The Rivingtons were a doo-wop group noted for being one of the most loud and raucous of the genre. Their first hit, "Papa Oom Mow Mow" (1962), like many such songs, began with the bass chanting nonsense syllables (in this case the title), followed by the tenor singing over repetitions of it. "Mama Oom Mow Mow", an even more baroque rewrite of the theme, failed to sell, but they returned to the charts the following year with the similar "Do the Bird". Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s in America. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A basso (or bass) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ...
Later that year The Trashmen mocked them by recording "Surfin' Bird" -- a song consisting of only the bass parts of their two hits. The Trashmen were a rock and roll band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1962. ...
Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, Ghoulardi's Friday night spot became The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show.
They were quiet, didn't offend anybody, and they substituted Tom Jones and Peggy Lee tunes for Baby Styx and the Rivingtons.
Bob Wells was so nice, in fact, that he became born again and moved down south to do religious broad casting (if you get WTBS on cable you can now see Wells hawking Bible cassettes in a commercial funnier than anything he did as Hoolihan).
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