulful classic song that exemplifies melody and rhythm; The Blue Jays "Lover's Island", a song that is rarely mentioned when discussing the Greatest DooWop One-Hit Wonders of All Time, but one that should at least be in the conversation.
Also worth noting.. in Segment 3, you'll hear an 8min Air-Check tribute to "The Morning Mayor" Harry Harrison, from back in his WMCA days (NYC 1965). There was a period of 20 some-odd years where I woke up to his brilliant voice every single morning on WCBS-FM in NYC. The memories ooze through the stereo just listening to his voice, and I really hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Spinning this week: The Avons, Billy & the Essentials, The Bell Notes, The Angels, The Belmonts, The Boss Tones, The Baltineers, The Admirations, The Brooklyn Bridge, Angel Rissoff, Barry & The Tamerlaines, BQE, The Avalons, The Bop Chords, and much more!
-Gregg & Frank
8/14/15
Show #206
Crazy to think that we've reached the final month of summer! Although we hate to wind things down, we still have plenty of time left... and quite frankly- there is NOTHING quite like those slightly cooler August nights. Sitting with a glass of wine, listening to some of the greatest songs of all time, and allowing your nostalgia to run free. We hope that you hear at least a couple (or many) songs that take you back to some memories you haven't revisited in many years.
There are seven tracks being featured on show 206 that we've never played (The Pentagons "I Wonder", Dante & the Evergreens "Yeah Baby", Shep & The Limelites "Our Anniversary" to name a few), which is always exciting. In addition, you can expect some street corner classics (The Danleers "One Summer Night, The Chantels "He's Gone",etc) and a couple of acapella gems (BQE "Stand by Me", The Cordials "If I Should Lose You"). Enjoy the 90+ minute journey...
Spinning this week: Dion, The Cleftones, Del Vikings, The Chaperones, The Pentagons, BQE, Shep & The Limelites, The Danleers, The Cardinals, Don Juilan & The Meadowlarks, The Crests, The Chiffons, The Aquatones, The Cufflinks, Blue Stars, The Danderliers, and much more!
-Gregg & Frank
(8/8/15)
Show #205
Once in a while, for a show or two, we'll find ourselves playing off a theme. Last week, it was Girl names in the title, THIS week it will be "Car Names" (The Fleetwoods, The Falcons, The Cadillacs, etc). There are a few artists that will have more than one song in the show, but for the most part nearly every song is a classic.
Couple of highlight tracks: Ron Holden & The Thunderbirds "Love You So" (Segment 3)- One of the more underrated & soulful tracks from that era. Holden's vocals are classic and heartfelt, and he navigates through the song with such grace and confidence that you almost get the feeling he could've been one of the biggest stars of his time. Another standout- The Demilles "Cry and Be On Your Way" (Segment 1)- Doing this show, we have the privelege of discovering and REdiscovering all of these timeless songs. This is another in a long line of songs that fall into the 'rediscover' category. Since recording this show, I've gone back to this song nearly 10 times, as if I was hearing it for the first time again.
Spinning this week: Ron Holden & The Thunderbirds, The Rivieras, The Cadillacs, The Larks, the Falcons, The Skyliners, The Safaris, The Valiants, The Fleetwoods, The Bonnevilles, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Dino & The Diplomats, The Jaguars, The Four Sevilles, The Corvairs, and much more!
-Gregg & Frank
(8/2/15)
Show #204
This week we’ll get back to what we do best… DooWop. Both of us will be back in the studio (Frank’s return from Italy), and the theme will be songs with “Girl Names” in the title. I’m sure you’ll be able to guess a few (who wouldn’t think of “Barbara Ann” by the Regents?).. but we’re pretty sure you’ll be surprised at several songs we’ll be spinning (ex. Leon Peels & The Blue Jays “Alice from Above”).
Spinning this week: The Bonnevilles, The Crescendos, The Rainbows, The Skyliners, The Drifters, The Fascinators, The Chariots, The Paragons, Jimmy & The Crestones, The Cadillacs, The Duprees, Joel Katz & Autumns, The Three Friends, Jackie & The Starlets, and much more..