The Benitez Sisters got their start in their native Cuba. Fashioning themselves after the more popular singing groups around Havana at the time. However, as the times dictated Hermanas Benitez found themselves settling in Mexico in the early 1960's where their recording career took off.

Tonight it's a track from 1960 and an early stab at a Girl Group rock n' roll sound. Pepito has none of the trappings of the Havana singing groups of the time. Rather they tried to emulate a modified Doo-Wop approach. The result is . . .well . . interesting.

I would imagine you probably haven't heard this track before - I don't think it's been reissued on any of their compilations, and if you can get past the Accordion that plays a prominent position in the song it's rather catchy.

But don't take my word for it.

Transitioning out of Mainstream Pop tonight and sliding into Blues territory with a tore-up-from-the-floor-up version of the 40's standard So Long as done by the inimitable and larger-than-life Big Maybelle.

In the early days of R&B and Doo-wop, a lot of material originally considered Standards from the 1930's and 1940's got a new lease on life by way of the new and renegade music form. Case in point - Etta James classic signature tune At Last actually began life in the early 1940's by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra as a Big Band ballad with vocals by Ray Eberle and The Modernaires. Hard to imagine now, but it's true. And with the exception of the words and the chords, the difference is night and day.

So tonight it's the legendary Big Maybelle and a track she recorded for the Savoy label with Ernie Wilkins Orchestra from a session done on April 13, 1957.

I think we'll be leaving mainstream Pop alone for a while. Get ready for the weekend.

Probably one of the most influential singing groups of the 1930's and 1940's were The Charioteers, whose tight harmonies and luxurious ballads made them a household name to millions before their eventual demise in 1950.

But all was not lost when The Charioteers went their separate ways. Their lead singer Billy Williams formed a vocal quartet which proved to be as influential to the coming genre of Doo-Wop as they were influential in the realm of Jazz singing since their beginnings in 1930.

Williams as a soloist scored a massive hit in 1957 when he did I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter. The record sold well over a million copies and is still occasionally heard via the numerous reissues that track has appeared on over the years.

Tonight it's a track they recorded during their transitional period when they were signed to Mercury Records in 1952. I Don't Know Why (I just do) is a standard, but in the hands of Billy Williams and his cohorts, the song takes on a new meaning and lays the groundwork for what will become the Doo-Wop genre.

Sadly, this song didn't chart at all and, aside from it's nod to a style not yet set in stone, it gives an indication of just where things were headed.

Well Pop music was fickle back then - come to think of it, it's fickle now too.

More live guest appearances. This one from 1958 and the TV Variety show The Big Record, hosted by 50's singing legend Patti Page. This performance is by Billy & Lillie who, when this broadcast was done, were burning up the charts with their debut single, La Dee Dah. Sadly, it would be their only hit single, peaking out at No. 9. Two more follow up singles failed to click and Billy & Lillie slowly faded from the scene. But at the time, La Dee Dah had hit making potential written all over it and they were doin' it live.

Billy & Lillie on The Big Record - June 12, 1958.

Something of a guilty pleasure tonight, and maybe this week. The Pentagons were probably one of the less known of the Doo-Wop avalanche that took place in pop music from the early 1950's to the early 1960's. But they did manage to get two chart singles under their collective belts before calling it a day. Tonight's track was a minor hit and their second, coming out in 1961, just as the pendulum was swinging in the direction of Soul. I Wonder (If your love will ever belong to me) has one characteristic of a later Soul trademark; strings. And for that, this track represents something of a bridge between a fading genre and an as-yet unexplored and exciting new one.

At any rate, it's something different for The Roundtable tonight. I haven't actually played anything representing the Doo-Wop period in a very long time and this track has been something of an overlooked little gem.

It may not change your life but it might be worth a listen. Can't hurt - two minutes and it's over. A trip to the Dentist takes longer.

Just sayin'.

Continuing our survey of Christmas music, tonights track comes by way of the Doo-Wop contingent. The Voices were originally on Cash Records in Los Angeles and I don't have any information on the group, who was in it and how long were they together. Just a nice single released in time for the Christmas season in 1957.

Can't hurt anybody.

I was reminded the other day that I haven't been paying very much attention to that essential ingredient in the stew that is rock n' roll - Girl Groups. Mea culpa. Girl groups were a staple in the diet of 1950's Doo-Wop and later, when it morphed into Soul it became just as important an element as the Rhythm section.

One of the more successful groups to come out of the early days of rock n' roll were The Chiffons, a Quartet based in The Bronx and had the somewhat dubious distinction of suing George Harrison and winning when it was decided (by judge and jury) that My Sweet Lord was a little too close in style and substance to The Chiffon's mega-hit He's So Fine.

Their popularity has continued over the years, but really peaked in the late 1960's when Girl Groups fell out of vogue with the record buying public.

During the mid-60's they were still cranking out hits and tonight's track is one of them.

Nobody Knows (What's Going On In My Mind But Me) is probably one of the longer song titles and certainly the longest song title for a Soul single. It peaked at 49 on the Billboard charts but was still a great track and got a lot of airplay. Maybe it rings a bell?

(The Titans - Doo-Wop does Basie)

Something special tonight. An unreleased track by the L.A. Doo-Wop group The Titans, during a session they cut for Specialty in 1958. Formed in 1957, The Titans recorded for a number of different local labels during their short-lived career. Their hit for Specialty was "Don't You Just Know It", but they had several other titles in the can before they left the label to settle for a brief stay at Dolphin's of Hollywood before pressing on and calling it a day. One of those unissued tracks was this one, their rendition of the Count Basie classic April In Paris. Why it hasn't been reissued is a mystery but that's no reason you can't hear it here first.

One more time.

(Any song that jammed in references to Winos, Insurance Companies, Bears and Nazis had to be a classic)

And with every genre there has to be a sub-genre that goes beyond description. Maybe Ultimate Nonsense Lyric would be a good place to start. Shambalor is one of the great Doo-Wop songs that contains absolutely no logical lyrics anywhere in the song (with the possible exception to the Bear reference, but it's short-lived).

Sheriff & The Ravels had one hit on Vee-Jay in 1958 and faded into the stuff of legend. Aside from being from Brooklyn and having an association with Aki Aleong, who co-wrote the song and took the song to Vee-Jay, not really very much is actually known about Sherrif & The Ravels or Shambalor, other than the song is based on an African work song with nonsense lyrics tossed in for good measure. The song wasn't a hit, but its reputation has grown over the years.

And with good reason.

(The Rivieras - group voted most likely to gladly lose your inhibitions to)

We're heading into the wonderworld of Stereo Doo-Wop tonight. The Rivieras hit on the formula of big, lush, slow and dreamy as their signature material, after hitting-and-missing for a few years. As the Doo-Wop genre evolved from vocals with a rhythm background to big lush production numbers, so did the audience appeal. And with the extra added bonus of updating standards (since this track "Moonlight Cocktails" is an old Glenn Miller tune from the early 40s), it almost became something your parents would like, or at least tolerate.

Hard to believe now, but Doo-wop, in fact all of Rock n' Roll, had pretty much the same acceptance level with the older crowd as Rap did in the early days . . .and maybe still does now.

But the romantic component of groups like The Rivieras was pretty heady indeed. Slow dancing and mood alterations via gushingly love-laced lyrics topped off by plaintive falsettos probably did more to stimulate libidos than anything else on the market at the time.

And for an era swearing up and down it was heading into nuclear waste, this was a great distraction.

Maybe it still is.