"Silhouettes" | |
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Single by the Rays | |
B-side | "Daddy Cool" |
Released | 1957 |
Recorded | 1957 |
Genre | Doo-wop |
Length | 2:45 |
Label | XYZ; Cameo |
Songwriter(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay |
Producer(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay |
"Silhouettes" is a song made famous by the doo-wop group the Rays in 1957, peaking at number 3 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. A competing version by the Diamonds was also successful. In 1965 it was a number 5 hit in the US for Herman's Hermits, and in 1990 it was a number 10 hit in the UK for Cliff Richard.
In May 1957, songwriter Bob Crewe saw a couple embracing through a windowshade as he passed on a train. He quickly set about turning the image into a song. Frank Slay, who owned the small Philadelphia record label XYZ with Crewe, added lyrics, and they soon had a complete song ready to record. [1]
The story has frequently been reported that Slay heard the Rays audition for Cameo-Parkway Records, for which he worked, and immediately decided that they were the perfect group for "Silhouettes". However, Slay and Crewe were actually already familiar with the group, as "Silhouettes" was their third single with them. [2] Neil Arena of the original Mello-Kings maintains that Slay and Crewe had first written the song for their group, but since they were away on tour and unable to record it when Crewe offered it to Herald Records boss Al Silver, the writers opted for the Rays instead. [3]
The song received a break when popular Philadelphia disc jockey Hy Lit fell asleep with a stack of newly released records on his record player. "Silhouettes" happened to be the last to play, and so it repeated until he woke up. He began to play the song on his show. [1] It became popular enough that Cameo-Parkway picked it up for national distribution, and it eventually reached number 3 on both the R&B Best Sellers chart and Billboard Top 100, [4] while also hitting the top five on both the sales and airplay charts. It was the group's only top 40 hit.
The Canadian pop group the Diamonds, who had experienced success with cover versions of other doo-wop records, quickly put out their own version of the song. They even used the same song, "Daddy Cool", on the B-side of their record as the Rays had. [5] Their version received widespread radio play in a heavily segregated radio market, also reaching the top ten of the Billboard airplay chart. However, it did not reach Billboard's sales chart, and only hit number 60 on the Top 100. [6]
Herman's Hermits recorded the song in 1965 after hearing it on American Armed Forces Radio. [1] It reached number 1 in Canada's RPM charts. It became their third hit in the "British Invasion" of the US, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also reached number 3 in the UK. Information from Peter Noone and others indicates that guitarist Vic Flick played on the track, and not Jimmy Page as previously thought. [7]
"Silhouettes" | ||||
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Single by Cliff Richard | ||||
from the album From a Distance: The Event | ||||
B-side | "The Winner" | |||
Released | 13 August 1990 | |||
Recorded | 16–17 June 1989 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Crewe, Frank Slay | |||
Producer(s) | Cliff Richard | |||
Cliff Richard singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Silhouettes" on YouTube |
Cliff Richard released a live version as a single in 1990, reaching number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. [8] It was the first single culled from his 1990 live album From a Distance: The Event. The single and album were live recordings of two special concerts celebrating Richard's 30th anniversary of his recording career. Titled The Event, the concerts were held at the Original Wembley Stadium with an audience of 72,000 each evening over the 16 and 17 June 1989. [9] [10] [11]
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
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Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [12] | 32 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [13] | 51 |
Ireland (IRMA) [14] | 13 |
UK Singles (OCC) [15] | 10 |
Doo-wop group The Silhouettes (known for their hit "Get A Job") were named after the song. [16]
According to John Lennon, the Beatles' song "No Reply" (1964) was inspired by "Silhouettes". [17]
The song was featured in the 2005 jukebox musical Jersey Boys as well as in the film version.
Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.
"Blue Moon" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 that has become a standard ballad. Early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé.
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/R&B group, whose single "Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's lyrics, later going on to perform "Get a Job" in the 1978 movie Grease, and the nickname "Xanana" of former East Timorese President and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão is in return derived from the name of the band "Sha Na Na", though with the spelling changed to "Xanana" to conform with the spelling rules of both Portuguese and Tetum, both of East Timor's official languages. "Get a Job" is included in the soundtracks of the films American Graffiti, Trading Places, and Stand by Me. The Silhouettes performed in the 1986 movie Joey.
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.
Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as her solo debut and lead single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on August 10, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. No commercial release was originally intended for the single in the US, but limited-quantity physical formats were issued two months later, on October 27.
