Showing posts with label doo wop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doo wop. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2026

The Top 25 Doo-Wop Groups of All Time

Doo-Wop:

Top 25 Acts

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. More than a dozen lists were aggregated to come up with this DMDB list of the top 25 doo-wop groups of all time.

See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre.


The Platters

1. The Platters
2. The Drifters
3. The Coasters
4. The Flamingos
5. The Clovers

6. The Orioles
7. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
8. The Spaniels
9. Dion & the Belmonts
10. The Dominoes

11. The Moonglows
12. The Cadillacs
13. The Del-Vikings
14. The Five Satins
15. Little Anthony & the Imperials

16. The Crests
17. The Harptones
18. The Dells
19. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
20. The Five Royales

21. The Skyliners
22. The Cleftones
23. The Four Seasons
24. The Diamonds
25. The Penguins

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 3/5/2026; last updated 6/29/2026.

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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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Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Doo-Wop Jukebox Hall of Fame

Doo-Wop Jukebox Hall of Fame:

years unknown

While the website says “this new Hall of Fame” will have inductees who “will be chosen by a Board of Directors,” the site looks dated and more like a one-person operation. It includes both song and group inductees. There is no indication of when the Hall was started or if it is still around. At last check, the website was down.

Listed below are the groups who have been inducted. Groups are awkwardly categorized as Aces (the absolute best of the best), Kings (just as good, but they can’t all be first), Queens (the last of your favorite groups), and Jacks (as the various members see it).

See other Hall of Fames.

  • Lee Andrews & the Hearts (King)
  • The Blue Notes (Jack)
  • The Cadillacs (King)
  • The Channels (King)
  • The Chantels (Ace)
  • The Cleftones (King)
  • The Clovers (King)
  • The Coasters (Jack)
  • The Crests (King)
  • The Dell Vikings (Queen)
  • The Dells (King)
  • Dion & the Belmonts (King)
  • The Dominos (Queen)
  • The Drifters (King)
  • The Dubs (Ace)
  • The Duprees (Queen)
  • The Fascinators (Jack)
  • The Five Keys (Ace)
  • The Five Satins (King)
  • The Flamingos (Ace)
  • The Harptones (Ace)
  • The Heartbeats (Ace)
  • The Jesters (Queen)
  • The Jive Five (Jack)
  • Lil’ Anthony & the Imperials (King)
  • Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (Queen)
  • The Marcels (King)
  • The Moonglow (Ace)
  • The Nutmegs (Queen)
  • The Orioles (King)
  • The Paragons (King)
  • The Platters (Ace)
  • The Ravens (Jack)
  • The Shells (Jack)
  • The Skyliners (Ace)
  • The Solitaires (Queen)
  • The Spaniels (Ace)
  • The Students (Queen)
  • The Swallows (Jack)
  • The Valentines (Queen)
  • The Vibrations (Queen)

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 1/6/2013; last updated 7/12/2025.
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Saturday, September 15, 2012

50 years ago: The Four Seasons hit #1 with “Sherry”

Sherry

The Four Seasons

Writer(s): Bob Gaudio (see lyrics here)

First Charted: August 18, 1962

Peak: 15 US, 17 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 11 RB, 8 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.42 video, 89.5 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

The Four Seasons appeared to be an overnight success when “Sherry” bounded to #1 in only four weeks, but Frankie Valli (born Francis Castellucio) had been working for a decade and put together the first version of the Four Seasons in 1955. They took the name from a bowling alley in New Jersey. The group went through various line-ups and recorded under a variety of names as well as singing backup for others, including Bobby Darin, Freddy Cannon, and Danny & the Juniors. FB The line-up which recorded “Sherry” was in place in 1961. It included Bob Gaudio who Valli met in 1958 on a Baltimore TV show on which both of their groups appeared. Also essential to the group was songwriter and producer Bob Crewe, who Valli met that same year when recording the solo song “I Go Ape.” FB

The Four Seasons released “Bermuda” in 1961 through Goldner’s Gone Records. It didn’t chart, but their next effort – through Vee Jay – gave them their breakout hit. FB Vee Jay had success with doo-wop and R&B in the ‘50s, but their only pop hit at the time was Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl.” When Valli played “Sherry” over the phone for Randy Wood, the company’s West Coast Sales Manager, he loved it and took it to local DJ Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg. After Hugg played it on his show, the station was flooded with calls. SF

This is the “Belmonts-meets-Beach Boys on Maurice Williams’ turf.” DM That “plunk-plunk rhythm…sets up the real action, in the drums and tambourine which dance their asses off while Frankie Valli’s falsetto heads to the stratosphere.” DM

“Sherry” was written in 15 minutes. Gaudio explained, “I was ready to leave for a rehearsal…and I sat at the piano and it just came out. Not having a tape recorder in those days, the only way I could remember it was to put a quick lyric to it and remember the melody and the words together. I drove down to the rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics. To my surprise, everybody like the the lyrics so we didn’t change anything.” FB

Apparently everything was in place but the title. Gaudio had used “Terry” as a placekeeper, but the group also considered “Jackie” in honor of then-first lady Jackie Kennedy. SJ When the group performed it for Crewe over the phone, he said he liked it, but wanted to change the name. They also considered “Peri Baby.” WK Crewe’s friend, New York City DJ Jack Spector, suggested “Cheri” after his three-year-old daughter SJ and that’s the name that stuck, albeit with a spelling change.

