A doo-wopping good time

Cardigans come to mind, and monster Chevrolets with tail fins, when

the music of The Alley Cats begins to play.

That’s because The Alley Cats sing a cappella doo-wop, a style that

had its heyday in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. And they sing it just like it

was sung back then.

The Alley Cats perform at Borders Books, Music & Cafe at 7 p.m.

Sunday.

The group, composed of bass Royce Reynolds, tenors Armando Fonseca and

Phil Gold, and baritone John O’Campo, was formed in 1987 at Fullerton

College.

At a variety night, Fonseca suggested that he and Reynolds perform an

a cappella version of Billy Joel’s tune “The Longest Time.”

“It was a big hit that night,” Reynolds said. “Another teacher said,

‘Hey, can you come sing at our concert, and can you sing a couple of

songs?’ ”

Just like that, the ball was rolling.

A few days later, after the next performance, Reynolds heard another

question.

“Hey, do you guys do parties?”

“Uh, yeah,” was his quick response. “I guess we do now.”

A year later, they were performing in Disney’s “Blast to the Past”

show and went on to appear on numerous television shows, including “The

Arsenio Hall Show” and Richard Simmons’ “Dance Your Pants Off” workout

video.

“It’s a music that’s kind of timeless,” Reynolds said. “It’s very pop,

bubblegum, innocent if you will. It’s up and it’s love. Most of the

things that have to with that have a timeless quality.”

In their recordings, the group takes a flexible approach to the

classics. They run through chestnuts such as The Temptations’ “My Girl”

and The Clovers’ “Love Potion No. 9,” but they do the tunes their own

way, bringing their own vocal strengths to the arrangement.

The group’s engaging reinterpretation of the earlier material has

earned it a slot as an opening act for many of the artists who originally

wrote doo-wop songs, such as The Coasters, The Tokens, Chubby Checker and

Bill Medley.

“It’s great to be in the presence of the people who started that era

of music,” Reynolds said.

Borders is at 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa.

-- Alex Coolman