Showing posts with label Earth Angel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Angel. Show all posts

Monday, May 10, 2021

The Top 100 Doo-Wop Songs of All Time

Doo-Wop:

Top 100 Songs

Doo-wop emerged in the 1950s as an integral force in the shaping of early rock and roll. The genre was marked by vocal groups, predominantly male and black.

This list was originally a top 20 list posted on the DMDB Facebook page in 2010 after I stumbled across a Doo Wop Hall of Fame (which looks like someone’s personal site). The list has since been revised, aggregating more than 25 best-of lists of doo-wops songs (see sources at the bottom of the page). Those songs appearing on three or more lists were then ranked based on their overall status in Dave’s Music Database.

You can check out an older version of this list here which was used by Stuart Weiss, a DJ with MemoryLaneOldies.com, to do a top 100 countdown his Sunday Night Doo Wop Party radio show in March 2021.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

The DMDB Top 1%

1. The Penguins “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” (1954)
2. The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1959)
3. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” (1956)
4. Danny & The Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)
5. The Platters “The Great Pretender” (1955)
6. The Platters “Only You (And You Alone)” (1955)
7. The Five Satins “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” (1956)
8. The Chords “Sh-Boom” (1954)
9. The Drifters “Save the Last Dance for Me” (1960)
10. The Tokens “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” (1961)

11. The Platters “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1958)
12. The Orioles “Crying in the Chapel” (1953)
13. The Four Seasons “Sherry” (1962)
14. Gene Chandler “Duke of Earl” (1962)
15. The Four Seasons “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (1962)
16. The Dell-Vikings “Come Go with Me” (1957)
17. The Platters “My Prayer (Avant de Mourir)” (1956)
18. The Diamonds “Little Darlin’” (1957)

The DMDB Top 2%

19. The Marcels “Blue Moon” (1961)
20. The Coasters “Yakety Yak” (1958)

21. The Platters “Twilight Time” (1958)
22. The Shirelles “Soldier Boy” (1962)
23. The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man” (1951)
24. The Drifters “There Goes My Baby” (1959)
25. Dion & the Belmonts “A Teenager in Love” (1959)
26. The Drifters “Up on the Roof” (1962)
27. The Monotones “Book of Love” (1958)
28. The Crests “Sixteen Candles” (1958)
29. The Chantels “Maybe” (1958)
30. The Skyliners “Since I Don’t Have You” (1959)

31. The Drifters “Money Honey” (1953)
32. Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs “Stay” (1960)
33. The Elegants “Little Star” (1958)
34. The Impressions featuring Jerry Butler “For Your Precious Love” (1958)
35. The Silhouettes “Get a Job” (1958)
36. The Coasters “Searchin’” (1957)
37. The Shirelles “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1959)
38. The Bobbettes “Mr. Lee” (1957)
39. The Rays “Silhouettes” (1957)
40. The Dominoes with Billy Ward “Stardust” (1957)

41. The Spaniels “Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight” (1954)
42. The Fleetwoods “Come Softly to Me” (1959)
43. Dion & the Belmonts “I Wonder Why” (1958)
44. The Clovers “Love Potion No. 9” (1959)
45. The Chordettes “Lollipop” (1958)

The DMDB Top 5%

46. The Crows “Gee” (1954)
47. Little Anthony & the Imperials “Tears on My Pillow” (1958)
48. The Capris “There’s a Moon Out Tonight” (1960)
49. The Dells “Oh What a Nite” (1956)
50. The Coasters “Charlie Brown” (1959)

51. The Cadillacs “Speedoo” (1955)
52. The Coasters “Young Blood” (1957)
53. Shep & the Limelites “Daddy’s Home” (1961)
54. The Moonglows “Sincerely” (1955)
55. The Coasters “Poison Ivy” (1959)
56. The Orioles “It’s Too Soon to Know” (1948)
57. The Duprees “You Belong to Me” (1962)
58. The Danleers “One Summer Night” (1958)
59. The Jive Five “My True Story” (1961)
60. The Heartbeats “A Thousand Miles Away” (1956)

