koganbot | The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp"

The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp" from 1961 is a doo-wop track that has an aggression and crudity and potential for going berserk that reminds me more of rockabilly than of doo-wop. Maybe we can think of its relation to real doo-wop as like the relation of the garage punks to the Stones and Yardbirds. The dance is said (by Wikipedia) to have originated in a "blue-collar suburb," Bristol, Pennsylvania. No other track I've heard by the Dovells or by songwriter Dave Appell has this emotional feeling. Maybe it's just something I'm projecting onto the track anyway, a potential I heard in their roughness that they hadn't put there themselves.

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oh yeah, I've always loved this song, though the lyrics always baffled me. The singing is great, and yeah, it really rocks. I like how rhythmic the vocals are and how they play off the rhythm of the music. They were sharp as a this-tle for sure.

The kids in Frazer are sharp as a taser
When they do the Frazer whomp

The kids in Kagel are sharp as a bagel
When they do the blitzkrieg bop

The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp"

Jeff Curtis comments (lj thread)

Sharp in a way that's blunt, perhaps?

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