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As if being the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame weren't enough, doo-wop's wisest fools are further immortalized with the release of "There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco," a new limited-edition anthology from Rhino Handmade (rhinohandmade.com). Four discs collect the Coasters' hits and rarities from 1955, when they were still called the Robins, to 1966.
Comedians as much as expert R&B harmonists, the Coasters spent that decade turning the brilliant work of songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller into classics that most of us can still sing, if not correctly attribute. Those nostalgia numbers - "Yakety Yak," "Charlie Brown" (as in, "he's a clown, that"), and "Poison Ivy" - are here, nestled among some pretty cool photos.
But it's the lesser-known gems that really shine: "Hey Sexy" - a raucous teenage ode to girls in tight sweaters that proclaims, "I swear I never saw so much potatoes and meat/ There ought to be a law against you walking down the street" - and the very self-explanatory "Let's Go Get Stoned" defy the golly-gee sensibilities we expect from doo-wop.
The rewarding studio outtakes on the fourth disc capture the care put into the signature "don't talk back" line from "Yakety Yak" and other great performances that turned slapstick humor into comic relief from themes of heartbreak and misfortune. The care that went into "Riot" is just as clear, making it a great tribute to, and argument for, the Coasters' longevity.
[David Kieley]
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
