TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ooh Wah, Ooh Wah, Why Is He In Love With Doo-Wop?

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

TAMPA - Legendary disc jockey Cousin Brucie calls doo-wop the soundtrack of our lives.

That would be the lives of people who grew up in the 1950s and '60s - you know, the baby boomers.

Of course, they are not the only generation that appreciates golden oldies such as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Earth Angel" and "Under the Boardwalk."

Hold on there. Our favorite Cuz says we shouldn't label these songs as "oldies."

"Hey, doo-wop is just good music, and 'oldies' carries a negative vibe," he notes. "If you listen to Mozart, do you call that an oldie? No. Good music is good music. It has an appeal that would span all generations, if they get a chance to hear it."

Those chances are getting slimmer, so Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow is on a crusade to save doo-wop from extinction.

"I fear that it is an endangered species," he said in a recent telephone interview. "I'm trying to make sure it gets its rightful place in the history of American culture."

Morrow, who has been one of country's top radio personalities for more than 50 years, has written a new book, "Doo Wop: The Music, the Times, the Era" (Sterling Publishing Co., $24.95).

He's scheduled to be in Tampa this week for a book signing at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

The book is a colorful, easy-to-read coffee-table tome that traces the roots, history and legacy of doo-wop.

In addition to recalling popular vocal groups such as the Drifters, the Platters and Dion and the Belmonts, he profiles more obscure groups such as The Spaniels, The Penguins and The Cardinals.

"I also wanted to put this music in context with the times so I also tried to include thumbnail sketches of the social and cultural milestones," he says.

Doo-Wop Rules

There are segments on Milton Berle's impact on television; the Joe McCarthy witch hunt for communists; the popularity of Howdy Doody and Annette Funicello; Benjamin Spock's child care revolution; the invention of the TV dinner; and much, much more.

He covers Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Mad magazine, drive-ins, classic cars and another famed disc jockey, Alan Freed (the guy who made rock 'n' roll famous).

"I want people who lived through it to say, 'Wow! That brings back memories,' and I want younger generations to say, 'Wow! So that's what happened,'" he says.

Morrow, who is based in New York, continues to play doo-wop and other sounds of the '50s and '60s on Sirius Satellite Radio, a national subscription service.

He also is a co-producer with doo-wop expert T.J. Lubinsky on a successful series of PBS specials that have raised more than $250 million during pledge drives. Another is planned for December.

"He has written an entertaining guide to understanding what doo-wop is and how it fits into our culture," Lubinsky says. "The music has influenced generations and still has an impact. Just look at the Broadway hit 'Jersey Boys.' They were singing a form of doo-wop."

Doo-wop is the term for the vocal harmonies that bridge the gap between easy listening and rock 'n' roll.

"It's a blend of jazz, blues and rhythm and blues that has roots in gospel," Morrow says. "It's a melodic mix of falsetto, baritone and bass, of street corner singers whose voices simulate musical instruments.

"Doo-wop is just a funny name that we gave to music that can trace its roots all the way back, more than 400 years, to Africa. The slave trade brought it to this country. Doo-wop and rock 'n' roll were stoked in the fires of the early black experience, and it's still there in every song.

"Music is one way to help people get through tough times," he says. "It has healing powers. You can bind arms and legs, but you can never chain up someone's heart."

Freedom Of Satellite Radio

Morrow's book is not a stuffy reference book. It is as breezy, lively and entertaining as his radio show.

Born in Brooklyn on Oct. 13, 1937, Morrow attended New York University and adopted the nickname "Cousin Brucie" in 1959, while working at WINS/New York. He left WINS for Miami radio in 1961 before returning to WABC/New York, where he broadcast for 13 years.

When the Beatles played Shea Stadium in 1965, Morrow emceed the show.

He continued to work at various broadcast radio stations until 2005, when the honchos at WCBS-FM in New York dumped his "oldies" show because they felt the audience to be getting too old.

Morrow soon found a new home at Sirius, where he has the freedom to do justice to doo-wop.

"The trouble with the traditional oldies format was that every station kept playing the same 300 or so songs from the 1950s, '60s and '70s," he says.

"My library at Sirius is far more extensive, so we can play some real treasures, such as 'Golden Teardrops' by The Flamingos," he adds.

That 1953 recording is considered by doo-wop aficionados as the most perfect-sounding vocal harmony single of all time, Morrow says.

The radio industry is killing itself by writing off the baby-boomer audience, he says.

"Radio stations and Madison Avenue are still using the slide rule from the 1940s and 1930s," he says. "In those days, when somebody reached 50 years old, they were pretty old and out of it as far as having buying power.

"But today, people who are 50 and 60 years old are still productive, and they are still an influence on the culture."

BOOK SIGNING

'Cousin Brucie' Morrow

WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa

WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday

INFORMATION: surius.com (to find Cousin Brucie's radio show); pbs.org (for information on doo-wop TV specials and DVD collections); oldies.com (for related history).

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT