The Chords - Maybe Tomorrow 1980

The Chords were a 1950s American doo wop group, whose lone hit was «Sh-Boom». They are sometimes mistakenly cited as the first R&B group of the 1950s to reach the pop charts. Although both versions of the song Sh-Boom (by The Chords and by The Crew-Cuts) were huge hits, it is the song Gee, released by The Crows in June 1953, that is properly credited with the honor of being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group.

The Chords - Carl (lead) and Claude Feaster (baritone), Jimmy Keyes (first tenor), Floyd «Buddy» McRae (second tenor) and Ricky Edwards (bass) - formed in 1951 in the Bronx, New York, but were not discovered until three years later, when they were spotted singing in a subway station, a performance that ultimately landed them a recording contract with Atlantic Records’ Cat Records label.
Jerry Wexler, Atlantic’s A&R man, had the Chords cover a Patti Page hit, «Cross Over the Bridge» (it was also covered by The Flamingos for the Chance Records label), but it was the B-side, «Sh-Boom,» a vocal tune with an a cappella catchy introduction that caught the imagination. A cover version later done by a white group called The Crew-Cuts, attempted to add their own spin on the song by seemingly adding nonsensical syllables («shh-boom, shh-boom, yadda da da yadda da da da da da») that caused considerably more commotion. However the words («Yadda da da yadda da da da da da») were never sung in the original version by the Chords.