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Arts & Culture

Rock, Rhythm And Doo Wop (MY MUSIC)

Little Anthony and the Imperials sing their hits "Tears on My Pillow," "Going Out of My Head," "Hurt So Bad" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop."
Courtesy of TJL Productions / PBS
Little Anthony and the Imperials sing their hits "Tears on My Pillow," "Going Out of My Head," "Hurt So Bad" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop."

Airs Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

This program is part of our TV Membership Campaign. Support quality programming you depend on from KPBS. Give now!

Join Frankie Valli, Little Richard, Little Anthony & The Imperials and more for a legendary reunion.

A simple song can transport anyone back in time. The lyrical and electric sounds of rock, rhythm and doo wop do this better than almost any other genre.

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TJL Productions presents a musical event that’s as close to time travel as television allows, featuring a historical reunion of music icons Little Richard, Frankie Valli, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Fred Parris & The Five Satins, Lou Christie and Lenny Welch.

Host Frankie Valli and all the performers in this once-in-a-lifetime concert.
Courtesy of TJL Productions / PBS
Host Frankie Valli and all the performers in this once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Taped at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh and hosted by Frankie Valli, Jerry Butler and Lloyd Price, the concert features a surprise appearance by Little Richard, who burns up the stage with an exhilarating performance of “Keep A-Knockin.’”

Evoking images of slow-dancing with a steady in the still of the night, crying to an “ex” that he don’t love you like I love you, or dreaming of happily-ever-after since I fell for you, "Rock, Rhythm And Doo Wop" is part of special programming premiering on PBS.

Give $25 a month or $300 all at once and receive the “Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop” Combo including the 4-CD set and 3-DVD set. This gift includes a KPBS License Plate Frame (if you're a new member). Also enjoy access to KPBS Passport and myKPBS Film Club. The 4-CD set OR 3-DVD set only is available at the $240 level.
Courtesy of TJL Productions
Give $25 a month or $300 all at once and receive the “Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop” Combo including the 4-CD set and 3-DVD set. This gift includes a KPBS License Plate Frame (if you're a new member). Also enjoy access to KPBS Passport and myKPBS Film Club. The 4-CD set OR 3-DVD set only is available at the $240 level.

Fred Parris comes out of retirement after a decade to join the Five Satins in a performance of “In the Still of the Night,” the number one oldies single of all time.

Hal Miller joins the Rays after 40 years of retirement to sing “Silhouettes,” and Kathy Young is reunited with the Innocents to sing “A Thousand Stars” for the first time since they recorded the hit when Young was just 14 years old.

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Ed Townsend, who wrote and produced Marvin Gaye’s R&B classic “Let’s Get It On,” performs his 1958 hit “For Your Love,” and hometown Pittsburgh boy Lou Christie displays his classic trademark falsetto in “Lightning Strikes.”

The line-up also includes superstars Little Anthony & The Imperials singing their hits “Tears on My Pillow,” “Going Out of My Head,” “Hurt So Bad” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop.”

In a touching return to the stage after battling throat cancer, Larry Chance reunites with the Earls to sing “Remember Then.”

Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop: Preview

"Rock, Rhythm And Doo Wop" Executive Producer TJ Lubinsky notes: “We’re preserving a personal time capsule of memories. This show gives the performers the credit, honor and respect they deserve. And for the audience, it’s as close as they’re ever going to get to that piece of their past, to what they experienced in the 50s and 60s.”

"Rock Rhythm And Doo Wop" features these performances:

• “Keep-A-Knockin’” – Little Richard

• “A Thousand Stars” – Kathy Young & The Innocents

• “Silhouettes” – Hal Miller & The Rays

• “Do You Love Me” – The Contours

• “You Belong To Me” – The Duprees

• “For Your Love” – Ed Townsend

• “Romeo & Juliet” – The Reflections

• “Lightning Strikes” – Lou Christie

• “Tears On My Pillow” – Little Anthony & The Imperials

• “Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop” – Little Anthony & The Imperials

• “Going Out of My Head – Little Anthony & The Imperials

• “Tossin’ and Turnin’” ¬– Bobby Lewis

• “Mr. Blue” – The Fleetwoods

• “Remember Then” – Larry Chance & The Earls

• “Daddy’s Home” – Shep’s Limelites

• “Cara Mia” – Jay Black and The Americans

• “Stagger Lee” – Lloyd Price

• “Once In A While” – The Chimes

• “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” – The Casinos

• “In the Still of the Night” – Fred Paris & the Satins

• “Let’s Hang On” – Frankie Valli