Published: July 07, 2008 01:52 pm            

Legendary doo-wop groups will grace Arcadia's stage

The music of two well-known groups will have an area theater rocking.

The Rock & Roll Doo-Wop Experience returns to Arcadia Theater, 1418 Graham Ave., Windber, at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The latest Doo-Wop Experience features Shirley Alston Reeves of the Shirelles and The Tokens featuring Jay Siegel.

Frank Cunsolo, Arcadia’s president and program director, is looking forward to Saturday night.

“We are excited to have Shirley Alston Reeves back again,” he said, noting the singer was part of a star-studded lineup in October 2003 at a fundraiser for Windber Regional Hospice at Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown.

“The Tokens are one of the finest entertainment groups featured anywhere,” Cunsolo said.

Reeves was co-founder and lead vocalist of The Shirelles, an all-female singing group.

Their first single release, “I Met Him on a Sunday,” was an instant success, giving rise to the Girl Group era of rock ’n’ roll.

Numerous subsequent Shirelles’ songs also climbed the Hit Parade, with many becoming instant classics as well.

They included “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” written by Carole King, “Tonight’s the Night” written by Reeves, “Mama Said,” “Let the Good Times Roll,” “Baby It’s You,” “Dedicated to the One I Love” and “Soldier Boy,” the group’s greatest hit.

Reeves was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Reeves will sing the same songs that became instant hits for The Shirelles, Cunsolo said.

He said “Soldier Boy” is a song that has touched so many lives and hearts.

He said it was while attending a concert recently at Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at which Reeves was one of the headliners, that he asked her to come back to the area and appear at Arcadia Theater.

“We told Shirley how much we wanted her back, and she immediately agreed,” Cunsolo said.

“She is an icon in the entertainment business and a wonderful individual,” he said.

Opening for Reeves will be The Tokens featuring the group’s original lead singer Siegel, Cunsolo said.

The Tokens are well-known for one giant hit song they put on the charts in late 1961, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

It became one of the most successful songs by any group in the 1960s.

Siegel’s dynamic lead vocals helped make “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” a smash hit.

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” also known as “Wimoweh,” is a Zulu song that first was sung by a tribe in South Africa.

After “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” The Tokens put nine more songs in the Top 100 from 1962 to 1970, two of which made it to the Top 40: “I Hear Trumpets Blow” and “Portrait of My Love.”

“Portrait of My Love” had been a Top 10 hit for Steve Lawrence earlier in the 1960s.

Other hits for The Tokens were “One Fine Day,” “See You in September” and “I Got Rhythm.”

The Tokens were inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame immediately after “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” vaulted to the top of the record charts.

Cunsolo said The Tokens were the first rock ’n’ roll group to successfully use falsetto.

That artificially high voice since has been copied successfully by various other groups, among which were the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons, he noted.

“Saturday will be a great evening for Rock & Roll Doo-Wop,” an enthusiastic Cunsolo said.

Tickets are $39, $37 and $32.

Information: 467-9070.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.