Artist:The SilhouettesSong:Get A Job
Album:The Doo Wop Box
Though it is a one hit wonder, Get A Job is one of the most memorable songs of the doo wop era. This is a song that everyone knows. The Silhouettes were from Philadelphia and began in 1954 when Bill Horton became lead singer of The Gospel Tornadoes. Baritone Earl Beal and bass Raymond Edwards were members of the group. Tenor Richard Lewis joined after a hitch in the Army where he started writing songs. When he got home, his mom nagged him to get a job and the song wrote itself. The Gospel Tornadoes started performing secular music as The Thunderbirds. Their big break came when Philadelphia DJ Kae Williams agreed to manage them and record them on his Junior label. Beal suggested the change to The Silhouettes after the smash hit Silhouette by The Rays. Obviously Williams played Get A Job and it became such a big success he couldn't keep up with the demand. So he licensed the song to Ember Records for national distribution, gave a piece of the action to Dick Clark of American Bandstand and the song was a number one smash hit in 1958. The Silhouettes went on tour and continued to record but never had another chart hit. They continued to record until 1968. Of course they got a big boost when oldies revival group Sha Na Na used Get A Job as their theme song and the song also appeared in the film American Graffiti. This and many other doo wop classics are on Rhino's 4CD Doo Wop Box. The Silhouettes reformed in 1980 and worked the oldies circuit until 1993. They are all deceased. Here's The Silhouettes performing Get A Job on American Bandstand in 1958.
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