VA - The Doo Wop Box I - III [3 Box Set] (1993-2000)

Rhino's four-disc collection The Doo Wop Box may not contain every classic doo wop single ever recorded, but it comes damn close. Featuring 100 tracks, superb sound, and amazingly detailed liner notes, the set is one of the best various-artist box sets ever assembled; although these four discs will be all the doo wop some listeners will ever need, hopefully the set will make most listeners want to investigate the genre even further.

Rhino's first box set of doo wop classics was obviously successful enough to bring about a second, four-CD set. This time around, with all of the hits covered on the first box, the compilers have dug deep into the genre's history to put together a selection of some of the music's great sides, lesser-known hits, and rarities. Highlights on disc one include "Fool, Fool, Fool" by the Clovers, "A Thousand Stars" by the Rivileers, "I Love You So" by the Crows, "I'll Be Forever Loving You" by the El Dorados, "Smokey Joe's Cafe" by the Robins, "Life Is but a Dream" by the Harptones, and "Ling Ting Tong" by the Five Keys. Disc two covers a two-year period (1955-1957) and features "Eddie My Love" by the Teen Queens, "Ruby Baby" by the Drifters, "Zoom" by the Cadillacs, "Ka-Ding Dong" by the G-Clefs, "The ABC's of Love" by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, "Guided Missiles" by the Cuff Links, "Glory of Love" by the Velvetones, and "Mr. Lee" by the Bobbettes. Disc three covers sides from 1957 to 1960, including "Could This Be Magic" by the Dubs, "Zoom Zoom Zoom" by the Collegians, "We Belong Together" by Robert & Johnny, "You're So Fine" by the Falcons, "Island of Love" by the Sheppards, "Bad Girl" by the Miracles, and "Love Potion No. 9" by the Clovers. The final disc covers 1960 to 1963, when doo wop had its last great renaissance on the pop charts, with "Valarie" by the Starlites, "Those Oldies but Goodies (Remind Me of You)" by Little Caesar & the Romans, "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" by Curtis Lee, "I Love You" by the Volumes, "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler, "What Time Is It?" by the Jive Five, and "Rip Van Winkle" by the Devotions. A sumptuous booklet also provides much important info on the artists, the sound and the style. An important addition to anyone's doo wop or '50s music collection.

The first two Rhino doo wop box sets were straightforward anthologies of the best music in the style, concentrating on big and small hits and the best overlooked rarities. The third installment is also a worthy chunk of the genre's better moments, yet it is definitely a notch or two below its predecessors. Part of the reason is that, as many doo wop records as there were, the lion's share of the great hits were already used up on the first two boxes. Thus, Rhino took a different strategy for this four-disc set, devoting the first CD to hits (many of which weren't that big, or have certainly escaped oldies rotation); disc two to "should-have-been hits"; disc three to "celebrity picks" of the favorite doo wop tunes by star musicians, comedians, and record executives; and disc four to modern doo wop postdating the early '60s. Overall, it's still a nice package, but it's probably an idea that has finally come to the end of its line.