Hello oldies lovers!  Welcome to DooWopDave’s World Radio, formerly known as the Oldies Central Network.

My station features one of the largest and most diverse streaming libraries you will find anywhere. I feature the “Hits & Misses” of the 50’s, 60’s and beyond. My primary featured genres are Doowop, R&B, Rockabilly, and the Teen sound popular in the late 50’s and early 60’s by the hitmakers, the one-hit and no-hit wonders of the era. You will hear both the hits as well as the obscure recordings by the icons of the 50’s & 60’s. You will also hear obscure songs from the endless stream of teenagers and young adults who cut records in hopes of hearing their records played on the radio.

I grew up listening to my mother’s LP record collection, which consisted mainly of old country & western and pop music from the 50’s though the 70’s. As a kid growing up in the 70’s listening to mainly AM radio, I also have a special affection for the AM pop classics of the 60’s & 70’s as well.

When I became a teenager in the mid 70’s I was captivated with the greaser culture that was sweeping the nation at the time. For those old enough to remember, the 70’s saw a nostalgic revival for the music and culture of the 50 s era. Movies like “American Graffiti,” “The Lords of Flatbush” and “Grease” were popular on the big screen while “Happy Days” and “Laverne & Shirley” were TV hits. Groups like ShaNaNa and Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids revived the music of the 50’s and exposed my generation to the music of the era.

Because I was discovering 50’s music for the first time, I was captivated by the distinctive sound. I was particularly obsessed with the group sound now known as doowop, and, because I wasn’t born when most of these songs came out, it didn’t matter to me whether a song was a hit or not because I didn’t know the difference. All I knew is that I loved the sound and couldn’t get enough of it!

When I began collecting doowop and oldies records in the late 70’s I never dreamed that almost 50 years later I would still be enjoying these relics of the past or that I would have spent 30 years promoting this music on a worldwide platform called the internet! But here I am almost 50 years later still discovering new gems from the 50’s era and new groups and artists dedicated to keeping those sounds alive! Back in  March of this year I began getting a lot of inquieries regarding my opinion of all the AI generated doowop and oldies styled music that has been taking the internet by storm over the past few years. Well, because I am so busy with the content I create I honestly hadn’t an opinion because I simply hadn’t paid it much attention. So, I figured if I was going to give an opinion on the subject then I needed to educate myself on the subject. I started out by visiting some of the You Tube channels that were dedicated to to AI generated doowops and oldies. At first listen I was pretty impressed with the sounds, but after listening for a while I found the songs got rather boring and the canned. These were obviously songs that were completely written by and generated by AI with little if any human input. Because of that they lacked the heart and soul that produces authentic sounds and emotions.  Computers can mimic singers but they are machines and not living creatures (despite the superstitous beliefs of some ignorant people)  and cannot duplicate on their own music that speaks to the heart of those of us who are living creatures mad in the image of our Creator. I think of AI music very much in the same way I see Mr. Spock from Star Trek. He had intelligience but because he wasn’t human, he had none of the spiritual attributes that is the essence of life. It’s called artificial for a reason and that’s because it isn’t real! So while some of the songs sound nice and can be enjoyable to listen to, I’m not a big fan of the 100% AI generated music. So that’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.

I didn’t stop my research after just sampling the product, though. I was curious about how the music was being created and Gemini suggested I look into the Suno program because it was the most popular generator and supposedly one of the best out there for reproducing the authentic sounds of the musical genres I am interested in. So I decided to look into the program, and, because I have some computer programming experience from my days in the manufacturing industry, I immediately picked it up. As far is I am concerned it is the equivelant of CAM software programs we used to generate programs to operate CNC machines. It’s a tool that requires human input to function. The only language it understands is what is referred to as the “data”. When a song is uploaded, it analyses and converts the sound file to a data program that is then edited to produce the sound the person desires. When I upload a sound file to the program, I edit the program to produce the sound I want by the group I want to perform it. This is called re-imagining a song. When Re-imagining a song, I am in full control of all the musical arrangements from the rhythm, beat, instruments, etc. as well as the lyrics of the songs themselves. I can and often do ad-lib with the songs I re-imagine. Now the main thing to understand is that the songs that I re-imagine were songs written by human authors and performed by real people and it is because of the human element that the songs I re-imagine are more authentic than the songs generated completely by the AI generator. So for others like me who view AI as simply a tool we can use to re-produce our favorite songs in a way that is more suited to our personal taste, I am 100% behind that music and enjoy other peoples interpretations of old favorites. I have a ball re-imagining old favorites! It was through experimenting with the Suno program I discovered that I could actually write some pretty decent songs myself, as I have been a music lover all of my life and have always been drawn to the singer/songwriters in every genre I enjoy. It’s my opinion that generally the best songs are the ones written by the same person writing the song because most of the songs I like wer no doubt writtren from the author’s personal experience. I’m not talking about the fun party type dance songs. I’m talking about the songs that tell a story. Those are my personal favorite songs, especially when the stories are true. 

It was within the first hour of checking out the software that I wrote my first song, “She’s A Heart Breaker” and it was that song I used to learn how to develope the sounds I was looking for and the voices that would give voice to the songs I have been writing, thus leading to the many groups I have created to be the voices of my Baby Boomer Records label. As for writing songs, it has amazed me at how easy it is for me to come up with lyrics and ideas for songs. It’s not a big surprise to me because I am the dictionary definition of a muse, so I have tons of songs swimming around in my head! 

So to conclude my thoughts on AI songs, I am not a big fan of the 100% AI generated music that is what people think of when they talk about AI music. It’s ok to listen to in the car but it just doesn’t move me. For those who, like me, use AI as a tool to re-imagine old favorites or write new creations, I support and enjoy their offerings as I hope you will enjoy mine! It is because of the feedback I have been getting from my followers and because of the explosion of new followers to my various media platforms that I have decided to include my “Re-Imaginations & New Creations” into the mix here on my station as well. I will also be using the assistance of AI tools to produce featured programming here on a regular, scheduled basis. So keep your eyes posted for notices of upcoming shows. 

Having amassed an incredibly large and diverse collection after nearly 50 years of collecting, it still brings me great joy sharing this music with others who appreciate it as much as I do. So, I am thankful for the opportunity to have this platform to share the music that was the soundtrack for mine and countless others lives.

My hope is that you will make “DooWopDave’s World” a part of your world and you explore all the various platforms I am on as I open up “DooWopDave’s World” to the rest of the world!