Doo-wop music features a specific type of background vocals, provided by members of a musical group who are not the lead singers. A type of music characterized by onomatopoeia (that is, sounding like its name), doo-wop can easily be spotted by listeners who will hear the words "doo-wop" literally sung by backup singers. Often the bass singer in a group is tasked with this, though sometimes it fills the entire backup vocals of a song.
Some of the most popular doo-wop groups have included the Platters, the Coasters, the Orioles, the Cadillacs, the El Dorados and the Flamingos. "Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight," "Earth Angel" and "It's Too Soon To Know" are popular doo-wop songs that listeners today may recognize if heard on the radio.
Major American cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Baltimore all claim involvement in the origins of doo-wop music, according to the website AllDooWop.com. The first doo-wop groups were all a capella (strictly vocalists), which allowed them to rehearse almost anywhere. City street corners were popular places for groups to practice and try to gain notoriety.
The origin of the actual term "doo-wop" and an explanation of who or what group named this genre of music is unknown. A rumor exists that a California radio disc-jockey named Gus Gossert coined the term in the early 1970s, but Gossert himself refutes this claim, noting that the term was around long before his tenure as a DJ.
Doo-wop music has gone on to inspire movements in the Italian-American community, giving rise to Italian-American doo-wop groups such as The Capris, who sang "A Teenager in Love," and also Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Doo-wop's influence can also be seen in many rock and soul groups from the 1960s, including The Miracles and female groups such as The Supremes and the Chantels. Its influence has also spanned generations, inspiring revivals such as Billy Joel's 1983 hit, "The Longest Time."