Who put the bomp…in the bomp-sh-bomp?

Philadelphia, Pa., was a hotbed of doo-wop music in the 1950s and early ‘60s, with many acts nurtured by Dick Clark, host of the “American Bandstand” television show.

 

Author Lawrence Pitilli, who is an authority of the progression of the doo-wop genre, said the use of logatomes, known as “nonsense syllables” or “pseudowords,” is one of the distinguishing characteristics of classic doo-wop.

 

Jack McCarthy of Philadelphia, one of the nation’s preeminent music historians, commented that doo-wop originated on urban street corners and featured multipart vocal harmonies. The sound appealed to everyone who listened.

 

The roots of doo-wop can be traced back to 1930 and Duke Ellington’s song “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).”

 

Dizzy Gillespie scored a hit in 1947 with “Oop Boop Sh’Bam,” as “sh-boom, oop-shoop and bip-bam” were uttered as meaningless sounds to fill the beats and create background chants, according to Pitilli.

 

Other early doo-wop standards included: “When You Come Back to Me” (1951) by Savannah Churchill with The Striders; “Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite” (1953) by Pookie Hudson and The Spaniels; “When You Dance” (1955) by The Turbans; and “In the Still of the Night” (1956) by The Five Satins.

 

Robert Fontenot, a journalist who specializes in musical history for the Dotdash social media conglomerate, compiled a list of “the most popular doo-wop songs of all time, as determined by Billboard chart rankings, which included sales and airplay.”

 

He stated: “These are not necessarily the best doo-wop songs ever…but they remain the most popular, the ones that have stuck with us through decades of changing trends and styles.” No. 1 is “At the Hop” by Danny & The Juniors, released in 1957.

Dick Clark took this group of clean-cut Philly boys under his wing and provided the platform for the group to “exceed expectations.”

 

Rounding out Fontenot’s list of “top doo-wop,” from second to fifth are: “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler; “Blue Moon” by The Marcels; “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens; and “Stay” by Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs.

 

Those four tunes are loaded in my personal juke box, but the best of the favorites is “Blue Moon.”

 

The Marcels got their start in Pittsburgh, Pa., and were so named by Priscilla Johnson, whose big brother Fred Johnson sang bass. Lead singer Cornelius Harp sported a “Marcel wave” haircut. It was an “aha moment” for Priscilla.

 

Originally, “Blue Moon” was a slow-moving love song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, with early recordings by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.

 

But, when Fred Johnson of the Marcels tore into it in 1961, with a flourish of “bomp-baba-bomps and dip-da-dips,” the newly doo-wopped rendition of the “Blue Moon” song became an instant astronomical delight.

 

The Marcels put “Blue Moon” into “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.”

Barry Mann, a prolific rock’n’roll songwriter, had a little fun in 1961 by composing and performing the novelty song “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp).” The question mark is omitted, but nevertheless, Mann said the song made “my baby fall in love with me.”

 

“Dip da dip da dip…dip da dip da dip sets my baby’s heart all aglow, and every time we dance…she always says she loves me so…boogity boogity boogity shoo.”

 

The “American Graffiti” movie was set in 1962. How many of the 41 tunes in the soundtrack were doo-wop songs? Just about every single one…from “Little Darlin’” to “Get a Job.”