Resources:

First posted 3/14/2021; last updated 4/16/2023.

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Today in Music (1962): Gene Chandler hit #1 with “Duke of Earl”

Duke of Earl

Gene Chandler

Writer(s): Bernice Williams, Eugene Dixon, Earl Edwards (see lyrics here)

Released: November 1961

First Charted: January 8, 1962

Peak: 13 BB, 15 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 15 RB, 13 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 26.59 video, 32.83 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Eugene Dixon grew up listening to doo-wop in Chicago. In high school, he performed with a group called the Gaytones. They won a talent contest which led to a singing job with a local radio program. Another local group, the Dukays, asked Dixon to join them. One night, a woman named Bernice Williams saw the group and introduced them to Bill “Bunky” Sheppard, who signed them to Nat Records. FB

The song “Duke of Earl” grew out of a vocal exercise in which the group warmed up their pipes singing “ah ah ah” and “doo doo doo” in shifting pitch. Dixon turned the latter into “duke, duke, duke” and added the name Earl, the Dukays’ baritone singer, to create “Duke of Earl.” SF The song tells the tale of him “telling a girl that nothing can stop him, and she’ll be safe as long as she has the Duke of Earl by her side.” SF

While the producer and the group loved the song, the label didn’t like the song and released “Night Owl” from the same session instead. FB The song wasn’t done, though. Calvin Carter, the A&R man for rival record company Vee Jay, loved the song and called Ewart Abner, the president, in Paris about getting the okay to purchase the song from Nat Records. FB Abner didn’t even listen to the song, but gave the Carter the okay because if it was important enough to call France, the song must be good. FB

Dixon was signed to Nat Records as a member of the Dukays, but could record as a solo artist for Vee Jay. He shortened his first name to Gene and took the last name Chandler after his favorite actor, Jeff Chandler. FB The song became the label’s first million seller. Chandler would dress in a cape, top hat, and monocle to promote the song. FB

Resources:

  • FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 104.
  • SF Songfacts

Related Links:

First posted 3/14/2021; last updated 5/12/2025.

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

50 years ago: The Tokens hit #1 with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)

The Tokens

Writer(s): Hugo Peretti, Albert Stanton, Luigi Creatore, Paul Campbell, George Weiss, Roy Ilene (see lyrics here)

Released: October 17, 1961

First Charted: November 13, 1961

Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 14 HR, 7 RB, 11 UK, 13Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 82.93 video, 117.21 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

This African folk song dates back to the 1920s. WK South African singer Solomon Linda wrote it in Zulu as “Mbube,” which means lion. The idea came from having to chase lions away from the families’ cattle. SF His group, the Evening Birds, recorded it in 1939. The song became a huge hit across South Africa. SF

Alan Lomax, who became famous for collecting field recordings of folk songs, brought the song to Pete Seeger in 1949. WK His group, the Weavers, adapted it with English lyrics and recorded it in November 1951. WK Seeger misunderstood the word “Uyimbube” (pronounced “oo-yim-bweh-beh” and meaning “you’re the lion”) as “Wimoweh” and retitled the song as such. SF They took the song to #6. The Kingston Trio recorded it in 1959 and Miriam Makeba recorded it with Zulu lyrics in 1960. WK

The Tokens signed with the Warwick label in 1960 and released the song “Tonight I Fell in Love,” which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. This provided them the catalyst to pursue a major label contract with RCA Records. They auditioned with “Wimoweh.” FB

Producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore added new lyrics to the song and the Tokens recorded it as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in May 1961 at their second RCA recording session. The group wasn’t sold on the song; their general sentiment being “Who is gonna buy a song about a lion sleeping?” SF Member Phil Margo said, “We were embarrassed by it and tried to convince Hugo and Luigi not to release it. They said it would be a big record and it was going out.” FB

Robert John also had a #3 hit in 1972 with the Tokens singing backup. In 1982, Tight Fit took the song to #1 in the UK. When the song was used in the 1994 Disney animated movie The Lion King, the Tokens’ version was rereleased and reached #51.

Resources:

  • DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Tokens
  • FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 102.
  • SF Songfacts
  • WK Wikipedia

First posted 3/13/2021; last updated 10/22/2022.

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