"Do You Want to Dance" is a song written by American singer Bobby Freeman and recorded by him in 1958. It reached number No. 5 on the United States Billboard Top 100 Sides pop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. Cliff Richard and the Shadows' version of the song reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom in 1962, despite being a B-side. The Beach Boys notably covered the song in 1965 for their album The Beach Boys Today!. Retitled "Do You Wanna Dance?", their version reached No. 12 in the United States. A 1972 cover by Bette Midler with the original title restored reached No. 17.
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick, an original member of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings in 1956 but not released until July 1957 on the Luniverse LP "Come Go With The Del Vikings". The final version of the song was released in the second week of January 1957 and was led by Gus Backus. When Joe Averbach, the owner of Fee Bee Records couldn't handle the demand, he signed with Dot Records in late January 1957; the song became a hit, peaking at No. 5 on the US Billboard Top 100 Pop Charts. It also reached #2 on the R&B chart.
"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a romantic love song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, written for the film Dames (1934) when Dick Powell introduced it. Several successful recordings of the song were made in 1934; later, there were charted versions by The Flamingos (1959) and Art Garfunkel (1975).
"The Obvious Child" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his eighth studio album, The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), released by Warner Bros. Records. Written by Simon, its lyrics explore mortality and aging. The song is accompanied by a performance from Brazilian drumming collective Olodum in a live recording.
The Wonder Who? was a nom de disque of The Four Seasons for four single records released from 1965 to 1967. It was one of a handful of "names" used by the group at that time, including Frankie Valli and The Valli Boys. Wonder Who? recordings generally feature the falsetto singing by Valli, but with a softer falsetto than on "typical" Four Seasons recordings.
The Rays were an American group formed in New York City in 1955, and active into the early 1960s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes", a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957 on Cameo after being initially released on the small XYZ Records. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, Jr. Also on XYZ, they had a minor hit with "Mediterranean Moon" a mid-chart hit with "Magic Moon".
"Get a Job" is a song by the Silhouettes released in November 1957. It reached the number one spot on the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts in February 1958, and was later included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). The song celebrates the virtues of securing gainful employment.
Gerald Granahan was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work in the 1950s and 1960s.
"Daddy Cool" is a song by US doo-wop group The Rays and was released on Cameo Records as the B-side of their 1957 single "Silhouettes". It became a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Pop singles chart. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, who had also written the A-side, "Silhouettes". The song became a No. 1 single on the Australian singles charts when covered by novelty band Drummond in 1971, and remained there for seven weeks. UK cover band Darts also had a hit single with the song, which reached No. 6 in 1977.
"Bad Girl" is a 1959 doo-wop single by The Miracles. Issued locally on the Motown Records label, it was licensed to and issued nationally by Chess Records because the fledgling Motown Record Corporation did not, at that time, have national distribution. It was the first single released on the Motown label – all previous singles from the company were released on Motown's Tamla label. Although The Miracles had charted regionally and on the R&B charts with several earlier songs, including "Got a Job", "I Cry", "I Need a Change", and "(You Can) Depend on Me", "Bad Girl" was their first national chart hit, reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records' President and Founder Berry Gordy, "Bad Girl" is a sad, remorseful ballad about a young woman, whom Robinson, as the narrator, says "was so good at the start", but who later in the song "is breaking my heart". It is in the popular doo-wop style, as several of The Miracles' songs were during the late 1950s. The record's success, coupled with the distributor's failure to pay Gordy and The Miracles properly for its sales, prompted Robinson to urge Gordy to "go national" with it, meaning that Motown should do its own national distribution of its songs, and eliminate the middleman, to ensure that all money from sales of its records would go directly to the label.
"Daddy's Home" is a famous song by American doo-wop group Shep and the Limelites. The song was written by the three members of the band, James "Shep" Sheppard (1935–1970), Clarence Bassett (1936–2005) and Charles Baskerville. The group recorded the original version of "Daddy's Home" on February 1, 1961, and it was released on Hull Records in March 1961 with the B-side being "This I Know".
Frank Conley Slay Jr. was an American songwriter, A&R director, record producer, and record label owner. He wrote with Bob Crewe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the partnership's most successful songs including "Silhouettes", a hit for several artists including The Rays and Herman's Hermits, "Daddy Cool", and "Tallahassee Lassie". As a producer, his biggest hit was "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.
"It's All Over" is a song by the Everly Brothers, released as a single in December 1965 from their album In Our Image.
silhouettes slay crewe.
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