Doo-wop itself is older, but the word is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its coining by Chuck Davis in an article in The Chicago Defender ("Platters" March 18, 1961). By that time, the singing style itself had transformed into something quite different from the way it started.
The first documented use of the phrase "doo wop" is from the Charioteers' recording "My Gal Sal" (Vocln 5025, the "A" side) in 1939. The style now recognized as doo-wop, however, did not emege until the late 1940s. Depending on whom you ask, the first doo-wop hit recording was either the Orioles' "It's too Soon to Know" (It's a Natural 5000/Jubilee 5000, the "A" side) in 1948 or the Ravens' "Count Every Star" (National 9111, the "A" side) in 1950. The style became popular among black (all-black and only black) groups singing on street corners in urban areas.
At first doo-wop was a mixture of gospel, barbershop and blues, but eventually the genre became distinct. Though an exact definition of doo-wop is hard to come by, certain elements are always present and others usually. All doo-wop contains group harmony, expressed as "blow harmony" (using the mouth as opposed to humming). Since doo-wop refers to nonsense syllables, this can be considered a necessary ingredient, though some might argue that songs without nonsense syllables can qualify.
Beyond these 2 factors, doo-wop contains some combination (though not necessarily all), of the following: lead tenor; prominent bass; soaring soprano (falsetto); simple lyrics; simple rhythm.
A Microcosm of American Life in the 1950s
Doo-wop can be considered a perfect microcosm of the change in attitude towards racial divisions in the United States. The landmark US Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), which declared school segregation unconstitutional, ushered in an era of integration at all levels. In that same year, the first documented integrated doo-wop group, Don Julian and the Meadowlarks, appeared in California. Other changes soon followed: women broke into the ranks; all-white groups arose; and the sound of the music changed. The repeated revivals of doo-wop speaks to its appeal as a general musical form, and it seems appropriate to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the word doo-wop with one final change.
How Words Evolve
It is the history of word etymology that compound words progress from separate words, through a hyphenated phase, to a single word, e.g. book keeper, book-keeper, bookkeeper.
Doo-wop was used as two separate words, doo wop, by the Charioteers in 1939, then as a hyphenated word, doo-wop by Chuck Davis in 1961. And now on the 50th anniversary of that we celebrate by letting the hyphenated word doo-wop graduate to a full-fledged, free-standing word: Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you (drum roll, please)---"doowop."
Jon Plotkin - The author was a math major at Cornell and has a master's degree in meteorology from MIT.
