POP MUSIC REVIEW : Oldie Groups Relive Rock ‘n’ Roll Roots : Joyous salute to doo-wop is rendered in works by the Cadillacs, Del Vikings, Jive Five, the Channels and the Earls.

“We ain’t getting older, we’re getting better !” declared Cadillacs lead singer Earl (Speedo) Carroll in mid-performance Sunday evening at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. Though his group and the four others on this “Roots of Rock and Roll” salute to doo-wop music might not have surpassed the joyous harmonies and unison dance steps of their youth, they certainly did justice to their memory.

Carroll’s Cadillacs generally occupy a prime location in rock histories (their 1954 “Gloria” was one of the early standards of doo-wop), and the Del Vikings entered vocal Valhalla with “Come Go With Me” and “Whispering Bells.” It’s hard to locate even a footnote on the Jive Five, Earl Lewis and the Channels or Larry Chance and the Earls. But they had all the documentation they needed when they launched into their hits.

The Jive Five’s “My True Story,” the Channels’ “The Closer You Are,” and the Earls’ “Remember Then” all are songs that--while the titles might seem obscure--have been sing-along favorites for years to anyone with a car radio and a few gray hairs.

Doo-wop, for the uninitiated, is what happened when black a cappella gospel singing went commercial in the ‘50s, as street-corner harmonies melded with the beat of rhythm and blues.

One could hardly ask for a better example of the style than what was offered by the Jive Five with their beginning set Sunday.

Featuring lead singer Eugene Pitt and Casey Spencer from their original lineup, they nearly stole the show with Pitt’s impassioned vocals and the group’s sharp harmonies and dance moves (as if their fluorescent pink suits alone couldn’t do the job).

They drew a wild ovation with their seven-song set, which included “My True Story” with it’s unforgettable “cry-why-whyee” falsetto refrain, the rocking “I’m a Happy Man” and “What Time Is It,” one of the great lost songs of rock ‘n’ roll (Marshall Crenshaw did a credible cover a few years back).

Despite the absence of any first-generation original members, the Del Vikings did a fine job of recreating their hits and providing a good example of the pure a cappella style with a version of Shep and the Limelites’ “Daddy’s Home.”

Along with its familiar hits, the group and lead singer Frankie Ayres shone on “So Young” (perhaps best known by its early ‘60s cover by the Beach Boys) and a new song, “My Heart.”

Channels’ original lead singer, Earl Lewis, displayed a powerful falsetto on their hits “The Closer You Are” and “The Gleam in Your Eyes,” but his voice rarely connected emotionally.

While Larry Chance of the Earls had a more compelling voice, the set was diluted by Chance’s Vegas-y jokes and delivery. He hit emotional pay dirt, though, and a contemporary poignancy on “I Believe,” a 1962 inspirational ballad he’d written in response to the death of one of the band’s members while serving in the armed forces.

The Cadillacs, with original members Carroll and Robert Phillips, may be a tad less spry than they were 38 years ago, but they still engaged in the antic dance steps and humorous pantomimes that once made them an onstage legend.

Along with the Louis Jordan-inspired cutups “Peek-a-Boo” and “Zoom,” which both featured Phillips on lead, the group performed enlivened versions of “Gloria,” “No Chance,” “The Girl I Love” and “Speedoo.”

The latter song found Carroll sporting his signature straw hat and cane as he paraded the group through the audience.

The show ended with all the groups, as well as Los Angeles R&B; stalwart Billy Vera, coming onstage for a mass version of the Isley Bros.’ “Shout.” It was an unsatisfying ending, though, as the Channels’ Lewis commanded all the lead vocals while far better singers were relegated to the chorus.

The only other debit to the show was the opening set by KODJ jock Machine Gun Kelly and his band the G-Men.

While the musicians did a respectable job of backing most of the show’s acts, with Kelly fronting them they churned out a generic, lounge-ready set of ‘60s rock, thoroughly inappropriate unless one believes that no doo-wop bill is complete without tributes to the Doors and even to Kelly himself.