Etymology

doo-wop

Today it means: A style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that was mostly popular within Black Americans of African descent in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s that is best characterized by nonsensical backing vocals with very little to no instrumentation. Full definition →

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The story

Coined by DJ Gus Gossert in the 1970s, referring to (mostly) white rock-and-roll groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The name is onomatopoeic, representing the nonlexical backing vocals of some songs of the genre.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.