Thanks for the doo-wop/beach music memories

Readers have chimed in on the “doo-wop to Carolina beach music” series of articles that ran in recent editions of Wagnabbit. Especially worth sharing are comments from K.T. of Swansboro, N.C. She said:

 “On our 8th grade class trip to Atlantic Beach, N.C., April 1954, we were not allowed to go into the dance halls. However, we could listen to the music we loved so much and watch through the swinging doors the few dancers (who were evidently skipping school somewhere) who were doing the Bop.”

 

“There were a few shaggers, but this Bop was something different. These two kids were like eels the way they moved their bodies in time to the music, sometimes going almost to their knees in their moves.”

“We, of course, were mesmerized – it was the music we loved that drew us in the first place. I guess they had fed the jukebox with the songs they wanted to dance to, and we wondered if they were practicing for one of the contests that were a big thing then.”

“I’d been listening to R&B (rhythm and blues music) since 1949 when a station in Southern Pines began broadcasting from sundown each weekday. By then, the kids were out of school and either hanging out somewhere or doing homework at home (that would be me), and I was well versed in the music and many of the performers,” K.T. continued.

“LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown were favorites, and B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland….”

 

“Those were such delicious years in music as the scene exploded with all these new young artists….”

“My husband-to-be used to sing ‘Love Potion No. 9’ (I took a drink) and ‘Oh I wonder, wonder who be-doo who wrote the book of love’ – hilarious!”

What these two songs – “Love Potion No. 9” and “(Who Wrote) The Book of Love” – have in common is that they were among the 41 hit songs from the 1950s that made the cut to be included in the soundtrack of the motion picture “American Graffiti,” which was released in 1973.

 

“Love Potion No. 9” was originally performed in 1959 by the Clovers, a hall of fame group that had tons of hits.

 

On the other hand, “The Book of Love” song, released in 1957 by the Monotones, was the group’s only chartbuster. It’s a great “one-hit wonder” story.

The Monotones were six guys who came out of the same housing project in Newark, N.J., and sang together in a Baptist church choir. 

Lead singer Charles Patrick was inspired by a radio commercial for Pepsodent toothpaste that posed the question: “You’ll wonder where the yellow went / When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.”

 

It supposedly left him wondering, wondering, wondering aloud who wrote the book of love? He worked with two other members of the group – Warren Davis and George Malone – to polish up the lyrics.

Listen carefully for the “boom” part of the song. Not a drumbeat, it’s the sound of a kid kicking a ball against the garage while they were recording. It sounded good, so they left it in the song. The Monotones eventually disbanded in 1962.

 “The Book of Love” was one of the favorite tunes of George Lucas, director of “American Graffiti.” The film depicted the lifestyle of teenagers in 1962 who cruised the streets of Modesto, Calif., looking to hook up for a malt…or whatever.

 Wolfman Jack was the late-night deejay who spun the hits: “Oh I wonder, wonder who be-doo who wrote the book of love.”

Wolfman Jack (left) and George Lucas...back in the day.