The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. September 7, 2013. Doo Wops concert. CLICK IMAGE for a thrill. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Paul Goldfinger Editor. Blogfinger.net. May, 2013.
In 1954, an R & B group called the Chords wrote this song and were the first to record it. “Sh-Boom” became the first Doo Wop song to make it to the top rung of the “pop chart.” That same year, the “Crew Cuts” made a more sanitized version which became a hit.
This song and “Earth Angel” were the first rock and roll songs I ever heard. This music changed my life and that of all my friends at Rutherford High School where we all had crew cuts and thought about sex every 20 seconds.
We did, however, find time to see “Blackboard Jungle” (1955) and to hear the soundtrack by Bill Haley and the Comets who performed “Rock Around the Clock” (first recorded in 1954). It became a massive hit with the arrival of that film.
At the Doo Wops concert on Sept. 7, 2013, in the Great Auditorium, the Duprees performed “Sh-Boom.” It was the only actual Doo-Wop selection in their set. Mostly they offered a Vegas style show. —-
Here is a re-mastered (2007) recording of the Chords’ version, from an album called “Atlantic Top 60:”
Penny: The programming was not only doo wops. They had Tony Bennett, Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Jr, Garrison Keillor, Allentown Band, and others. Those shows have been greatly missed in OG. It’s too bad because they were a source of good will through the community.