Listen: The Boy From New York City / The Ad Libs AdLibs.mp3

The Ad Libs were basically a Doo Wop act, leftover from a few years and name changes earlier, when the genre was more mainstream. I never got into the style. In hindsight, I’ve ended up collecting several genres I didn’t live through, but not Doo Wop. This sounded quite current, not at all out of place, blaring from my transistor AM radio in ’65. It’s one of those early musical memories that stuck into my little kid’s brain. I loved the line about ‘pockets full of spending loot’. Very 60′s and full of verve.

Lead singer Mary Ann Thomas had a fantastic voice, and I’m surprised the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at Blue Cat’s parent label, Red Bird, didn’t recognize it.