Various - Street Corner Symphonies Vol.15, 1963 The Complete Story Of Doo Wop

1-CD-Album Digipak (4-plated) with 84-page booklet, 35 tracks. Total playing time approx. 86 mns.

Street Corner Symphonies
The Complete Story Of Doo Wop
Volume 15 - 1963

The doo-wop era was fast drawing to a close. Many of the top vocal groups had either broken up or ventured into other musical directions. Yet one of the biggest hits of 1963 out of Philadelphia, The Tymes' breathtaking So Much In Love, was textbook street corner doo-wop.

They weren't the only newcomers embracing the classic approach. Randy & The Rainbows' Denise certainly looked back to an earlier time. So did Vito & The Salutations' unique interpretation of the traditionally stately Unchained Melody (they daringly transformed it into a raging bopper). The Rivingtons unleashed their mighty bass singer anew on The Bird's The Word, while The Earls kept the doo-wop torch alight by combining the sound with contemporary touches.

Never had more girl groups made hits. Not only were The Shirelles still hot in their own right, they likely provided early inspiration to The Ronettes, Jaynetts, Cookies, Blue Belles, Chiffons, and Martha & The Vandellas. Mixed-gender groups were no longer extraordinary. The Essex cast a female as lead singer for an all-male crew (decked out in Marine togs, no less), while The Orlons and Drew-Vels reversed that image with three gals and a gent minus the military garb.

The Drifters still trafficked heavily in suave uptown soul, as did The O'Jays. Smooth ballad-oriented Caucasian outfits such as The Classics and Duprees made their share of pop chart noise, their MOR-shaded approach offset by raucous R&B dance fare from The Five Du-Tones and Ideals (both Chicago-based). It was the soul aggregations that presaged the immediate future. The Impressions, King Pins, Falcons, Miracles, Temptations, Tams, and Artistics felt the winds of stylistic change and positioned themselves accordingly, incorporating varying levels of gospel influence into their compelling styles. The R&B charts already looked very different than they had a brief time before; soon the great majority of the groups that had dominated them in the not so distant past would be but a fond memory for the majority of their fans, dispatched to the oldies circuit forevermore.