Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins.
Musical precedents
Doo-wop's style is a mixture of precedents in composition, orchestration, and vocals that figured in … See more

The synthesis of music styles that evolved into what is now called rhythm and blues, previously labeled "race music" by the record companies, … See more

The R&B and doo-wop music that informed early rock 'n' roll was racially appropriated in the 1970s just as blues-based rock had been in the 1950s and 1960s. Generic terms such as "Brill Building music" obscure the roles of the black producers, … See more

Other pop R&B groups, including the Coasters, the Drifters, the Midnighters, and the Platters, helped link the doo-wop style to the mainstream, … See more

The vocal harmony group tradition that developed in the United States post-World War II was the most popular form of rhythm and blues music among black teenagers, especially those living in the large urban centers of the eastern coast, in Chicago, and in … See more

Jewish composers, musicians, and promoters had a prominent role in the transition to doo-wop and rock 'n' roll from jazz and swing in American popular music of the 1950s, while Jewish businessmen founded many of the labels that recorded rhythm and blues … See more

Doo-wop groups achieved 1951 R&B chart hits with songs such as "Sixty Minute Man" by Billy Ward and His Dominoes, "Where Are You?" by See more