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"Doo-wop's Back Big With New Crop Of Hip-hop Contenders"
by James T. Jones, II
USA Today
March 3, 1992
Doo-wop tops the charts again, as Color Me Badd and Boyz II Men revive the good-natured rivalry that has fueled the music for decades. Boyz's debut album, Cooleyhighharmony, is No. 6 in Billboard; Color's C.M.B., No. 7. They've been neck and neck for weeks. USA Today looks at "hip-hop doo-wop" and asks teens who they prefer.
Street corners are alive again with the sweet, soulful sound of group harmonies. Vocal quartets Color Me Badd and Boyz II Men have put the doo-wop back into the Top 10.
"People want to hear people who can really sing again," says Color's Mark Calderon. "Doo-wop's romantic feel goes back to the olden days."
But oh, how the music has changed from the 50's when groups like the Moonglows, the Cadillacs, the Spaniels, and the Cleftones sang under the glow of a flickering street light. Today's street corners are MTV, radio, and award shows. And the doo-wop--though still defined by tight, R&B-based group harmonies and scat-like background choruses--is now put to rap beats. Hip-hop doo-wop they call it.
"It's something good," says disc jockey Don K. Reed, host of The Doo Wop Shop, broadcast on New York's CBS-FM for 17 years. "It's bringing harmony back to the forefront." Groups include, Riff, Hi-Five, Jodeci, and the critically acclaimed sextet Take 6, credited for launching the current doo-wop resurgence. But none has attracted the mass attention that Color and Boyz have.
Their debut albums, C.M.B. and Cooleyhighharmony, are neck and neck on the charts, and the groups have duked it out at the American Music Awards and the Grammys. Tuesday they spar at the Soul Train Awards.
Then the two groups take their acts on the road: Boyz will tour with Hammer, beginning April 1; Color headlines a tour starting in May.
Their friendly, hype-driven battles recall street-corner rivalries of the past--the Paragons vs. the Jesters in the '50's; the Four Tops vs. the Temptations in the '60's; and the Spinners vs. the O'Jays in the '70's.
Says writer Nelson George, author of Elevating the Game: Black Men and Basketball, "It's an elemental part of African-American culture in R&B music and sports, very strong in one-upmanship and showmanship. It's 'Can you top this?'"
"I hope Soul Train can tie into this. It would be great if they could do a battle of the bands."
No such plans so far. Color and Boyz are gentlemanly about their rivalry; they don't even like that word. "Boyz II Men are like family," says Color's Calderon. "We have just so much respect for each other and our talent."
"We don't feel it's any competition," says Boyz' Shawn Stockman, but he admits, "I would be lying if I said we're not watching them. On business terms, we're their competition. We do have to keep on our toes because they're good. We can't sleep on our abilities."
Enough of the modesty, says Otis Williams of the Temptations; take off the gloves. "They shouldn't be hesitant to admit they're rivals," he says. "If you say there's a competition, it doesn't mean you don't like the person."
The Temptations and the Tops have toured together since 1983; each night turns into a cutting contest, he says.
"It's a healthy feeling to go out and do good, and show you are better than the other group. Groups nowadays are trying to be too courteous. They shouldn't be afraid to say, 'We'll go onstage and burn them.' The public loves that."