There's not much good I can say about the COVID-19 Pandemic, except for one: I had a chance to catch up on a lot of streaming videos that I had missed, but wanted to see.
And one of the best was a fine music documentary entitled "Streetlight Harmonies" about Doo-Wop music. Directed and co-written by Brent Wilson, the film recounts the history of the genre from its origins in African-American gospel music to "the streets to the subways to the hallways" all over urban American, as Jerome Anthony Gourdine, the lead singer of Little Anthony and the Imperials ("Tears on my Pillow"), says in one of 45 interviews captured in the 83-minute film.
But it's not just talking heads, as the interviews are interspersed with rare archival footage of concerts, civil rights protests, and other informative and entertaining commentary.
Altogether, "Streetlight Harmonies" presents a joyful noise of the soundtrack of much of my generation's lives and loves.
And one of the best was a fine music documentary entitled "Streetlight Harmonies" about Doo-Wop music. Directed and co-written by Brent Wilson, the film recounts the history of the genre from its origins in African-American gospel music to "the streets to the subways to the hallways" all over urban American, as Jerome Anthony Gourdine, the lead singer of Little Anthony and the Imperials ("Tears on my Pillow"), says in one of 45 interviews captured in the 83-minute film.
But it's not just talking heads, as the interviews are interspersed with rare archival footage of concerts, civil rights protests, and other informative and entertaining commentary.
Altogether, "Streetlight Harmonies" presents a joyful noise of the soundtrack of much of my generation's lives and loves.
My first Doo-Wop memory was of sitting in the dark Trail Theater in little Olathe, Kansas, and watching transfixed over and over, at least three times, the 1956 movie "Rock, Rock, Rock, with the Moonglows ("Ten Commandments of Love"), the Flamingos ("I Only Have Eyes for You"), and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"), not to mention LaVern Baker and Chuck Berry.
Fast forward to 1965 when the Drifters ("This Magic Moment") played an all-night Kansas University frat party in Lawrence.
Later, around 2015, my daughter Emily and I caught Martha and the Vadnellas ("Dancing in the Streets") at B.B. Kings in New York City.
Later, around 2015, my daughter Emily and I caught Martha and the Vadnellas ("Dancing in the Streets") at B.B. Kings in New York City.
Then, one night, in 2019, after a canoe trip in southern Mississippi, my son Sam and I went to a Charmaine Neville show at the Snug Harbor Jazz Club in New Orleans and were surprised when Charmaine invited one of New Orleans' Dixie Cups to join her and the mainly older tourist audience in a choir-like chorus of "Chapel of Love"..."Going to the Chapel and we're going to get married..."
So it goes: Fantastic music, fantastic film! Be prepared to sing along.
So it goes: Fantastic music, fantastic film! Be prepared to sing along.
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