The Drifters discography

Last updated

This discography focuses solely on that of American vocal group the Drifters as managed by the Treadwell family.

Contents

Albums

Studio albums

AlbumAlbum detailsPeak chart positions Certifications
US
[1]
US R&B
[1]
UK
[2]
Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters
Rockin' & Driftin'
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Atlantic
Save the Last Dance for Me
  • Released: 1962
  • Label: Atlantic
Under the Boardwalk [a]
  • Released: 1964
  • Label: Atlantic
40
The Good Life with the Drifters
  • Released: 1965
  • Label: Atlantic
103
I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Atlantic
The Drifters Now
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Bell
Love Games
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Bell
51
  • BPI: Silver [3]
There Goes My First Love
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Bell
Every Nite's a Saturday Night
  • Released: 1976
  • Label: Bell
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

AlbumAlbum detailsPeak chart positions Certifications
US
[1]
US R&B
[1]
UK
[2]
Greatest Hits
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: Atlantic
Up on the Roof – The Best of the Drifters
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Atlantic
11012
The Drifters Golden Hits
  • Released: 1968
  • Label: Atlantic
1223326
Their Greatest Recordings: The Early Years
  • Released: 1971
  • Label: Atlantic
24 Original Hits
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Atlantic
2
  • BPI: Platinum [5]
The Very Best Of24
The Definitive Drifters
  • Released: 2003
  • Label: Atlantic
8
The Very Best of the Drifters46
An Introduction to: The Drifters
  • Released: 2017
  • Label: Atlantic, Rhino
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

Title (A-side / B-side)
Both sides from same album except where indicated
YearLead singerChart positionsCertificationsAlbum
US
[8] [1]
US R&B
[8] [1]
US A/C
[8]
UK
[2] [8]
"Money Honey" /
"The Way I Feel" (Non-album track)
1953 Clyde McPhatter 1Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters
"Lucille" /19547Non-album track
"Such a Night"2Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters
"Honey Love" /
"Warm Your Heart"
1
"Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)" /
"Bip Bam" (Non-album track)
A: Clyde McPhatter & Bill Pinkney
B: Clyde McPhatter
"White Christmas" /
"The Bells of St. Mary's"
A: Bill Pinkney & Clyde McPhatter
B: Clyde McPhatter
805
"What'cha Gonna Do" /
"Gone" (Non-album track)
1955Clyde McPhatter2
"Everyone's Laughing" /
"Hot Ziggety"
Non-album tracks
"Adorable" / Johnny Moore 1Rockin' & Driftin'
"Steamboat"Bill Pinkney5
"Ruby Baby" /
"Your Promise to Be Mine"
1956A: Johnny Moore
B: Gerhart Thrasher
10
"I Gotta Get Myself a Woman" /
"Soldier of Fortune"
A: Johnny Moore & Bill Pinkney
B: Johnny Moore
11
"Fools Fall in Love" /
"It Was a Tear"
1957Johnny Moore6910
"Drifting Away from You" /Gerhart Thrasher
"Hypnotized"Johnny Moore79
"I Know" /
"Yodee Yakee"
"Drip Drop" /1958 Bobby Hendricks 58
"Moonlight Bay"Group Ensemble72
"There Goes My Baby" /
"Oh My Love"
1959 Ben E. King 21The Drifters' Greatest Hits
"(If You Cry) True Love, True Love" /Johnny Lee Williams335
"Dance with Me"Ben E. King15217
"This Magic Moment" /1960164
"Baltimore" Charlie Thomas & Elsbeary Hobbs
"Lonely Winds" /
"Hey Senorita"
Ben E. King549
"Save the Last Dance for Me" /
"Nobody but Me"
112
  • BPI: Silver [9]
Save the Last Dance for Me
"I Count the Tears" /17628
"Suddenly There's a Valley"Tommy Evans & Bobby HendricksThe Drifters' Greatest Hits
"Some Kind of Wonderful" /
"Honey Bee" (Non-album track)
1961A: Rudy Lewis
B: David Baughn
326Save the Last Dance for Me
"Please Stay" /
"No Sweet Lovin'"
Rudy Lewis1413
"Sweets for My Sweet" /
"Loneliness or Happiness" (from Up on the Roof – The Best of the Drifters)
A: Charlie Thomas
B: Rudy Lewis
1610
"Room Full of Tears" /
"Somebody New Dancin' with You"
72
"When My Little Girl Is Smiling" /
"Mexican Divorce"
19622831
"Stranger on the Shore" /
"What to Do"
Rudy Lewis7319Up on the Roof – The Best of the Drifters
"Sometimes I Wonder" /
"Jackpot" (from Save the Last Dance for Me)
A: Ben E. King
B: Rudy Lewis
All Time Greatest Hits and More – 1959–1965
"Up on the Roof" /
"Another Night with the Boys" (from Up on the Roof – The Best of the Drifters)
Rudy Lewis54Our Biggest Hits
"On Broadway" /
"Let the Music Play"
196397
"If You Don't Come Back" /Johnny Moore
"Rat Race"Rudy Lewis71
"I'll Take You Home" /
"I Feel Good All Over"
A: Johnny Moore
B: Charlie Thomas
252437
"Vaya con Dios" /
"In the Land of Make Believe"
1964A: Rudy Lewis
B: Rudy Lewis & Johnny Moore
4310
"One-Way Love" /
"Didn't It"
Johnny Moore5612
"Under the Boardwalk" /
"I Don't Want to Go On Without You" (from I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing)
A: Johnny Moore
B: Charlie Thomas
445Under the Boardwalk
"I've Got Sand in My Shoes" /
"He's Just a Playboy"
Johnny Moore3321I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing
"Saturday Night at the Movies" /
"Spanish Lace" (from I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing)
1883 (in 1972)The Good Life with the Drifters
"The Christmas Song" /
"I Remember Christmas"
Non-album tracks
"At the Club" /
"Answer the Phone"
196543103 (in 1972)I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing
"Come On Over to My Place" /
"Chains of Love"
A: Johnny Moore
B: Charlie Thomas
609 (in 1972)
"Follow Me" /
"The Outside World"
91
"I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing" /
"Far from the Maddening Crowd"
Johnny Moore51
"Nylon Stockings" /
"We Gotta Sing"
Non-album tracks
"Memories Are Made of This" /
"My Islands in the Sun"
1966482957
"Up in the Streets of Harlem" /
"You Can't Love Them All"
A: Johnny Moore
B: Charlie Thomas
52
"Baby What I Mean" /
"Aretha"
Johnny Moore623749
"Ain't It the Truth" /
"Up Jumped the Devil"
1967A: Johnny Moore
B: Bill Fredericks
36
"Still Burning in My Heart" /
"I Need You Now"
1968111
"Steal Away" /
"Your Best Friend"
1969A: Bill Fredericks
B: Johnny Moore
"You Got to Pay Your Dues" /
"Black Silk"
1970A: Johnny Moore
B: Bill Fredericks
"A Rose by Any Other Name" /
"Be My Lady"
1971Johnny Moore
"Everynight" /
"Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)"
1972The Drifters Now
"You've Got Your Troubles" /
I'm Feeling Sad (and Oh So Lonely)"
1973
"Like Sister and Brother" /
"The Songs We Used to Sing"
A: Bill Fredericks
B: Johnny Moore
7Love Games
"Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies" /
"I'm Feeling Sad (and Oh So Lonely)" (from The Drifters Now)
1974Johnny Moore832
"Down on the Beach Tonight" /
"Say Goodbye to Angelina" (from The Drifters Now)
7
"Love Games" /
"The Cut Is Deep"
197533
"There Goes My First Love" /
"Don't Cry on a Weekend"
3There Goes My First Love
"Can I Take You Home Little Girl" /
"Please Help Me Down"
10
"Hello Happiness" /

