Little Anthony & the Imperials headline Richard Nader's Doo-Wop Reunion X

When Little Anthony & the Imperials join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month, it won't be strictly for achievements in doo-wop - the layered singing style that arose in the 1950s with vocal workouts such as the Penguins' Earth Angel and the Monotones' Book of Love.

The formal announcement of the Imperials' induction refers to "a rhythm and blues/soul/doo-wop vocal group from New York."

Listing doo-wop last suits frontman Anthony Gourdine just fine. "We're an r&b group. We're not a doo-wop group," the high-singing Gourdine, 69, said in a recent interview.

Why the distinction? Gourdine is, after all, playing one of Florida promoter Richard Nader's "Doo-Wop Reunion" shows tonight with several golden-throated oldies of the genre, among them Kenny Vance & the Planotones (Looking for an Echo), the Dubs (Could This Be Magic) and Gene Chandler (Duke of Earl).

But Gourdine considers "doo-wop" a pigeonhole, if not an epithet - a term coined in hindsight to describe songs of the '50s and '60s that used harmony and phonetic horseplay (see Manfred Mann's Do Wah Diddy Diddy). In the process, Gourdine said, doo-wop became a "broad brush" covering vocal r&b groups such as the Moonglows (Sincerely) and the Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You). He called the classification misleading and, worse, "an affront to the memory of some of the finest musicians in the world."

"It's my obligation to speak up for them," he said.

And for himself. Gourdine said only one of his songs is correctly termed doo-wop: Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop - "a novelty," in his words.

Whatever one calls it - the slow-dance classic Tears on My Pillow, the lavish soul of Hurt So Bad - the group's music is enjoying a revival. Gourdine, original bandmates Clarence Collins and Ernest Wright, and newest member Harold Jenkins performed with a 47-piece orchestra in August on The Late Show With David Letterman. Last month, Gourdine was on CBS's Sunday Morning.

The Imperials' Hall of Fame turn comes on April 4 alongside Jeff Beck, Metallica, Run-DMC and Bobby Womack - a salute by peers that Gourdine is enjoying without reservation.

Sean Piccoli can be reached at spiccoli@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4832. He blogs at SunSentinel.com/thebeat.

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