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History
of
The Doowop Cafe Internet
Club
& Radio Station
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1998
- Prequel !
Based upon talks in
an old Java-driven chatroom on Gary Larkin's Oldies Unlimited site,
four people discussed starting a club that would draw doowop lovers
from around the world to one central location.
Kewl Steve
Stedman, Barbara Ann Yatsko, Bruce Woolf, & Frank Pellicone wanted
a
club that would enable doowop lovers to converse, relate, and
share their memories & feelings about the music we all love.
1999
- The Beginning (KSDW)
Steve's Kewl Doo
Wop Shop (a
Yahoo Group/club) was founded by
Barbara Ann "Circe" Yatsko & "Kewl Steve" Stedman, along with Bruce
Woolf & Frank Pellicone on Sunday, July
25th 1999.
Doowop
music
fans began joining and it grew quickly, becoming Yahoo's
premier Internet doo wop club. During the next six months, the
club members who operate the club to this day all joined and lent
a hand to provide support.
Bruce and Frank decided to open their own club "The Doo
Wop
Corner" geared more toward the hardcore fans and vinyl collectors.
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2000
- Expansion
In August 2000, Jack
"BigJack"
(aka "furjack") suggested starting an Internet Radio Station.
Soon
after, testing began on KSDW (Kewl Steve's Doo Wop) Internet
Radio, followed by the station kickoff (part-time on Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday eves). Fridays
featured Clarke Davis & Kewl Steve. Saturday night was Andy
D., & Sunday was Woody. BigJack provided tech support and
filled in if needed.
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Several DJs have been with the Café
station from the beginning
months - BigJack, Woody, Terry G,
Dr. Phil , (all original KSDW "Good Guys"), and Big
Steve Cole,
another KSDW "Good Guy" (Kewl fired him-we brought him
back!) as well as Andy D., who Kewl also fired & brought back
several
times. Yes, the early days were a real rollercoaster ride!
Some of the club members met up in Long Island, NY in what was
to be
the first of many "real life" parties, formal and informal. |
2001
- Rough Times & Big Changes
Paul from Florida provided
us with the "Doowop.Net" web site in March 2001. In May 2001, a
weekend party was held in New Jersey, in conjunction
with a UGHA event. An informal party in Pittsburgh was held by a
group of club members.
About the time Dr. Phil
X became
the newest KSDW "Good Guy", Kewl Steve
quit the club, removed Steve's Kewl Doo Wop Shop from Yahoo, and shut
down KSDW Radio.
The station went "off the air" temporarily
in
early August 2001. With Kewl gone, Barbara Ann
had to run the club alone...a task that she almost
did not accept. But, with the
moral support and assistance of long time members Woody, BigJack, Gino
and Renée, our disc jockeys, and the demand of
our club members, it was decided to rebuild, starting with a contest to
decide on a new name. Can't call
yourself Kewl Steves Doo Wop Shop with no Steve!
During August and into September
2001, various efforts took place to get the club
reestablished, Woody founded "Our Doo Wop Club" as a "place holder"
club while we voted on a new name. "Doowop Cafe" was the name
chosen by
the members. While we were voting for a new name, FurJack
(BigJack)
worked out a deal with Chief and the gang at Gold Radio
(http://www.goldoldies.com) and we conducted our radio shows on
Gold Radio for about two or three weeks during August and September
2001.
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On Saturday, September 8th 2001,
Gino "restarted" the Doo Wop
Café on Yahoo Groups. By the end of the month, BigJack
had the Doo Wop Café Internet Radio server/station set up
and running. Also, all club functions
moved to the new Yahoo Doowop Cafe Group and BigJack set up
ourpermanent web site - http://www.doowopcafe.net aka
http://www.doowopcaferadio.com - in order to have a place for a
chat
room, the station schedules, info about our DJs and club members,
The
Yahoo Group, the web
site, and a radio station server remain in use to this day. |
2002
& 2003 - More growth
The Club and Radio
station
continued to grow as we added more
club members, more DJs, and more shows to the station schedule.
Member Jukeboxes and "Circe's Mystery Song" contests
were added to the website, along with articles about the music by Billy
Vera and others. Our online stores carrying Doowop Cafe
branded items, were created.
We needed someone to accept donations from members and keep
track of the "books". Doug & Chris Vacchelli stepped up and
have been our "finance
ministers" since we started the Café club. |
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2004
- Modernization
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Our original radio
station, as KSDW and then the Doo
Wop Café, was an old Real
Audio server, with a "dialup" speed audio stream. In June 2004,
BigJack coordinated a conversion to more more modern technology
.. a new server setup using Winamp/Shoutcast. This
required a
major effort by Jack, Woody and others to train all the DJs
with the
new software and switch over to the new server. We added a
"broadband" speed music stream
and the DJs began
broadcasting on both streams simultaneously.
Our Doowop Cafe party was held in Washington DC near the end of
June
and we filled the hotel for the weekend with friends, new and old.
Lillian Leech of the Mellows and other performers, attended our
Friday night party. Nate Thomas led our "Doowop Choir" !