61. The Harptones “A Sunday Kind of Love” (1953)
62. Curtis Lee & the Halos “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (1961)
63. The Dell-Vikings “Whispering Bells” (1957)
64. The Impalas “Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)” (1959)
65. The Cleftones “Little Girl of Mine” (1956)
66. The Earls “Remember Then” (1962)
67. The Coasters (as The Robins) “Smokey Joe’s Café” (1955)
68. The El Dorados “At My Front Door” (1955)
69. The Cleftones “Heart and Soul” (1961)

The DMDB Top 10%

70. The Clovers “Devil or Angel” (1955)
71. The Mello-Kings “Tonite Tonite” (1957)
72. The Five Satins “To the Aisle” (1957)
73. The Flamingos “Lovers Never Say Goodbye” (1958)
74. The Skyliners “This I Swear” (1959)
75. Lee Andrews & the Hearts “Teardrops” (1957)
76. Dion & the Belmonts “Where or When” (1959)
77. Randy & the Rainbows “Denise” (1963)
78. The Olympics “Western Movies” (1958)
79. The Spaniels “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1958)
80. The Jaguars “The Way You Look Tonight” (1956)

81. Lee Andrews & the Hearts “Long Lonely Nights” (1957)
82. The Falcons “You’re So Fine” (1959)
83. The Turbans “When You Dance” (1955)
84. The Chimes “Once in Awhile” (1960)
85. The Willows “Church Bells May Ring” (1956)
86. The Dubs “Could This Be Magic” (1957)
87. Little Caesar & the Romans “Those Oldies But Goodies Remind Me of You” (1961)
88. The Blue Jays “Lover’s Island” (1961)
89. Danny & the Juniors “Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay” (1958)
90. The Shirelles “Tonight’s the Night” (1960)

91. The Shields “You Cheated” (1958)
92. The Mystics “Hushabye” (1959)
93. The Nutmegs “Story Untold” (1955)
94. The Cadillacs “Gloria” (1954)

The DMDB Top 20%

95. The Clovers “Blue Velvet” (1955)
96. The Crests “The Angels Listened In” (1959)
97. The Regents “Barbara-Ann” (1961)
98. The Classics “Till Then” (1963)
99. The Safaris “Image of a Girl” (1960)
100. The Crests “Step by Step” (1960)

The Top 100 Doo-Wop Songs:

The Version Played on MemoryLaneOldies.com

1. The Penguins “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” (1954)
2. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” (1956)
3. The Platters “The Great Pretender” (1955)
4. The Five Satins “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” (1956)
5. The Platters “Only You (And You Alone)” (1955)
6. The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1959)
7. Danny & The Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)
8. The Chords “Sh-Boom” (1954)
9. The Orioles “Crying in the Chapel” (1953)
10. The Tokens “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” (1961)

11. The Four Seasons “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (1962)
12. The Platters “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1958)
13. The Platters “My Prayer (Avant de Mourir)” (1956)
14. The Four Seasons “Sherry” (1962)
15. Gene Chandler “Duke of Earl” (1962)
16. The Platters “Twilight Time” (1958)
17. The Dell-Vikings “Come Go with Me” (1957)
18. The Drifters “Up on the Roof” (1962)
19. The Marcels “Blue Moon” (1961)
20. The Diamonds “Little Darlin’” (1957)

21. The Drifters “There Goes My Baby” (1959)
22. The Crests “Sixteen Candles” (1958)
23. The Monotones “Book of Love” (1958)
24. The Coasters “Yakety Yak” (1958)
25. The Elegants “Little Star” (1958)
26. The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man” (1951)
27. The Silhouettes “Get a Job” (1958)
28. The Skyliners “Since I Don’t Have You” (1959)
29. The Drifters “Money Honey” (1953)
30. The Coasters “Searchin’” (1957)

