From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Sep 23, 2003  1:27 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Rick Lewis (Silhouettes)
 
RICK LEWIS

Born Richard A. Lewis, 23 September 1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mention the term doo-wop and many people's first association will be the song
"Get A Job", though some purists loathe the song for its seeming burlesque
of doo-wop's attributes. "Get A Job", a million seller by the Silhouettes in
1958, was written by Rick Lewis (though the label credit went to all four
Silhouettes). 

The Silhouettes started out as a gospel group, the Gospel Tornadoes, in 1955 in
Philadelphia. The group was popular but was barely making any kind of a living
at all performing gospel. After Lewis (who had been active in music since 1946)
joined the group, he convinced the other members (Bill Horton, Earl Beal, Raymond
Edwards) to give rock 'n' roll a try. The Gospel Tornadoes became the Thunderbirds, but
they soon found out that another outfit had a prior claim on the name and they
changed their name once again, borrowing the title of a 1957 hit by the Rays,
"Silhouettes".

Deejay Kae Williams liked their style and signed them to his label Junior Records.
The Silhouettes cut their first record in October 1957. The intended A-side was "I Am
Lonely", an original ballad, backed with an upbeat tune that Lewis had written after
getting out of the army entitled "Get A Job". Released on Junior in November 1957,
"I Am Lonely" became a Philadelphia hit due to Kae's radio play. Other jocks started
flipping it and "Get A Job" began blaring out of radios all over. Dick Clark smelled a 
hit, but would only push the record on "American Bandstand" if it had national distribution. 

Kae Williams made a licensing deal with Al Silver's Ember label,
a much larger New York independent. The song with its "Sha na na na" syllables was
everywhere, and charted both pop and R&B on January 30, 1958. "Get A Job" hit 
number one on both charts by February. The record became such a 50s standard 
that a 70s group gained fame parodying 50s rock records under the name Sha Na
Na.

The greatest acknowledgement of a hit in the 50s was the issuing of answer
records by other acts. It wasn't long before record players were spinning discs like "I
Found A Job" by the Heartbeats (Roulette), "I Got Fired" by the Mistakes (Lofi), "I
Lost My Job" by the Supreme Four (Sara) and "Got A Job" by a young group with their first
record, The Miracles (End).

The Silhouettes' second single, "Headin' for the Poorhouse" fared less well. in
fact, the Silhouettes would never have another chart entry. Their fourth single, "I Sold
My Heart to the Junkman" (1959) would become a Top 20 hit for the Bluebelles three years
later. 

A few more singles followed, but by the 1962 release of "Rent Man", Horton and
Edwards had departed to find another way to pay the rent. The Silhouettes went their
separate ways in 1968, but the original four re-formed in 1980 for "The Royal New York
Doo-Wop Show" and from 1986 through 1993, they continued to make spirited appearances at
rock and roll revival shows. Bill Horton died in 1995 and Raymond Edwards, the
bass man, who rendered the immortal "yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip boom boom boom
boom boom", in 1997.

CD: The Silhouettes, Get A Job. Collectables, 1996.