The Doowop In DC event Saturday at Howard University was the
icing on the
cake ! |
2005 -
Continued Growth
Another PARTY !! In June 2005, we got
together in New Jersey for
the weekend in conjunction with one of Ronnie I's VGHA shows.
Friday night, the Doowop Cafe Radio station, with the assistance of Big
Steve Cole, broadcast from our party at
the hotel ballroom, and many of the attendees had a chance to say HI to
the listeners out there ! A great time was had by all.
2006
- Loss and Reorganization
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We at the Doo Wop
Café
may not have realized at that
time but our beloved founder was fighting for her life. On May 17th
2006, Barbara Ann "Circe" Yatsko, after fighting the good fight,
lost
her
battle with cancer.
The club moderators decided to keep
the club open
in her memory and as a resource for all of those out there who love
vocal group harmony music. |
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2007
We
continued to grow ...
2008
and grow ....
2009
and grow ....
2010
and .... that's right ....... grow
............
Informal luncheons and
parties were held by club members who gathered
in various places throughout the country, to meet each other and share
their love for the music.
Regular luncheons in New York City are held during the
summer months and attendance at them increases each time. |
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2011
- Present Day
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Our DJ staff has
grown over the years to its present size of over 40 people who
dedicate their time to bringing us the music.
Many
have helped
in keeping the music alive
through their work at this club. The current Moderators are David
(Woody
Woodster) Woodring, Renée (missdoowop) Bourdeau, Jack (BigJack)
Mizzer and Gino (lugino) Alfano. This great Internet club
and
Radio Station has survived and thrived, thanks to all of our
moderators, the great volunteer DJs, our listeners and those who
support us financially.
We
couldn't do it without you.
A special thanks to Bruce Woolf and RetroRay, both of whom have
gone
'above and beyond' over the years to support us in many ways.
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R.I.P.
We have lost many friends
over the years. We'd like to remember the following, and hope we
can meet them again someday, under the streetlight:
Barbara
Ann, Dotty, Marsha Grant, Jim the DJ, Annie Silagy, Bill Hoff
(dowop57), Carrie West, Jack Flynn, Ann Sullivan ( Richie's
wife), Iris X.( Doc Phil's wife) Mickey Dabulis, Grandtime Rich,
Billie Jean Norris, Johnny Mosca, Len Scher, Elkster, Jimbo, Jerry
Skokandish (Tuneman), Jim
McKissick (DooWopDaddy), Pam Powless (leadeast4evr), Cassie Roberts, and
others. A note: Due to the nature of the Internet, it's
easy to lose touch with
people. When someone "disappears", we sometimes don't know why,
but we do know that we miss each and every one who has
moved on, for whatever reason. |
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P.S.
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We would like to
thank Chief and Chriss at our sister station, Gold Oldies, with whom we
have shared
DJs and support for many years.
Last, the Doowop Cafe has "spun off" a
number of oldies and doowop Internet Radio Stations over the years, as
DJs moved on to other interests or decided to branch out on their own.
We continue to wish each and every one of them the best.
There can
never be enough oldies and doowop music playing in the world. |
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Below is a
(probably incomplete)
list of
the nearly 100
Doowop Cafe DJs
"over the years"
in more
or less
chronological order
Kewl Steve
BigJack
Woody
BigSteve
Cole
Andy D
Clarke
Davis
Terry G
BD
Bopper
Dave
the Swinger
Doc
Phil X
Night
Train Conductor
DreamGirl
Pam
Taxyman
JP
(Jack Strong)
Danno
Gary
Larkin
sjBarb
Rockin'
Doreen
Keen
Gene
Gentle
Ben
Oldies
Knight
Mare
Rick K
Tommy
Ryan
Bart
the Ghost
Les
Tingley
Joe
- Time Traveler
Tony O
Hank
Marty
with the Party
Huch
The Mad Hatter
Abie's
Doowop Taxi
Doctor
John
Frank D .. Nite Owl
Ran-Pikachu
Christy
Brian
Stone
Rick 2
Nan,
The Duchess
Frankie
V
RhythmDuke
SoulMan
Jan
Alan
- Dr. Doowop
Frank
- the Bunyip
V-Tone
Nay
Nassar
Richie
Paul
Billy
Rocker
Wanda
Diane
Kid
Doowop
Joe
Parknavy
Andrew
Mitch
Cramer
Bette
Jim
-Saltie Old Coastie
Grandpa
Steve
Jimmy
G
Carol
- Gigglez
Bobby
Bill H
Ronnie
G
Dave
DavaMay
Jim
BobbO
Rusty
Grandtime
Rich
Skyliner
Mike
PEP
AnnNRichie
Ron C
Haywood
Rollo
JoeMinnow
Jersey
Phil
Billy
F
JX Hank
Joe V
Brad
Ross
Kevin
Polly
Cyndy
Johnny
B
Dee
(Raz)
FlatTop
Lollipop
Michael
Joe
Panarella
Tony
Castro
Neon
Blue
Sandy
Ron
Philly
Dave
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