THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
499-The Rays-Silhouettes.
1957-It has never charted in the UK.
Best Bit-At 1.56. A farcical case of mistaken identity (silly sod) but thankfully a happy ending.
The Rays were an American ‘Doo-Wop’ group. who were formed in 1955, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, by Harold Miller, (1931-2021) (lead singer) Walter Ford, (tenor) David Jones, (1931-1995) (tenor) and Harry James, (baritone) they remained active as a group into the early 1960’s. During the 1970’s, and 1980’s, lead singer Harold Miller led several groups under the name ‘Hal Miller & The Rays,’ making personal appearances in ‘oldies’ shows. ‘Silhouettes’ would prove to be the only major hit single for The Rays, selling in excess of one million copies, and reaching Number 3 on the American Billboard Hot 100, and also Number 3 on the Billboard ‘Black Singles’ chart in 1957, although two of their other recordings, ‘Mediterranean Moon,’ in 1960, reached Number 95 on the Hot 100, and ‘Magic Moon,’ in 1961, made Number 49, also on the Hot 100 chart.
‘Silhouettes’ was co-written by the legendary Bob Crewe, (1930-2014) (see also best songs 1007-914-863-739-393-284-164-112 and 83) and Frank Slay Jr, (1930-2017) who at that time both co-owned the small independent record label ‘XYZ,’ in Philadelphia, United States. The Rays were signed to the label at that time, and their version of ‘Silhouettes’ was also produced by Bob Crewe, and Frank Slay Jr. The song became the first million seller for Bob Crewe, who in later years would go on to great success with the ‘Four Seasons,’ (see also best songs 739 and 284) and many others who are featured in this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list.
Frank Conley Slay Jr. was born on July 8th, 1930, in Dallas, Texas, United States, he died on September 30th, 2017, at the age of 87. As well as co-writing ‘Silhouettes’ with Bob Crewe, the duo were also the co-writers of the songs ‘Daddy Cool,’ (1957) and ‘Tallahassee Lassie’ (1959.) As a music producer his biggest success was producing the 1967 American Billboard Number 1 single ‘Incense and Peppermints,’ for the American Psychedelic Rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. Frank Slay Jr. was the manager and producer for the American Rock ‘N Roll singer Freddy Cannon, and in 1961 he moved to Philadelphia, to become A&R Director for ‘Swan Records,’ which was Cannon’s record label.
‘Silhouettes’ gave The Rays a Billboard Number 3 hit single, but had it not been for a competing version by the Canadian Pop vocal quartet the ‘Diamonds,’ which reached Number 10 on Billboard, it would surely have gone even higher. Incidentally the ‘B’ side to ‘Silhouettes’ by both The Rays, and the Diamonds, was the song ‘Daddy Cool.’ ‘Silhouettes’ first became a hit in the UK in 1965 when it was covered by the English ‘Pop/Rock’ group ‘Herman’s Hermits,’ (UK-Number 3 & Billboard Number 5) and then in 1990, the English singer Cliff Richard released a live version of the song, which reached Number 10. The American ‘Doo-Wop’ group ‘The Silhouettes,’ who had a 1957 Billboard Number 1 single with ‘Get A Job,’ were named after the song. John Lennon (1940-1980) has said that the Beatles 1964 song ‘No Reply,’ was inspired by the lyrics of ‘Silhouettes.’
‘Silhouettes’ is considered to be a ‘Doo-Wop’ song, ‘Doo-Wop’ is a sub-genre of Rhythm and Blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940’s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. ‘Doo-Wop’ features vocal group harmony, that is melodic, and set to a simple beat, with little or no instrumentation. The lyrics are simple, usually about love, and are sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a mellow dramatic spoken word passage. Although the musical style originated in the late 1940’s, and was very popular in the 1950’s, the term ‘Doo-Wop’ itself did not appear in print until 1961, when it was used in reference to the Marcels’ song, ‘Blue Moon,’ (see also best songs 343) in ‘The Chicago Defender’ newspaper. The influence of ‘Doo-Wop’ has continued to play a part in the first quarter of the 21st Century, through inspired acts such as Bruno Mars, (see also best songs 40) and Meghan Trainor (see also best songs 538.)
Bob Crewe has explained how he got the idea for ‘Silhouettes,’ saying that he was travelling to Philadelphia by train, when he spotted a silhouette of a couple embracing inside a house at one of the stops. This gave him the idea for the song, and he worked on it the rest of the journey. ‘Silhouettes’ tells the story of someone who sees his sweetheart in an embrace with another behind closed curtains, in a dimmed light. He is overcome with dismay, as he knocks on the door, only to be told that he is in the wrong street, and it is not his sweetheart after all. He rushes round to his sweethearts’s house, and vows that they will be like those two silhouettes he saw, for all of their days.
‘Rushed out to your house with wings on my feet, loved you like I’d never loved you, my sweet. Vowed that you and I would be two silhouettes on the shade, all of our days, two silhouettes on the shade.’