Our sincere thanks to Dennis Gillen and the Staff of the Philadelphia Doo Wop Festival and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 for another great Philly Doo Wop Festival. The weather was perfect and the vocal harmony was superb! All ten groups did an excellent job and we got to meet a lot of friends. In one afternoon, we got to hear Mid Life Crisis, 45 RPM, Grand Central Echoes, 5/3 Woodland, Frankie & the Fashions, Now & Then, the Belairs, Quiet Storm, Relatives By Appointment, A Perfect Blend and special guest, Chi Chi McCauley Devine of “Memory Lane” fame.
I (Charlie) was presented, on stage, with the 2016 Doo Wop Preservation Award and I thank Dennis and his staff for honoring me. Thanks also to Jimmy “Cannonball” Parsons for his kind words during the presentation and to all those who listened to me during my 25 years on Philadelphia radio. SiriusXM’s Cool Bobby B said to me yesterday, “Charlie, you started all this.” I’d n…ever thought of it that way, and it might be true, though many others also had a hand in relaunching doo wop music in Philly during the 1970’s. But little did I imagine when I first took to the airwaves in 1969, that this music would still be so popular 47 years later. Pam and I will continue to do what we can to preserve the legacy of this great vocal harmony. Again, many thanks.
We took a lot of photos and have supplemented them with photos from Matty G, Candyce Holmstrup and Keith Lewis. Hope you enjoy the photo gallery below! Click any photo to enlarge and then use your computer arrows to go back and forth and see the rest.
