GEORGE (WYDELL) JONES – R.I.P.

Sadly, we have lost another member of the doo-wop extended family with the passing of George (Wydell) Jones this Saturday, at age 71. You may not know the name, but you surely will remember the song he famously penned, a snappy tribute to one to those saddle-shoe boppers, a little gal by the name of Rama Lama Ding Dong. Jones not only wrote the song, he sang it as part of the doo-wop group, The Edsels. Rama Lama's song was recorded in 1958, but didn't come into its own until a few years later when a New York DJ started playing it. Then it reached #21 on the Billboard chart in 1961, the year I graduated from elementary school and was gearing up for the big leap to high school. I loved Rama Lama Ding Dong back then, and have been dancing, listening and singing along for over 40 years, and counting. So thanks, George, we won't forget you!



Video from YT member AK47bandit

MORE DOO WOP, MORE FALSETTO, MORE ROCKIN' SAX...

Okay, so maybe by 1962 poodle skirts and saddle shoes were pretty much a thing of the past, but that didn't mean we were through dancing! This will get you up "off your chair, dear lady"* (and gentleman too)







Video by YT member loucacciot

* from lyrics to Gary U.S. Bond's "Dear Lady Twist' Oh heck, this is such a great vid, let's do this one, too!



Video by YT member JBauder1948

PAPA DO RUN REDUX

This post is in response to a question on the previous post from my friend and fellow blogger, Kat. She asked about the origin of the name of this blog – Papa Do Run. Well, Kat, both the blog title and the title of my book of rock and roll oldies trivia are taken from lyrics (and titles) that can be found in several oldies from what I call the vintage era. I have live links to YouTube for the songs on the book’s website, but sometimes they have to be removed, and when you click on them, the live links are "deceased.” So I'll take this opportunity to post fresh lively links here and hopefully they will stick around for a while, so we all can have a listen to these classic oldies. And if anybody ever comes across any other songs with Papa Do Run (or any variant spellings) in the title or lyrics, please contact me, I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s the three main songs:

New Girl in School– Jan& Dean, 1964
Teenage Love - Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, 1957
I Met Him on a Sunday – The Shirelles, 1958/66

Pappa Do Run – The Levettes, date unknown. This song isn’t on YouTube yet. I doubt it ever will; it’s some prit-tee obscure doo wop.

FEATURE ARTIST/RECORD: "Believe Me" by The Royal Teens

I got caught in a bit of a time warp with this song, which makes it the perfect one to talk about today, since last night I watched the movie "The Fountain" (2006, Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz). Man, that movie is so bizarre it made me yearn for something simple to figure out...like "2001 -A Space Odyssey." But let's stay on topic. Here's the story...

You may have noticed on the left hand side of this blog that there's a list of my Top10 favorite vintage oldies, and that "Believe Me" is on that list. "Believe Me" was released in late 1959 and became a hit for the group in 1960, when I was in the 8th grade. I have very fond and specific American Graffiti-type memories of that song, so I really hope nobody uses it in some hokey commercial (see Jan7th 2007 post). The other song we all remember by the Royal Teens is a sassy little number called "Short Shorts." I never liked the song "Short Shorts" quite as much. Even the group thought it was a throw-away instrumental until, on a whim, they added the wolf-whistle and that back-and-forth with the girls (Q: Who wears short shorts? A: We wear short shorts). It was a huge hit.

Now, here's the time warp part. Over the years, whenever I heard "Short Shorts" I always assumed it came out after "Believe Me," in about 1970 or so. Why did I think that? Because I used to wear short shorts back in the early 70s. They were a big thing. But somehow I could never quite reconcile how a group could have such a doo-wop hit like "Believe Me" in 1960, and then a decade later, record "Short Shorts." After all, 1970 was the psychedelic heyday. Well, the reason I couldn't reconcile it is because I was wrong. "Short Shorts" was a hit in 1958, a whole year before "Believe Me." How could that be? Well, I have since realized I got it wrong because I was confusing the earlier (and redundant) fashion statement, short shorts, with the decade-later version, known as hot pants. I'd forgotten all about that important difference. So, in 1970, I had hot pants (don't go there) not short shorts. I'm so glad that got cleared up! Anyway, the Royal Teens didn't go on to have as successful a career as I think they should have; they had only a few other minor hits. But two of their personnel went on to further fame and glory - Bob Gaudio (The Four Seasons) and Al Kooper (Blues Project). Okay, time for the music. As usual, YouTube didn't let us down...

Short Shorts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcO-zKCiDlI

Believe Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37b-cnNKvNg&NR=1