31. The Fleetwoods “Come Softly to Me” (1959)
32. Dion & the Belmonts “A Teenager in Love” (1959)
33. The Rays “Silhouettes” (1957)
34. The Shirelles “Soldier Boy” (1962)
35. Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs “Stay” (1960)
36. The Dominoes with Billy Ward “Stardust” (1957)
37. The Impressions featuring Jerry Butler “For Your Precious Love” (1958)
38. The Spaniels “Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight” (1954)
39. Dion & the Belmonts “I Wonder Why” (1958)
40. The Cadillacs “Speedoo” (1955)

41. The Moonglows “Sincerely” (1955)
42. The Shirelles “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1959)
43. The Capris “There’s a Moon Out Tonight” (1960)
44. The Chantels “Maybe” (1958)
45. The Dells “Oh What a Nite” (1956)
46. The Bobbettes “Mr. Lee” (1957)
47. The Clovers “Love Potion No. 9” (1959)
48. The Harptones “A Sunday Kind of Love” (1953)
49. The Coasters “Young Blood” (1957)
50. Little Anthony & the Imperials “Tears on My Pillow” (1958)

51. The Coasters “Charlie Brown” (1959)
52. Shep & the Limelites “Daddy’s Home” (1961)
53. The Orioles “It’s Too Soon to Know” (1948)
54. The Duprees “You Belong to Me” (1962)
55. Curtis Lee & the Halos “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (1961)
56. The Coasters “Poison Ivy” (1959)
57. The Jive Five “My True Story” (1961)
58. The Clovers “Devil or Angel” (1955)
59. The Jaguars “The Way You Look Tonight” (1956)
60. The Heartbeats “A Thousand Miles Away” (1956)

61. The Danleers “One Summer Night” (1958)
62. The Crows “Gee” (1954)
63. The Dell-Vikings “Whispering Bells” (1957)
64. The Chordettes “Lollipop” (1958)
65. Dion & the Belmonts “Where or When” (1959)
66. Randy & the Rainbows “Denise” (1963)
67. The Cleftones “Little Girl of Mine” (1956)
68. The Impalas “Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)” (1959)
69. The El Dorados “At My Front Door” (1955)
70. The Cleftones “Heart and Soul” (1961)

71. The Skyliners “This I Swear” (1959)
72. The Chimes “Once in Awhile” (1960)
73. Lee Andrews & the Hearts “Teardrops” (1957)
74. The Clovers “Blue Velvet” (1955)
75. The Coasters (as The Robins) “Smokey Joe’s Café” (1955)
76. The Cadillacs “Gloria” (1954)
77. The Earls “Remember Then” (1962)
78. The Velvetones “The Glory of Love” (1957)
79. The Five Satins “To the Aisle” (1957)
80. The Blue Jays “Lover’s Island” (1961)

81. The Channels “That’s My Desire” (1957)
82. Lee Andrews & the Hearts “Long Lonely Nights” (1957)
83. The Falcons “You’re So Fine” (1959)
84. The Classics “Till Then” (1963)
85. The Regents “Barbara-Ann” (1961)
86. The Mello-Kings “Tonite Tonite” (1957)
87. The Safaris “Image of a Girl” (1960)
88. The Nutmegs “Story Untold” (1955)
89. Danny & the Juniors “Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay” (1958)
90. The Diablos “The Wind” (1954)

91. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent” (1956)
92. The Crests “The Angels Listened In” (1959)
93. The Channels “The Closer You Are” (1956)
94. The Olympics “Western Movies” (1958)
95. Little Caesar & the Romans “Those Oldies But Goodies Remind Me of You” (1961)
96. The Crests “Step by Step” (1960)
97. Lee Andrews & the Hearts “Try the Impossible” (1958)
98. The Willows “Church Bells May Ring” (1956)
99. The Flamingos “Lovers Never Say Goodbye” (1958)
100. The 5 Royales “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1958)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 2/26/2010; last updated 5/10/2021.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Song Inductees (July 2020)

Originally posted 7/22/2020.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the DMDB blog on January 22, 2019, Dave’s Music Database launched its own Hall of Fame. This is the seventh set of song inductees. These are songs from the DMDB “rock and roll origin” list, which was created by aggregating more than 35 lists of songs instrumental to the onset of rock and roll. The top 20 songs on that list have been ranked based on overall points in Dave’s Music Database and the top ten (excluding previous inductee Bill Haley & the Comets’ “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock”) are being inducted here.

Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

In “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry created a character who symbolizes an Elvis Presley-type who comes from humble beginnings and whose mother promises her son that his name will be in lights someday. MA Perhaps more than any other, the rags-to-riches song “established the sound of the rock and roll guitar.” WI Regarding the guitar intro which, ironically, is nearly a note-for-note copy of the opening solo in Louis Jordan’s 1946 “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman,” WK rock historian says “You can’t copyright guitar licks and maybe that’s good, because if you could, …we’d lose not just the Beach Boys, but essential elements of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, and Bruce Springsteen.” MA Read more.

Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day” (1957)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

“That’ll Be the Day” came about as the result of a John Wayne movie. Buddy Holly and drummer Jerry Allison went to see the Western The Searchers. Whenever a character would suggest something that wasn’t likely to happen, Wayne would proclaim, “That’ll be the day.” SF One night at Jerry’s house, Buddy suggested that it would be nice if they could record a hit song, to which Jerry replied, “That’ll be the day.” SF Holly recorded a more country-oriented version of the song in 1956 before reworking it in 1957 as the version which became one of early rock and roll’s most classic tunes. Read more.

Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire” (1957)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

With a musical prowess birthed as much from the black honky-tonks as the Assembly of God Church, CL Lewis concocted an uncomfortable blend of music inspired by God and the devil. Nowhere was Lewis’ musical dichotomy more on display than with “Great Balls of Fire.” Jerry Lee’s signature song was “full of Southern Baptist hellfire turned into a near-blasphemous ode to pure lust.” RS500 Read more.

Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1957)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

This had been recorded four times, but had yet to meet with success. RS500 When producer “Cowboy” Jack Clement captured the manic energy of Lewis’ stage presence on his recording, it became “as perfect a rock and roll record as one could hope to find.” WI The blend of “a relentless, pounding boogie rhythm” AMG with lyrics that “were rather lascivious and quite shocking coming from a singer from the Bible Belt” SF made the case “that prudes really did have something to fear from rock and roll.” MA Read more.

Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” (1955)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

The 22-year-old Richard Penniman, aka “Little Richard,” was looking for a breakthrough in 1955 when he went into a New Orleans recording studio to lay down his first tracks for Specialty Records. He “started extemporizing verses of ‘Tutti Frutti,’ a risque feature of his club sets.” NRR “Kids scrambled to decipher the meaning of the sounds emitted by the pompadoured piano dervish…but really, the words weren’t nearly as important as the remorselessly frenetic beat, the propulsive piano work and the primal, screaming vocal.” TM which made the song “barely eligible for radio airplay.” MA Read more.

Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers “Who Do Fools Fall in Love?” (1956)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

“Fools” has been called “the perfect combination of commercial pop and doo-wop music.” SJ At thirteen, Frankie Lymon became the youngest artist (at that time) to top the U.K. charts. SF He had a voice that had yet to succumb to puberty and the moves and personality which served as a model for future child pop stars like Michael Jackson. FR Read more.

The Penguins “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” (1954)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

In the 1950s, it was common practice to refashion an R&B hit as a “sanitized, big-label cover” RS500 which would be more palatable to mainstream white audiences. “Earth Angel” was no exception. The Crew-Cuts, a “schmaltzy white group” RS500 from Canada, took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 while the first version, by the Penguins, peaked at #8. Regardless of what the charts said, however, the Penguins’ version outsold the remake and outperformed it on jukeboxes. MA Billboard called this “the top R&B record of all time.” NRR Read more.

Carl Perkins “Blue Suede Shoes” (1956)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

The “most famous rockabilly record of all time” AMG owes its existence to Johnny Cash’s stint in the Air Force and a careless dancer. Cash was a Sun Records label mate with Perkins and told him the story of servicemen lining up for food or pay with freshly-polished shoes HL and warning each other, “Don’t step on my blue suede shoes.” CR A few weeks laterHL Perkins heard someone at a dance spit out a similar line CR to his date. SA Perkins supposedly scribbled down lyrics on an old potato sack after the dance. JA It became Perkins’ biggest hit and the first song to hit the pop, R&B, and country charts in the U.S. RS500 AMG Read more.

Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

RCA Records made a deal on November 22, 1955 that may be the best ever made in music history; for $40,000, an unprecedented amount at the time, they bought Elvis’ contract from Sun Records. BR1 “Heartbreak Hotel” was among the songs recorded at Elvis’ first RCA recording session in January 1956. BR1 RCA was looking for more rockabilly tunes in the vein of what he had recorded for Sun, but Presley delivered “this gloomy, downtempo number” RS500 which Sun Records founder Sam Phillips called “a morbid mess.” RS500 It went on to become the first number one song and first million-seller for Presley. RS500 Read more.

Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956)

Inducted July 2020 as “Rock and Roll Origin Song”

During a Vegas stint in April and May 1956, Elvis Presley saw Freddie Bell and the Bellboys perform a cover of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” and decided to work it into his own act. He performed it for a 40 million people on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956. Critics mocked his controversial gyrations, calling him “Elvis the Pelvis.” However, Elvis had the last laugh. When released as the B-side of “Don’t Be Cruel,” both songs became hits and the song became his best-selling single, spending 11 weeks atop the pop chart, the longest reign of the rock era until 1992’s “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men spent 13 weeks at the pinnacle. Read more.
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Saturday, December 18, 2004

50 years ago: “Earth Angel” flew on to charts

Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)

The Penguins

Writer(s): Curtis Williams, Jesse Belvin, and Gaynel Hodge (see lyrics here)

Released: October 19, 1954

First Charted: December 18, 1954

Peak: 8 US, 3 CB, 7 HR, 13 RB, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 10.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 43.89 video, 51.7 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

In the 1950s, it was common practice to refashion an R&B hit as a “sanitized, big-label cover.” RS500 The intent was to craft a version of the song which would be more palatable to mainstream white audiences and subsequently have a better shot at success on the pop charts. While the remake generally lacked the grit and soul of its source material, it would often outperform the original.

“Earth Angel” was no exception – at least in terms of chart success. The Crew-Cuts, a “schmaltzy white group” RS500 from Canada, took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 while the first version, by the Penguins, peaked at #8. Regardless of what the charts said, however, the Penguins’ take on the song became the more celebrated. The original outsold the remake and outperformed it on jukeboxes. DM In fact, when measured by appeal over time, Billboard called this “the top R&B record of all time.” NRR

The Penguins were a vocal group of high-school friends who formed in Los Angeles in 1954. They recorded the song in a garage; producer Walter Williams recalls redoing takes because he had to quiet the barking dog next door. TB Their “artless, unaffected vocals…defined the street-corner elegance of doo-wop” RS500 and “Earth Angel” is “one of the finest examples” TB the genre has to offer. A 1997 listener poll done by New York’s WCBS ranked “Earth Angel” the scone best doo-wop song of all time, only behind the Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Night.” SS

“Like many doo-wop ballads, [it] was structured on the chord changes of Rodgers & Hart’s ‘Blue Moon.’” TY2 “Earth Angel” is the song that cemented that chord progression. AH It has “virtually all the qualities cherished by doo-wop lovers: melodic beauty, a shimmering and earnest lead vocal, stripped-to-the-bone simplicity, and a pristine romantic innocence.” SS The idealized teen romance AH as well as the melody is similar to “Dream Girl,” a song the Penguins’ Jesse Belvin took to #2 on the R&B chart in 1952. SS The arrangement is from “I Know” by the Hollywood Flames, a band which featured Penguins’ members Curtis Williams and Gaynel Hodge. AH

“Earth Angel” was originally intended as the B-side RS500 for “Hey Senorita,” AH released through DooTone, a black-owned and operated label. NRR It bore the distinction of being the first song from an independent R&B label to hit the Billboard pop charts. DM Even more significantly, it was one of the first crossover records NRR and “a pivotal record in rock & roll’s early development.” RS500

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Last updated 3/23/2023.

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