Sometimes all it takes is a big old hook and a lot of energy to push a song over the top. Manfred Mann, like most British Invasion bands in the 1960s, had energy to spare. And "Do Wah Diddy Diddy ...

Manfred Mann had begun life as an R&B and jazz-inflected group. To that point, they'd notched U.K. hits with original tunes, including "5-4-3-2-1," but nothing on this scale."It hadn't started off ...

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.

HOW TO DO A REAL CADENCE: Do Wah Diddy Diddy, which John and Russell decide to use as a marching cadence, was a song by The Exciters in late 1963. After Stripes, it became a popular cadence in the ...