Return to Rock-and-Roll Page.The Silhouettes were one of the classic one-shot groups from the 50's, and the one hit song that they did had tremendous success.
The group was formed as a gospel quartet in 1955 in Philadelphia and originally known as the Gospel Tornados. They consisted of Billy Horton, Richard Lewis, Raymond Edwards, and Earl Beal, and all were from Philadelphia. They began to do rhythm-and-blues songs and changed their name, first to the Thunderbirds and later to the Silhouettes.
Doo-wop was very popular in the late 50's and group member Richard Lewis collaborated with the group's arranger, Howard Biggs, to write what became one of the most successful doo-wop songs of all time. Get A Job was recorded by the Silhouettes in 1957 for Junior, then released on Ember the following January. It went to number one on both the pop and rhythm-and-blues charts, but was to be the group's only hit song.
A popular rock-and-roll revival group formed at Columbia University in the late 60's, Sha Na Na, took its name from the lyrics to Get A Job. The Silhouettes re-formed in the early 80's to tour as an oldies group. Billy Horton died in 1995 in Germantown, Pennsylvania and Raymond Edwards passed away in March, 1997 in Philadelphia.
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Send email to the author, Tom Simon tsimon@tsimon.com.