We Need More Love Songs

We Need More Love Songs: Doo Wop the Duprees and Me

Voice was the first wind instrument of man and a simple flute dates as far back as 67,000 years ago. The Greek and Roman God Apollo was said to be the father of all music with a lyre string instrument. Simple vibration and hand clapping dating back to the beginning of human culture eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for spiritual worship and entertainment, thus singing in Acapella harmony was born.

It wasn’t until I joined the army and met guys from all over the country my own age that I realized very few people knew what “white” Doo Wop or Acapella was. And that Doo Wop “a genre of R&B vocal group harmony music” truly was an art form most indicative to New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. This book is about my journey in an era and style of music much underrated. It’s been said the connotations of the words doo wop undermine respect for the music they said would never last. What they didn’t count on were the hearts and fans of the doo wop community who have kept the music alive. This book is not meant to be an intellectual or psychological x-ray into the music or business but more a diary into my lifelong passion for singing in a vocal group on the “oldies circuit”. Through the years working with so many talented singers, musicians, and promoters it has given me a broad perspective into the life of the doo wop community from the bottom up as the lead singer for a vocal group none the world over for love songs The Duprees.

This book is for that community of Doo Wop people, Doo Wop lovers, and anyone who has dreamed of hitting a good note in harmony with a vocal group but most of all for my sons and parents, especially my mother. I had a father I loved and he loved me in his own gentle way’ and for no fault of his own I knew little about his passions and dreams. What it was like for him as a kid, teenager or how he met my mother. What he thought about the world was rarely shared. So I invite the reader to take this open window into my perspective of what it took to make a lifetime of music in the Doo Wop.community. Our life lessons should be passed onto the ones we love. To Tommy Jr, Michael, and Luciano, Trust the Dreams in your Heart and Never Let Them Go…With Much Love…..

-Tommy Petillo Sr.