Rating: 
Summary: Doo Wop at 50 2pk DVD
Review: As several reviewers have stated, when I saw the PBS program, I had to have the DVD. I grew up with this music. So what if some of the voices have faded. After all they are at least 40 years older than when the recordings were first made.The camera work was outstanding and all the groups looked as if they were having fun as well as captivating the audience. Most of my favorite groups were there. The Marcells were great! As were the Cadillacs, Skyliners, and Jive 5. The Platters did a great job. We all know that Herb Reed is the only original, but he does a commendable job of keeping the sound alive. My 8 year old granddaughter is now a Doo Wop fan. I will buy the 51 concert when it is on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for music lovers
Review: Watching Doo Wop 50 is like sitting down and eating an old fashioned banana split or hot fudge sundae... You remember what it was like, but you'd forgotten how good it really is!! Not only is the music still pure and simple, but the class and sophistication used to tell the tales of love lost and found makes hearing it just that much better. Many of the groups featured on this DVD actually sound more mature and better than when they originally recorded. On the other hand, it brings a tear to your heart to hear Jimmy Beaumont struggle to pour his soul into "Since I Don't Have You." I'm not a DVD fanatic--far from it, but I bought this one simply to hear and see many of my favorite groups perform one last time. Many of these groups will never be seen again, and it's too bad that they weren't given the forum to perform extended sets. Still, where else will you see (and hear) the Spaniels sing "Stormy Weather", the Jive Five with Earl Pitts sing "What Time Is It?", or the Marcels sing "Blue Moon"? You don't need the DVD to hear the music--God knows you can drop into any discount store and find a compliation of most of this music; but it's worth the few extra bucks to see the creased pants, the shining shoes, the hand gestures, and the appreciation these groups have for people that love their music. It's not grunge---it's not hip hop or country rock. It was a period of time that many can only appreciate because they've been there. Sit back and take bite out of that sundae and savor how good it is...one more time.
Rating:
Summary: DOO WOP RECORDED HISTORY- A MUST HAVE ITEM
Review: Get it, also get Doo Wop 51 & Rock, rhythm & Doo Wop. These are a triology collection. Each performance is like the original 45's except with modern, nice and crisp sound of today's cds.
Rating:
Summary: A Class Reunion with Class
Review: Though I'm too young to have gone to school and dated during the doo-wop period, these songs were still definitely on the radio when I grew up in the sixties. The vocal harmonies and musical 'innocence' appealed to me then, as now. I first saw some excerpts of this concert on PBS during a fund drive, and was delighted to find it available on DVD now. I was unprepared for the fantastic sound and visual quality of the DVD compared to what I'd seen on PBS. It truly leaps out of your stereo speakers! Whatever these well-seasoned performers may have lost in vocal youth over the years is well-compensated by the improved sound quality over those old scratchy 45's! Unlike your typical rock concerts of today, this is a concert where the performers are accessible and immediate. And, of course, most of the audience was around for these songs when they were issued, so they are well-mannered and allow us to hear the performers. There is an overwhelming feeling of love and good vibrations coming from the audience and performers alike. This is not the wild orgasmic devotion of kids at a modern rock concert, but a mellow and enthusiastic appreciation. The audience often joins the performers when prompted in clapping, singing, etc. Jerry Butler is an excellent MC for the performers, all of who gave their best for these performances. Naturally, with the passage of so many years, some of the original singers aren't here. I found it most noticeable with the Platters, where Herb Reed did an excellent job, but he ain't Tony Williams. Gene Chandler's 'Duke of Earl' performance is awesome. So many moments were touching here, but my favorite Harvey Fuqua's performance with the Moonglows of the 'Ten Commandments of Love'. Mr. Fuqua's voice belies the fact that he's in his seventies, and his weather-worn face and strong voice combined with the beautiful backup of the Moonglows takes this performance into the sublime. It was obvious the audience felt the same. So many young people have no idea of this fairly brief period in the fifties and early sixties. I showed this DVD to my thirteen year old niece and she was wiped out by the music. It's good-time music in a way that doesn't exist any more, maybe never will again. So, ignore the expanded waistlines and gray hair, and be transported back to a time that seems so recent, yet so far, far away from today's music. This DVD is a keeper, and a great demo for the medium.
Rating:
Summary: Great Show
Review: For those of you out there who enjoy the sounds of Doo Wop this DVD is for you and is certainly a keepsake for anyone who remembers that period of time or who just enjoys listening to good music. I found this musical presentation to be very good in it's own way and it seemed to have captured some fine musical moments in here worth watching such as Gene Chandler's vocal on "Duke Of Earl" and Jerry Buttler's soulfull rendering on "Your Precious Love" which were the two exciting highlights for me on this disc. This is one video presentation I think worth buying because it gathers together some of the finest performances ever assembled in one place and that it is truly a concert event that may never happen again in our lifetime. Or in any future lifetime. I found the sound quality of this DVD to be very good and the visual quality not to bad eather. So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy this.
