The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum in Cleveland has called Charlie Horner, “one of the foremost authorities on early rhythm & blues and vocal group music.” Born and raised in Philadelphia, Charlie holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1970 – 1995, Charlie hosted a popular weekly radio program out of Philadelphia on the history of R&B vocal groups. He’s interviewed hundreds of singers and reunited countless groups from bygone years..
In 2008, Charlie and his wife Pamela founded Classic Urban Harmony LLC to promotes the legacy of R&B, Doo Wop, Soul and Gospel vocal harmony through multimedia presentations, workshops, courses, historical research, interviews, magazine articles, radio guest appearances, library and museum displays, producing and emceeing concerts, booking doo wop and acappella groups, consulting for documentaries and books, their website, www.ClassicUrbanHarmony.net and a free Classic Urban Harmony email newsletter.
Starting in 1979 and continuing now with Classic Urban Harmony, Charlie has produced and emceed nearly 100 acappella stage shows and is largely credited for a resurgence in doo wop music in the Philadelphia area that began in the late 1970’s and continues today. He’s written liner notes for over 50 albums and published more than 75 articles in music history magazines. Charlie’s served on the board of directors of the United In Group Harmony Association’s Hall of Fame and was president and co-founder of the Mills Brothers Society. He was awarded the Philadelphia Group Harmony Association’s only Lifetime Achievement Award and also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the first ever Philadelphia Doo Wop Festival (2006) along with their Doo Wop Preservation Award (2016).
Charlie and Pamela Horner have worked on numerous museum music exhibits including the Morris Museum “Jersey Rocks” exhibit. They designed, assembled and curated the highly acclaimed “Spirituals to Soul Exhibit” at Monmouth University Pollak Gallery and later at the Monmouth County Historical Association Museum.