"I Can't Get Away from You" (from Love Games)

197612
"Every Nite's a Saturday Night with You" /
"I'll Get to Know Your Name Along the Way"
29Every Nite's a Saturday Night
"You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book" /
"Do You Have to Go Now"
A: Johnny Moore & Clyde Brown
B: Johnny Moore
5
"Save the Last Dance for Me" /
"When My Little Girl Is Smiling"
1979A: Ben E. King
B: Charlie Thomas
69Save the Last Dance for Me
"The Whole World"2013Michael Williams
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Billboard Year-End performances

YearSongYear-End
position
1959 "There Goes My Baby"29
1960 "Save the Last Dance for Me"26
1961 "Please Stay"100
1963 "Up on the Roof"64
1964 "Under the Boardwalk"20

Notes

  1. "Under the Boardwalk" is a retitled and slightly amended version of The Drifters' Our Biggest Hits album released in 1964. Title was changed and a new catalog number assigned when "Under the Boardwalk" became a hit.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Drifters – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 169. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. "Drifters – Love Games". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  4. "Drifters: Up on the Roof – The Very Best Of". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  5. "Drifters – 24 Original Hits". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  6. "Drifters – The Best of the Drifters". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  7. "Drifters – The Definitive Drifters". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The Drifters Songs Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  9. "British certifications – Drifters – Save the Last Dance for Me". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  10. "British single certifications – Drifters – Up on the Roof". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  11. "Drifters – Under the Boardwalk". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  12. "British certifications – Saturday Night at the Movies". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  13. "Drifters – Kissing in the Back Row". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  14. "Drifters – There Goes My First Love". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  15. "Drifters – You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved March 13, 2022.