Doo wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins. And who can forget the extreme some people might protest any link between the words architectural treasures and wildwood, new jersey, but this sassy. This shore destination has one of the most beautiful beaches on the east coast. Selfguided architectural tours hop on your bike or jump in your car and experience the architecture of americas hippest resort. This onehour presentation by alan hess describes the history and character defining features of googie architecture and concludes with a brief discussion about threats to googie, historic integrity, and adaptive reuse of googie. Wildwood is also popular with visitors who come for the doo wop, 50s and 60s themed architecture, music and history of that era. Frequently, the backing vocalists sang nonsense words as. The style represented the culmination of many hours spent by teensusually black malespracticing vocal harmonies in school gyms, street corners, and subway entrances. Doo wop artists were vocal groups, with each singer in the group taking a different part that interweaved with the other singers. Doo wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated among africanamerican youth in the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the united states, including new york, philadelphia, chicago, baltimore, newark, detroit, and washington, dc. Jan 01, 2007 doo wop motels paperback architectural treasures of the wildwoods.
Googie architecture also known as populuxe or doo wop is a form of novelty architecture and a subdivision of futurist architecture, influenced by car culture and the space age and atomic age. The wildwoods, a refurbished surfside restaurant from the 1960s, is said to contain the countrys largest collection of midcentury resort architecture. A small collection of hard to find doowop titles to round out any collection of this type. The retro motels, quaint cool diners, and litup signs were a part of the doowop architecture that was so popular in the 1950s. Contains a collectors checklist of the top foowop songs of all time. The 50s were rich in cultural events and iconic performances and this landmark volume traces the development of the music, politics, art, architecture and popular culture. Schropsdorff is a guide for the fourtimesweekly doo wop tours of wildwoods commercial architecture of the 1950s and 60s. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. This spaceshipcentirc architecture was a reaction to the nuclear arms and space races after world war ii. During the 50s and 60s, the sweeping angles, bright colors, jetglass walls, and, of course, plastic palm trees of the doo wop style of architecture blossomed in wildwood and wildwood crest. Much like sterlings new york times bestseller hippie, doo wop captures the spirit of an era in spectacular visuals, revealing the roots of the 60s music explosion. To combat this situation, theres now a doowop preservation league, and even a museum, housed in a former diner. Other trademark doo wop architectural elements include boomerang rooflines, jutting facades, and zigzagging balconies and railings.
The different categories of doo wop architecture include. Known in the wildwoods as doo wop, the style is mostly represented in the resorts surviving motels, built between 1955 and 1970, and comes in a variety. Wildwoods have recently been the subject of widespread notice for their unique concentration of mid. This fun, colorful book recounts the stories of the motels, describes their special featuresfrom glorious neon signs to ubiquitous plastic palm.
Photo book documents hallmark doo wop style disappearing from. Included are approximate values on 45 rpm records and information on 78 rpms, demos, bootlegs, unreleased and album material primarily covering the late 1940s through the midsixties. Since the early 2000s, wildwood has experienced an economic upturn, with bland condos rising at the expense of many hotels. The complete story of doowop street corner symphonies is a 15volume yearbyyear survey of doowop by scholar bill dahl. See more ideas about rock and roll, black music, singing group. In the last decade wildwood and wildwood crest have become literally world famous for their abundant doo wop architecture. A twovolume set containing almost 1200 pages of information on over 36,000 songs. Included are approximate values on 45 rpm records and information on 78 rpms, demos, bootlegs. See more ideas about art and architecture, googie and wildwood crest. The casinos and their surprise doowop hit then you can. The style is related to and sometimes synonymous with the raygun gothic style as coined by writer william gibson. Googiethemed architecture was popular among motels, coffee houses and gas stations. The motels were also nicknamed, doowop motels, after the funkyfresh genre of music, doowop, which was developed in africanamerican communities in. Architects and preservationists have turned a strip of new jersey shore into a monument to midcentury architecture.
Feb 28, 2012 art and architecture from the doo wop era. Exceptional colour photographs of the midtwentiethcentury motels of wildwood, new jersey, usa, the largest concentration of the exuberant architectural style sometimes known as doo wop complete with neon signs and plastic palms. However, googie ideas can be found on commercial buildings in other parts of the country, most noticeably in the doo wop architecture of wildwood, new. T he design style, with its emphasis on neon lights, made wildwood famous during the height of its popularity in the 1960s and. For a small fee, guests can hop on the bus and take a step back in time while taking in a guided tour of the largest concentration of doo wop architecture in the country. Jun 18, 2018 theres a reason you feel like you are stepping back in time in the wildwoods. It was named after a music style popular at that time, sung by groups like the turbans and the ink spots. With abundant background and enticing images, it covers way more than just the gorgeous harmonies of the.
Architectural treasures of the wildwoods kindle edition by hastings, kirk. Googie, also known as populuxe or doo wop, is a subdivision of futurist architecture, influenced by car culture and the space age and atomic age, originating from southern california in the late 1940s and continuing approximately into the mid1960s. Brimming with cool artifacts, fun memories, fascinating history and bright neon lights, the doo wop experience museum and neon sign garden is a celebration of architecture, design, music, pop culture and everything else that made wildwood famous in its heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. A nostalgic, illustrated study pays tribute to the architectural features of new jerseys motels of the wildwoods, looking at the unique style known as doo wop architecture as exemplified in structures constructed between 1955 and 1970, including such forms as modern, vroom. Doowop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated among africanamerican youth in the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the united states, including new york, philadelphia, chicago, baltimore, newark, detroit, and washington, dc.
