StreetHeart strikes a
note with doowop fans
By Clare Marie Celano
Staff Writer

The members of StreetHeart have found an audience in New Jersey — and beyond the borders of the Garden State — for their a cappella brand of doowop music.

Betty Semel of Manalapan walked out of a psychic reading in 1990 feeling like she wasted 20 bucks.

The psychic told Semel she saw her on stage singing. Although Semel believed it was nothing more than a bad reading, she tucked away the words of the psychic in the back of her mind and never really forgot them.

A dozen years later Semel and four of her friends are indeed singing on stages around the area as a popular female doowop a cappella group.

The five women who make up StreetHeart hail from central Jersey. Although the doowop sound has generally been heard from male singing groups, the women seem to have created a "street corner harmony" with an upbeat sound in a traditionally male dominated part of the music industry.

StreetHeart was conceived in 1998, but the idea of singing doowop came to Semel years before. She spent a weekend at a resort in New York’s Catskill mountains in 1992 and said that opened up a whole new world for her. She decided then and there that her mission was to sing a cappella doowop music someday.

"The weekend in the Catskills was my introduction to the music which eventually would become my whole world," Semel said. "It was like an epiphany, you know?"

Semel admitted that since that weekend, singing doowop, listening to doowop and immersing herself in this small niche of the music industry has been her obsession and her passion.

"I don’t listen to any other music but doowop," Semel admitted, commenting that she only listens to the radio on Sunday night when Don K. Reed of WCBS-FM is playing doowop music or when Harvey Holiday’s WOGL-FM show from Philadelphia is playing on her radio.

Semel’s passion to sing the music after her 1992 encounter with doowop in the Catskills led her to singing in various venues. She initially sang with several male bands, but said her voice never quite fit in vocally with them.

Fate then intervened and Semel was brought together with Lisa Marcinkiewicz of the Fords section of Woodbridge and Patsy DiBella of Hopewell. Together, the three formed StreetHeart in 1998. The addition of Vicki Warnock and Dee Fisher, both of Freehold, have now made their group complete and their sound one-of-a-kind.

Although the ladies have different backgrounds, when they are together the group harmony they bring to the stage displays their sense of camaraderie and close connection with one another.

Semel said she’s been dubbed the "driving force" of the group despite the fact that she has had no professional musical background and after spending just a few minutes with this singer there is no need to wonder why. She sings background and lead, and arranges most of the music that StreetHeart performs. Semel is also responsible for the bookings and has created an Internet Web site where fans can keep up with the activities of the group and check out the latest shows and concert bookings.

StreetHeart has been featured on radio, cable television and has performed in numerous concerts and shows over the last few years. The group has shared the stage with Lou Christie, Leslie Gore and Ben E. King. They’ve also appeared with groups such as The Moonglows, The Flamingos, The DelVikings, The Chantels, Dion and The Belmonts, The Cadillacs and Vito Picone and the Elegants.

Doowop music is not just oldies music, according to Semel. It’s a special sound and only certain groups qualify for this category of music.

"It’s early 1950s and 1960s music," Semel said, "and, some rock and roll as well."

The group has performed at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, in addition to many other locations. They’ve been interviewed on WCBS-FM, WOGL-FM and on Cablevision’s News 12 New Jersey. They’ve also been featured at Freehold’s Kruise Nite.

StreetHeart performs at least once a month, sometimes more often. They’ve been asked by Gus D. Oldie of Cool FM in Hilton Head, S.C., to perform at his annual concert, Doowop Classic Vol. 6 and sock hop at the Hyatt Hotel in Savannah, Ga., on June 7-8.

Semel is busy working on the more than 50 songs the group has in its repertoire these days. Excited about the upcoming concert, the members are planning to have a great time. In fact, Semel said, that’s why they’re in this business. In her own words, "We all have a ball!"

StreetHeart’s first performance was at Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., a place near and dear to her heart.

They’ve also performed at numerous benefits and fund-raising events. Although they are making money, it’s not enough for the ladies to give up their day jobs yet, according to Semel. But it’s fun and all five women appear to be thriving on the wonderful benefits they are deriving from being a part of the singing group.

Daytime sees Semel at her job as secretary for a chemical company from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. But nights and weekends are when she really shines. Those are the hours she’s engaged in doing what she now knows she was always meant to do.

Besides the singing engagements, there’s a great deal of preparation work that goes into each show. Semel keeps a book with records of every performance and every song because the group is often asked to return in many cases and she said she needs to make sure each show is fresh and "new."

A second set of papers regularly has her full attention as well. Not only does the singer keep a calendar of her own life and work related activities, she keeps one for each member of the group. She pretty much knows where each woman is at any given time. This way, she explained, when promoters call for bookings, Semel can say yes immediately without having to contact everyone.

"This saves time because if you’re not available right away they won’t wait. They’ll call someone else," she said.

Lisa Marcinkiewicz comes to StreetHeart with a diverse background in music. She’s been involved in Broadway-based and contemporary styles of voice performance. She’s had roles in theater productions including Annie, Oklahoma and West Side Story. During the day, Lisa spends her time as a customer service representative for a medical supply company.

Vicki Warnock works as a nurse at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, during the day, but at night she gets a chance to indulge her love for singing. She’s been involved in musical theater, choral groups, solo vocals and band vocals and has performed in the New Jersey and New York areas.

The newest member of the group is Dee Fisher. Fisher’s life is predominantly spent as a stay-at-home mother of three children. Her musical career includes singing for the United States military, at weddings and at political fund-raisers. She’s also performed in night clubs and hotels from Atlantic City to New York City.

Music has a way of permeating one’s soul and singing has remained Patsy DiBella’s avocation for most of her life. Her daytime hours are full with her work as a high school art teacher and a professional painter, but nights find her rehearsing and performing as the group’s bass singer. She’s performed in a cabaret trio and at numerous nightclubs, as well as in community and regional theater in musicals.

StreetHeart currently has a CD out titled A StreetHeart Named Desire. The CD is available at the group’s performances or online.

Semel said StreetHeart is looking for another singer since Marcinkiewicz will be leaving in July to relocate to Florida.

Semel may be reached at (732) 446-5283, by e-mail at doowop1952@aol.com or at www. streetheartgirlz.com.