In the late 1950's and early 1960's in big cities all across America a major pastime for teenagers was singing on the street corner. Most did it just for fun but in places like New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Los Angeles many of these kids took their singing very seriously. There were literally hundreds of groups in each of these cities and each of them were looking for that unique "sound" that would land them a contract with a local record company.  When most folks think of doo-wop music they immediately think of a group of 4 or 5 young blacks harmonizing under a lamppost.  And while African-Americans certainly made their fair share of this great music a surprisingly large number of white groups got into the act as well. In 2004,  Collectables records released "Vanilla Doo Wop". This unique collection features 25 of the finest doo wop recordings ever made by white groups. It is a lot better than you might expect.

What makes doo wop music so appealing to so many is that it is simply lots of fun to listen to.  If you have seen any of the PBS specials you'll know what I mean. Times were a lot simpler then and you won't hear any vulgarity in any of these tunes.  Among my personal favorites on "Vanilla Doo Wop" are The Fireflies 1959 best seller "You Were Mine" and "I'm In The Mood For Love" by The Chimes.  I also was very pleased to see that tunes like "Coney Island Baby" by The Excellents and "So This Is Love" by The Castelles were also included on this disc.  And if you have never heard Emil Stucchio and The Classics version of "Till Then" then you are in for a real treat. "Vanilla Doo Wop" also includes a number of hard-to-find songs including "Believe Me" by The Royalteens and "Good Goodbye" from the Bob Knight Four. You just can't help but enjoy the great harmony displayed on nearly every one of these tracks!

While I could have done without 2 or 3 of the tracks offered on "Vanilla Doo Wop" I was quite pleased with the overwhelming majority of the songs included in this collection.  I was also very happy with the fine remastering job on this one.  Each track is crystal clear. This disc will be replacing quite a few 45's in my collection.   "Vanilla Doo Wop" was a great find for me and I would recommend it to anyone interested in great group harmony.