Transmission and Transgression. Gary Kenton

The name doo-wop was not coined until the 1960s when the first wave of nostalgia for this music demanded a packaging label. In the 1950s it was just vocal groups doing rock ‘n’ roll. It is worth noting that the vocal groups that produced the genial and tenderhearted doo-wop sound emerged largely from the same population of urban “greasers” (often Italian and Hispanic) ill-reputed for their sideburns, swagger, and switchblades. In 1957, the play West Side Story helped to reinforce this stereotype, minus the rock music. That same year, leading doo-wop group Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers sang “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent” in the film Rock, Rock, Rock, but adults were not convinced.

      29. On an episode of the ABC-TV news program Our World in November, 1986, Jimmy Keyes, a member of The Chords and co-author of “Sh-Boom,” said that the idea for the title was inspired by 1954 headlines regarding the hydrogen bomb.

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      Meisler,