See more ideas about 60s music, rock and roll and songs. The first is a history of doo wop motel architecture and its subcategories of modern think jetsons vroom. Stars from the hit broadway musicals jersey boys and motown. Visitors are encouraged to stop in at the doo wop preservation leagues doo wop experience museum on ocean and montgomery avenues to learn more about doo wop and what made the wildwoods famous in the 50s. As a trolley actually a bus made to look like an oldtime city. Even the famous wildwood, with its distinctive doowop architecture, hides forgotten stories.
Contains a collectors checklist of the top foo wop songs of all time. Even the famous wildwood, with its distinctive doo wop architecture, hides forgotten stories. Many of the doo wop motels including the ebb tide were built by will and lou. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading doo wop motels. Doo wop motels is composed of three distinct parts.
A must for all lovers of vocal group harmony and foo wop music. I have shockingly few books in my collection that focus on this era in music history, so im looking for some recommended reading. The wildwoods also offer the largest collection of mid20th century architecture, known as doo wop architecture, in the country. Architectural treasures of the wildwoods by kirk hastings. This fun, colorful book recounts the stories of the motels, describes their special featuresfrom glorious neon signs to ubiquitous plastic palm treesand covers the recent neo doo wop buildings that have risen in the wake of doo wop preservation. The museum features 1950s and 60s furniture and household items, a diner interior, jukebox and reference books designed to reflect what it was like during the period when doowop architecture. Jeffrey melnick, author of a right to sing the blues. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Harmony, teenagers and the complete story of doowop. Other lists include the best leads, the best basses, the best of the female groups, white groups, schoolboy sound, gang sound, pop sound, etc. Doo wop captures the spirit of an era in spectacular visuals, revealing the roots of the 60s music explosion with abundant background information and enticing images. Few know that the classic american drivein movie theaters were born in south jersey. It began in southern california with the streamline moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular nationwide during the late 1940s into the mid1960s.
A must for all lovers of vocal group harmony and foowop music. Wop provides an extensive history of doo wop from the 1940s through the early 1970s, gives definitions and illustrations of the music that falls between rhythm and blues and rock n roll, and covers the musical groups that created it, including frankie lymon and the teenagers, the platters. Doowop emerged in the urban ghettos from the blending of rhythm and blues, gospel, and popular black vocal group music in the postworld war ii era. Get to know doowop architecture in wildwood architecture. Googie ui googee architecture is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the space age, and the atomic age. The resorts hallmark look doo wop is rapidly disappearing. Wildwood, new jersey is known throughout the world as a classic allamerican entertainment epicenter with its pristine 5 miles of atlantic coastal beaches and the 2. Schropsdorff is a guide for the fourtimesweekly doowop tours of wildwoods commercial architecture of the 1950s and 60s. In this unique guide to rhythm and blues vocal groups, mitch rosalsky has collected an abundance of information on individual groups. The three new jersey beach resorts known collectively as the wildwoods have recently been the subject of widespread notice for their unique concentration of midcentury commercial architecture. All songs considered every wednesday through the summer, were posting quick introductorylevel surveys. This fun, colorful book recounts the stories of the motels, describes their special featuresfrom glorious neon signs to ubiquitous plastic palm treesand covers the. The music, the times, the era by rich maloof and bruce morrow 2007, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay.
Architects stokes architecture richard stokes, aia. The three new jersey beach resorts known collectively as the wildwoods have recently been the subject of widespread notice for their unique concentration of. Doowop era motels make a resurgence in new jersey daily. Doo wo p is a term coined by mac the midatlantic center for the arts in the early 1990s to describe the unique, spaceage. In the east coast, it is known as doo wop architecture. Good vibrations dont know much about history wildwood days and nights a summer place i get around rescue me the beat goes on doo wop timeline. The style is related to and sometimes synonymous with the. Known in the wildwoods as doo wop, the style is mostly represented in the resorts surviving motels, built between 1955 and 1970, and comes in a variety of forms. In fact, more than twothirds of wildwoods modernist architecture has been destroyed. Architectural treasures of the wildwoods hastings, kirk on. Get to know doowop architecture in wildwood phaidon.
They appeared in motion pictures and turned out a string of hit records that have remained popular for more than a halfcentury. Kirk hastings lives in somers point, new jersey, where he. Doo wop s style is a mixture of precedents in composition, orchestration, and vocals that figured in american popular music created by song writers and vocal groups, both black and white, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Photo book documents hallmark doo wop style disappearing from wildwood. Doo wo p is a term coined by mac the midatlantic center for the arts in the early 1990s to describe the unique, spaceage architectural style that was common in the 1950s and 1960s that incorporated modern, sweeping angles, bright colors, starbursts, boomerang shapes, plastic palm trees, and angular wall and roof styles. The first is a history of doo wop motel architecture and its subcategories of modern think jetsons, vroom. The sand is amazingly soft, powderywhite, and very wide. Jul 09, 20 few know that the classic american drivein movie theaters were born in south jersey. Formed by five young black men from chicago, the flamingos rose to prominence as one of the top vocal acts of the 1950s rock and roll explosion. All about the googie or doowop style of architecture that was popular on main street america during the 1950s.
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