More Music, More Music, More Music

There was a charming article in the Los Angeles Times about barbershop quartets and the youth movement, but my last attempt to link to it crashed Safari. And now I'm getting an empty page. Oh well.

There's a radio program at WFUV I enjoyed: The Group Harmony Review. It features vocal group harmony groups from the '40s and '50s, mostly classed as R 'n' B. What some folks refer to as "doo-wop." Barbershop quartets didn't do "doo-wop." (That may be a rule.)

Except for Billy Joel, rock's doo-wop roots seem to have been...disappeared. Boyz II Men revived the style in the '90s, but that didn't last. (And they covered the classic "In the Still of the Night.") Which is odd, considering that group harmony filled the hours not occupied with Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard, and the later teen idols.

Anyway. One of the younger barbershoppers was talking about updating the sound to the '50s and '60s and maybe later. (Got it! And there's video!)

I suppose mentioning the Temptations would probably constitute cheating, as would mentioning the Miracles, the Beatles, Sam and Dave, or Journey. Or even Crosby, Stills & Nash (& sometimes Young). (OC Times seems to have discovered the Drifters...)