Rating:
Summary: DOO WOP RECORDED HISTORY- A MUST HAVE ITEM
Review: Get it, also get Doo Wop 51 & Rock, rhythm & Doo Wop. These are a triology collection. Each performance is like the original 45's except with modern, nice and crisp sound of today's cds.
Rating:
Summary: excellent performances.
Review: I saw this vhs tape on television and I thought it was a very excellent performace by all the groups. they need to make more like these.
Rating:
Summary: Get it!
Review: A complete treasure. The Skyliners, Flamingos and Cadillacs are well worth the price of admission alone. A not to be missed once in a lifetime occassion.
Rating:
Summary: doo wob 50 vol 1&2
Review: this dvd made me very satisfaction of both song/ audio and the artist .I am 65 year old, i belive all people at these age love them very very much . good picture good sound( only lack of bass) and the great Song to Remember. Old & too old But lovely singer. I love them all
Rating:
Summary: Listen With Your Heart
Review: Some background on this tape, made in Pittsburgh, by a resident: It seems that some time back, the local PBS station had a Doo Wop show for its fund drive. The most return anyone had hoped for was on the order of $10,000, but Doo Wop pulled in 11 times that. The producer of the show, a remarkably young fellow named T. J. Lubinsky, must have received the green light to produce more Doo Wop stuff, and to distribute it nationally to PBS stations wishing to broaden their contributing demographic. Lubinsky did an admirable job. Whereas the first attempt had consisted of some (variably engineered) in-studio stuff, and some borrowed video, subsequent shows were staged in a grand theater (The Benedum Center), which was required to house a good portion of Pittsburgh's ample aging, Doo Wop-loving population. Some of the voices on the tape have, of course, faded. More remarkable are the ones that have not. On this score, Johnny Maestro stands out. He delivers an impressive - nay amazing performance. Jerry Butler also delivered - but mostly as a master of ceremonies. His singing was on-key, but let's face it, he could never keep the beat very well. The Del Vikings sound just like they always did, even though they are not all there anymore. The Cleftones were wonderfully entertaining, and seemed to be having a good deal of fun. The Moonglows were excellent, even though the televised arrangements both had Harvey Fuqua as lead singer. Harvey is great as a songwriter and as a manager, but he is far from the group's strongest voice. Fuqua came through, though, and the group's signature blow harmony was intact. There are some special moments, like a gracious speech given by Herbie Cox, the lead singer of the Cleftones, thanking the producers and expressing respect for the groups with which the Cleftones appeared. The reunion of the Chantels with their former lead singer, Arlene Smith, was moving (if perhaps a trifle overdone). This was also one of the very last appearances for the Flamingos before Jake Carey passed on, and even though they only hinted at their former celestial harmonies, the hint was the more precious as a last glimpse. Speedo of the Cadillacs doing his steps and strut was also memorable - particularly for yours truly. Ya see, I came to Pittsburgh in 1989 to go to graduate school. My choice of cities was made, in part, because of the city's Doo Wop tradition. Years later, I watched this tape, and there, as Speedo strutted through the audience, was my old adviser - who was standing up, grinning from ear to ear, and clapping in time to the music. It's a side of him I never saw before, and now I have it on tape! (He'll never live it down!) Less memorable were Lee Andrews, and also The Capris. Jimmy Gallagher, who really can still sing, was painfully off-key that particular night. Earl Lewis and the Channels could easily have been a high point, but Lewis was evidently more interested in showing off than he was in contributing to the collective effort. The tape transcends these things, though, and the lower points have the ironic effect of making the good stuff seem even better. To anyone who remembers the racial tension of the 50's/60's, and the controversy about black music and white covers, it is gratifying to see black and white performers on the same stage and even in the same groups. The Del Vikings, a group out of the Air Force, were always this way. (Johnny Maestro's original group, The Crests, were too.) One of the new reorganized groups consisted of members from Vito and the Salutations, The Impalas, and The Teenagers. The equally mixed audience, now allowed to listen to music simultaneously in the same theater, approved. Everybody is finally on good terms. There! That wasn't so hard, was it? One last note: A number of reviewers, here and elsewhere, commented on the quality of the unnamed group who backed up Jerry Butler and Gene Chandler. They are fine indeed. Some of their members were also playing in the orchestra, and if they are credited anywhere, I haven't been able to find the place. Even Jerry Butler didn't know their name, and he was on stage with them. They are from a larger local Pittsburgh group named, PURE GOLD, and if you are ever out this way, they will probably be playing somewhere. They put on quite a show. Wish I could name the graying Sax player in the tux. He looked like he should be playing classical music, but his rock 'n roll wailing was... perfect. Taken for what it is, the tape is also perfect. Mostly it's a bunch of old guys (and some old ladies) trying to sing. If you listen to them with your ears, you will find points to criticize. If you have a heart for this music, though, you will listen with that. It's the very best way to appreciate this tape. I give it all the stars.
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