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Doo Wop

Columbia University, 1969

Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na's members went on to some unlikely careers. Rob Leonard, one of the original bass singers, became a linguistics professor at Hofstra University and works as a forensic expert witness. Alan Cooper became provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Joe Witkin left in 1970 to finish medical school and spent decades as an emergency doctor, and Scott Powell became team physician for the US women's national soccer team. Elliot Cahn, the original rhythm guitarist and arranger, later managed Green Day. Jon "Bowzer" Bauman spent years campaigning for Truth in Music laws, which stop promoters from billing a fake Drifters or Platters without an original member. Pennsylvania passed one first, in 2005, and dozens of states followed. The band's first album came out on Kama Sutra in 1969.

Central High School, Detroit

Nolan Strong & the Diablos

Nolan Strong was born in Scottsboro, Alabama, in 1934 and grew up in Detroit, where he formed the Diablos at Central High School around 1950. He reportedly took the name from a book he read for a school report. Jack and Devora Brown signed them to Fortune Records, their family-run Detroit label, in late 1953, and the group recorded for Fortune for about ten years. Strong's high, floating tenor made a deep impression in Detroit: Smokey Robinson called the Diablos his favourite singers, and Lou Reed said that if he could really sing he would be Nolan Strong. Strong was drafted in 1956 and came back two years later. Berry Gordy tried to bring him to Motown, but the deal never happened. He died in Detroit in 1977, aged 43.

Brooklyn, 1958

The Danleers

The Danleers came together in Brooklyn early in 1958 and took their name from their manager, Danny Webb. Jimmy Weston sang lead, with Johnny Lee, Willie Ephraim, Nat McCune and Roosevelt Mays. They started on Bill Lasley's tiny AMP 3 label, which couldn't cope with distribution and passed them to Mercury. Mercury put out their records for a while and then let them go. A new line-up signed to Epic in 1960, and the name also turned up on Everest, Le-Mans and Smash. The group had mostly dissolved by the mid-1960s, but a version of it kept touring, led by Weston from 1972 until his death in 1993. The original five sang together one more time, at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island in 1988.

The Collection