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#6 Pop
Before there was the angelic youthful tenor of the pre-teen Michael Jackson, there was a teenager named Frankie Lymon. He sang lead on “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” propelling his group, The Teenagers, right on up the Pop charts!
The young Frankie influenced everyone from Ronnie Spector to Berry Gordy, who would later pattern his cross-over success on the musical template that Frankie Lymon laid out for the Pop Music industry.
I recall vividly being so excited by the youthful MJJ and sharing his music with my musical mentor, my Father. Daddy like MJJ but would repeatedly tell me that he was just a copy of Frankie Lymon. And of course eventually, when my musical taste matured, I realized how right he was. But I also wish my Dad had lived to here the entire development of MJJ musical talents during the span of his in credible solo career.
The composer of this song has been in dispute for years — but I can say that whoever wrote it made a classic hit song for the ages.
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#2 Adult Contemporary, # 6 R&B & #7 Pop
The proof of the song’s classic stature is that almost 30 years after it’s release, the cover version of “WDFFIL” by Diana Ross zoomed up the charts just as Lymon’s original release had done decades before.
Which of these two renditions is your fave and why?
Now please enjoy Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers first live TV performance of “WDFFIL” in 1956 and Diana Ross’ 1981 promotional video for “WDFFIL.”
Musically Yours,
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Filed under: Diana Ross, Doo-Wop Dynamite, Eighties, Fabulous Female Vocalists, Fifties, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, Guy Groups, Pop, Pop/Doo-Wop, RCA, Why Do Fools Fall In Love
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