Doo Wop Music
Many songs were a hit on the R&B chart but not so on the pop charts. This doo woo ballad may or may not be familiar. The Jacks, due to music business issues, also recorded as The Cadets. The latter was how they first called themselves with Modern Records, and they released the commercially successful “Stranded in the Jungle.” But two weeks after that release, the owners of Modern put them back into the studio to do a cover of another R&B group’s record that looked like it was going to be successful. This was “Why Don’t You Write Me?” by The Feathers. Modern didn’t want to confuse DJs, evidently, with another release so close after the first one, so the group was called The Jacks. They continued to release records under both names — with The Cadets under Modern and The Jacks under their subsidiary label RPM. Anyway, “Why Don’t You Write Me?” is some beautifully sung doo wop and went to #3 on the R&B Chart and #82 on the Billboard Pop Chart in 1955.
The group members for the record were Lloyd McCraw, Willie Davis, Ted Taylor, Aaron Collins, and Will “Dub” Jones. Years later, two members, Davis and Collins, had a hit as part of The Flares with “Foot Stomping.” Ted Taylor pursued a solo soul career. Will “Dub” Jones became a member of The Coasters.
