Doo Wop compilations

there's a store in Pittsburgh called the Attic with a completely mind-boggling selection of old stuff - they sell singles to the rock equivalent of the jazz-78 collector (and I think they do 78s, too) - they also have a hefty 50s/60s music on CD selection including the best selection of doo wop I've seen with my own eyes since Midnight Records was walk-in. There are a bunches & bunches of clearly doing-it-for-love series documenting local doo-wop scenes - Philadelphia, Los Angeles, places further out and of course New York which to my limited knowledge is the epicenter of the whole thing. I personally really enjoy the L.A. stuff - it's often less professional, but the harmonies can be pretty different - they feel like the stuff I would hear on SoCal radio growing up.

Anyhow, The Golden Era of Doo Wops series is pretty mindblowing. Great documentation of tiny labels, archival pics, etc - the liner notes often have to take in a lot of ground, so they're pretty compact, but they're a treasure trove of information. Lately really loving the Flash Records disc, a South Central LA label out of a record store on East Vernon. Amazing stuff, including two different takes of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jfd0GEMKQ

Here's an amazing sale, and all the money goes to PBS's Pittsburgh affiliate.

They're selling the first two volumes of Rhino's Doo Wop box set (essential IMHO) for only $10 each. CD only, I don't think they were ever issued in vinyl, but there's so much music, it would probably be something like 16 LP's instead of 8 CD's. Shipping seems to be a flat $4.95 whether you get both volumes or one, and there's also sales tax, but my NY order came out to $26.70 for both volumes. I don't think you'll find anything close to a better deal for brand-new copies.

FWIW, I was wondering why they would have these for so cheap. Apparently WQED has done a LOT for doo wop music, thanks to a ton of programming spearheaded by TJ Lubinsky, a local DJ who specializes in "oldies" music, particularly doo wop. These sets sold like crazy during their past fundraisers, and I'm guessing they just have a lot of leftover stock.

thanks for the heads up — that really is a ridiculous deal.

These are great (maybe three-quarters doo-wop):

https://i.postimg.cc/7L9sCs99/freed-1.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/gkpgDb7s/freed-2.jpg

Have l, just ordered ll. Thanks for pointing this out!

Awesome! Thanks!

nice, thank you

They might be clearing out some storage space, as they've used those boxes as pledge gifts for years and years, and I guess they might be retiring them.

i really can't resist a cheap CD box set — my local record store always has great stuff for very few dollars these days.

Ordered both! I was literally just looking at used copies on Amazon last week!

Best deal since I got a used Joy Division 'Heart & Soul' box for $15

I would totally have snapped those up if I lived in the US!

I had a moment a couple years ago like "wait a minute, CDs are dirt cheap now, time to snap up all those Rhino box sets I used to lust after", but a combination of OOPness and living in Europe meant they sadly did not come with the most inviting prices.

I only ever owned the third volume of those Doo Wop sets and while it's good you can kinda tell the greatest stuff was taken.

Anybody who ordered these receive them yet? I got billed right away, but never got any shipping info, and my email inquiries are not being answered.

Nope, still waiting

It's likely they're just slow - PBS affiliates usually are run like a barebones operation and if they're handling the orders themselves, that might be especially the case. I'm not sure why they're not answering their emails though - maybe calling might be better? (1-800-274-1307)

Thanks, I figured they were probably just slow rollers (PBS affiliate not exactly an Amazon fulfillment center) but if others had gotten hooked up by now I would have known something was amiss.

Hoo-hah! The stuff is on its way. Apparently they had to back-order some of the boxes.

That's kind of crazy that it's on clearance yet they're backordering! I think these sets are actually out-of-print (Rhino's own store no longer lists them) so maybe they're clearing out whatever stock's floating out there in general?

They've arrived in New Jersey!

And Massachusetts!

I received mine in Georgia and they are inspiring swooning nostalgia for the golden era of doo wop CD box sets.

Both four-CD boxes include a fifth "Extras" CD with a few additional tracks. Any ideas why this exists and why the same "Extras" CD is tucked into both the I and II boxes? Not complaining, it's just creating a little metadata-related confusion.

The contents of the "Extras" CD are

The Flamingos -- I Only Have Eyes for You
The Regents -- Barbara Ann
The Marcels -- Blue Moon
The Chords -- Sh-Boom
The Clovers -- Devil or Angel

I got that exact same disc in the II box set. I assume they figure that if you only buy the one set, it would encourage you to get the other.

Listening to this stuff makes me feel like I am in an antique shop. They always seem to have a boombox in the corner with a doo-wop comp playing.